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caidyn's review
3.0
I'm not really sure how to rate this one. I liked it at some points, or I really enjoyed it. Then, it began dragging and I got a bit bored with the whole thing. Which meant I spaced out and lost a lot of the plot. In the end, I wasn't reading it for the plot because I'd lost so much of it, but I was just reading to finish it and because I like the characters.
Honestly, I love how Ms Douglas characterizes Irene. Mainly because she's so close to being like the Irene Adler I was first really introduced to, which was Lara Pulver's version in BBC's Sherlock. I watched the Guy Ritchie Sherlock movies when I was younger, but that was way before I actually got into the canon of it. BBC's Sherlock was my first soiree into it all. I really enjoy how Lara Pulver characterized her and I really don't think that her being a dominatrix bastardizes her in any way. It's very much a modern interpretation. A call girl -- high class prostitute -- would have worked as well, but a dominatrix works better with Irene being the only woman who beat Holmes.
But, I digress.
I love how Irene's characterized. She's completely wonderful and multifaceted, so I look forward to finding out what will happen next, what new part of her will open up. Godfrey, he's equally enjoyable. Same with Penelope. I do love all the characters. They're fantastic.
It's when the mystery comes into play that I have a problem.
This book is almost 400 pages. The next book in the series, [b:Irene At Large|1251930|Irene At Large (Irene Adler, #3)|Carole Nelson Douglas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312039513s/1251930.jpg|13119605], is only a few pages shy of 400 pages. For a mystery, at least one that's set back in Victorian times, it's entirely too long. It ends up going this way and that, introducing characters that aren't important whatsoever to the plot or mystery itself. I get lost in what the hell's going on. Especially since this book tends to have pages upon pages of nonsense detail that I space out while reading, then, suddenly in the middle of it -- just like anything Tolkien writes -- there's suddenly an important detail. And, I miss it because I'm so bored and I space it out. It's exactly like Tolkien for me. Except, I haven't literally fallen asleep reading Ms Douglas's books like I have done (multiple times) with Tolkien.
I will continue reading the series, but this being the second book and all the problems that I had with the first carried over into the second, so I'm not holding out great hopes for actually finishing up the series.
My final rating is 2.5 because no matter how much I love the characters, I need to care enough about them and the story for the book to truly work for me.
Honestly, I love how Ms Douglas characterizes Irene. Mainly because she's so close to being like the Irene Adler I was first really introduced to, which was Lara Pulver's version in BBC's Sherlock. I watched the Guy Ritchie Sherlock movies when I was younger, but that was way before I actually got into the canon of it. BBC's Sherlock was my first soiree into it all. I really enjoy how Lara Pulver characterized her and I really don't think that her being a dominatrix bastardizes her in any way. It's very much a modern interpretation. A call girl -- high class prostitute -- would have worked as well, but a dominatrix works better with Irene being the only woman who beat Holmes.
But, I digress.
I love how Irene's characterized. She's completely wonderful and multifaceted, so I look forward to finding out what will happen next, what new part of her will open up. Godfrey, he's equally enjoyable. Same with Penelope. I do love all the characters. They're fantastic.
It's when the mystery comes into play that I have a problem.
This book is almost 400 pages. The next book in the series, [b:Irene At Large|1251930|Irene At Large (Irene Adler, #3)|Carole Nelson Douglas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312039513s/1251930.jpg|13119605], is only a few pages shy of 400 pages. For a mystery, at least one that's set back in Victorian times, it's entirely too long. It ends up going this way and that, introducing characters that aren't important whatsoever to the plot or mystery itself. I get lost in what the hell's going on. Especially since this book tends to have pages upon pages of nonsense detail that I space out while reading, then, suddenly in the middle of it -- just like anything Tolkien writes -- there's suddenly an important detail. And, I miss it because I'm so bored and I space it out. It's exactly like Tolkien for me. Except, I haven't literally fallen asleep reading Ms Douglas's books like I have done (multiple times) with Tolkien.
I will continue reading the series, but this being the second book and all the problems that I had with the first carried over into the second, so I'm not holding out great hopes for actually finishing up the series.
My final rating is 2.5 because no matter how much I love the characters, I need to care enough about them and the story for the book to truly work for me.
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