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morningsunwildflower's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Really liked to follow along the mysteries, as they are short-ish ones. The characters are based on Holmes and Watson but they are still different enough that I can say I like these in a different way than I like the other Holmes and Watson of this world.
Beware of the explicit details of corpses.
Didn't like how they introduced or used Doyle's trans identity. I'm picky about that so that might not disturb many. Thought it could have been introduced without the dead name, and for that dead name not to be used later on.
Also didn't like how there are two serial killers of women at the same time. There are Supernatural creatures, maybe they could have been killing men...
Beware of the explicit details of corpses.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexism, War, and Suicide
Minor: Transphobia
wyrmie's review
This is disappointing coming from Addison after her incredible book The Goblin Emperor. I was immediately put off when I saw the authors note that this started as a fanfic, I assumed with how talented Addison is with worldbuilding that she'd crafted a new world Holmes inspired, I assumed incorrectly. This remains a fanfic and should not have been published as an original novel. With what I read I immediately recognized that it was of the BBC version of sherlock, same mystery, same characterization. Ugh. The characters remained as bland and as terrible as BBC sherlock, Addison did nothing to change them besides slap some wings on Sherlock/Crow and give them different names. The mysteries were just retellings of the already told Holmes ones, and Addison can writ a mystery so idk why she'd just recycle. She should have taken this angel and monster lore she had going on and created new characters and new plotlines. It's like watching a knock off Disney movie. Nothing wrong with fanfic but fanfic and published literature are different. I also didn't appreciate the casual antisemitism
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Antisemitism, Medical content, and Medical trauma
obviousthings's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Well... it was okay. As someone who's VERY familiar with the Holmes stories, this book stuck too close to the plot of the originals for my taste, particularly with A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four in the first half. I liked how Addison treated women and characters of colour from the Holmes canon with much more respect than they get in the original books, and I liked the supernatural elements that were added (especially the hellhounds and cerberi), but this feels more like Sherlock Holmes with some fantasy set dressing than an original novel.
It's worth noting that there are three Holmes novels, multiple short stories, and the Jack the Ripper case compressed into one book here. I can see why that was done - does anyone actually like the part of A Study in Scarlet that's just about the mormons? - but I feel like some of the themes were lost in the abridgement, and there wasn't enough added to replace them. I would have liked to see a stronger character arc for Dr. Doyle, with fantasy elements more thoroughly incorporated into the plot. The setting has a ton of potential, but it wasn't explored as much as it could have been in this book.
It's worth noting that there are three Holmes novels, multiple short stories, and the Jack the Ripper case compressed into one book here. I can see why that was done - does anyone actually like the part of A Study in Scarlet that's just about the mormons? - but I feel like some of the themes were lost in the abridgement, and there wasn't enough added to replace them. I would have liked to see a stronger character arc for Dr. Doyle, with fantasy elements more thoroughly incorporated into the plot. The setting has a ton of potential, but it wasn't explored as much as it could have been in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Confinement, Homophobia, Medical content, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Abortion, Racial slurs, Rape, and Suicide
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