Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

2 reviews

bergha1998's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is such an interesting plot idea. A fantasy world with angels and fallen angels, but it’s Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson with different names. Also, they’re trying to solve Jack the Ripper, along with several other mysteries. Not to mention the surprising diversity. 

Fantasy/Mystery, LGBTQIA+

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Animal death, Gore, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, and Murder

wordsareworlds's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Overall I liked it quite a bit! According to the Author's Note it started as

Sherlock wingfic

but it doesn't read any differently than any of the hundreds of other adaptations/reimaginings of the Sherlock stories. If you're very familiar with the canon you'll know the solutions, but in a lot of ways everything but the first mystery and the Jack the Ripper parts are much kinder to side characters than the original ever was. As always, the real star is the Holmes/Watson (or Crow/Doyle) relationship, and I adored it. Crow has many of the classic Sherlock characteristics but with an excitement and curiosity and actual caring that most Sherlocks lack.

I enjoyed the Moriarty twist and the way she uses both the twist and the obvious previous knowledge of the reader to ramp up tension in all their interactions. I was also relieved at how Addison treated Doyle's limp, and continuing treatments for injuries. The worldbuilding felt true to both the original Sherlock stories and integrated well with the supernatural aspects.

A word of warning/possible pain points for trans readers regarding the character of Doyle and angels. 

it is implied at first that Doyle is a trans man, but revealed that she is a bisexual woman who is pretending to be a man to the public. She does not regard herself as actually a man, but instead has adopted the persona in order to pursue her career as a doctor. Angels are revealed to all be trans men, made so by human expectations when they emerge from being Nameless.

While I believe there is nuance given to both of these elements, I can also easily see them feeling like a bait-and-switch or otherwise harmful as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racial slurs, Violence, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault

The ableism is both internal and external towards the character of Doyle. Antisemitism is challenged on page. There is the strong implication that Crow was

sexually assaulted or raped

in the past, but no details are discussed or shown. The anti-Romani slur g*psy is used repeatedly, although in one instance it is challenged on page. The book includes a version of the story Sign of Four, which is at it's core a tale about the British looting India, and Addison doesn't do a lot to twist the narrative away from the underlying support of British occupation there.