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liketheverb's review against another edition
4.0
The Last of August is the equally thrilling sequel to A Study in Charlotte. Once again, Cavallaro crafted an engaging story that is simultaneously unique and familiar. In only 300 pages, Cavallaro exponentially develops her characters, showing an unparalleled degree of development, while constantly remaining true to themselves. As the relationship between Charlotte and Jamie develops, the reader can't help but become emotionally invested in them and their success. My time vanished in the pages of this story, able to lose myself in Cavallaro's world. It was immensely easy to imagine her characters as my friends, sharing their lives with me, their anxieties, their joys, their pain, their happiness, all my own. With a final twist and cliffhanger to match, Cavallaro ensnares her readers and leaves us craving the next enstallment.
ashction's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars! Not as good and honestly a little confusing, but still a good ride.
gabrose's review against another edition
2.0
It was a good book, enjoyable enough, but truthfully, I think it ruined the first for me. I couldn’t even read the third.
hollidayreadswithme's review against another edition
4.0
"It’s strange to grieve for your former self, and still I think it’s something that any girl understands. I’ve shed so many skins, I hardly know what I am now—muscle, maybe, or just memory. Perhaps just the will to keep going." - Charlotte Holmes
Loved the perspective of Charlotte Holmes for the few chapters. It felt mechanical but some of the quotable lines didn’t feel forced but plucked from the fountains of self observation and introspection. I yearned for more written by her because it was so categorically different from James in style and form. Numbered lists and thoughts certain and yet uncertain at the same time. It was something that I found so fascinating.
In this book we are given a taste of Charlotte and descent into emotion, which is both heart wrenching and so counter-intuitive. I feel like after this I’m going to have to read all of Sherlock’s books. It is all so convoluted but I think that’s the point. I was also super scared that this was going to turn into a love triangle thing. Especially when August came on the scene.
These cliffhangers are done so well! As much as I was confused, I just wanted to know more. I think there is so much promise here for a Netflix show but then I feel I know that they would ruin it. There is so much detail and even though I have no qualms about the writing style, I keep thinking that it would be so much better to have one book just in Charlotte’s perspective. I know that it is against the original style but so is basically this whole thing with the romantic undertone.
I did appreciate that they handled things in the bed arena appropriately. If you don’t know what I mean, just read the book.
This is definitely not a book you can read by itself and be fine. It just jumps right in which is great!
4 stars.
Loved the perspective of Charlotte Holmes for the few chapters. It felt mechanical but some of the quotable lines didn’t feel forced but plucked from the fountains of self observation and introspection. I yearned for more written by her because it was so categorically different from James in style and form. Numbered lists and thoughts certain and yet uncertain at the same time. It was something that I found so fascinating.
In this book we are given a taste of Charlotte and descent into emotion, which is both heart wrenching and so counter-intuitive. I feel like after this I’m going to have to read all of Sherlock’s books. It is all so convoluted but I think that’s the point. I was also super scared that this was going to turn into a love triangle thing. Especially when August came on the scene.
These cliffhangers are done so well! As much as I was confused, I just wanted to know more. I think there is so much promise here for a Netflix show but then I feel I know that they would ruin it. There is so much detail and even though I have no qualms about the writing style, I keep thinking that it would be so much better to have one book just in Charlotte’s perspective. I know that it is against the original style but so is basically this whole thing with the romantic undertone.
Spoiler
i didn’t really appreciate that her rape was the catalyst as to why she didn’t want to be touched like thatThis is definitely not a book you can read by itself and be fine. It just jumps right in which is great!
4 stars.
sklus's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. A lot of my criticisms carry over from the last book. I found the world unrealistic and the character all acted in a way that seemed equally unlikely. That being said, I had a few more issues with this book than I did the other ones. I feel like all of the characters were stagnant. Charlotte, Jamie, and pretty much every other character in the book was obstinately clinging to patterns and behaviors that the last book showed were only harmful. The only progress made in the book was the back and forth semi-romantic relationship between Charlotte and Jamie.
I think this book may suffer from middle book syndrome because it was just a little boring. Only half of the mystery was interesting to me, Uncle Leander's disappearance, the rest about the art forgery just seemed low stakes and dry. Then the conclusion of Uncle Leander's mystery was incredibly unsatisfying. I think I will pick up the third book because the ending seemed promising for things to change in the future. I don't want to seem too harsh; there were many aspects of the book that I did enjoy. Despite their lack of development, I find Jamie and Charlotte to be endearing. I enjoyed the writing style and flow of the book. Although 3 is a low rating for me, I enjoyed the book well enough that I intend to read the third book in the series
I think this book may suffer from middle book syndrome because it was just a little boring. Only half of the mystery was interesting to me, Uncle Leander's disappearance, the rest about the art forgery just seemed low stakes and dry. Then the conclusion of Uncle Leander's mystery was incredibly unsatisfying. I think I will pick up the third book because the ending seemed promising for things to change in the future. I don't want to seem too harsh; there were many aspects of the book that I did enjoy. Despite their lack of development, I find Jamie and Charlotte to be endearing. I enjoyed the writing style and flow of the book. Although 3 is a low rating for me, I enjoyed the book well enough that I intend to read the third book in the series
denali_epub's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars.
Another stunning read from [a:Brittany Cavallaro|6894322|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1412880957p2/6894322.jpg]. As we've all seen from my review of [b:A Study in Charlotte|23272028|A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes, #1)|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435248277s/23272028.jpg|42811828], I am utterly and truly enthralled with this series. While [b:The Last of August|30256105|The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466542907s/30256105.jpg|50727954] was less about Holmes and Watson solving mysteries and more about understanding the complexities of their strange friendship (which, while I loved, did lose half a star for me), it did introduce me to my favorite character in the story thus far.
Fair warning for all, don't get attached to anyone new. There are some big twists coming up for prospective readers, and I should warn all that my heart (and my physical copy of this book) barely made it out alive, and definitely not entirely unscathed. The story continued to intrigue me, and if it weren't for the real world calling, it would have been entirely unputdownable.
Charlotte is an enigma, with similar attributes a fan would long have associated with her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes. However, the friendship between Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson by far trumps that of their predecessors in my opinion. While there are definitely some ups and downs (mostly downs), our young Watson feels far less like a sidekick and more like a best friend that Sherlock and John.
Overall, this was a great read. My only complaint came in that the mystery to be solved in this story took a backseat to the personal drama between Jamie and Charlotte. However, having read the entire series before writing my review, I can guarantee that this is vastly made up for in the next installment of the series, [b:The Case for Jamie|33810737|The Case for Jamie (Charlotte Holmes #3)|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498506342s/33810737.jpg|54719623].
Another stunning read from [a:Brittany Cavallaro|6894322|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1412880957p2/6894322.jpg]. As we've all seen from my review of [b:A Study in Charlotte|23272028|A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes, #1)|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435248277s/23272028.jpg|42811828], I am utterly and truly enthralled with this series. While [b:The Last of August|30256105|The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466542907s/30256105.jpg|50727954] was less about Holmes and Watson solving mysteries and more about understanding the complexities of their strange friendship (which, while I loved, did lose half a star for me), it did introduce me to my favorite character in the story thus far.
Fair warning for all, don't get attached to anyone new. There are some big twists coming up for prospective readers, and I should warn all that my heart (and my physical copy of this book) barely made it out alive, and definitely not entirely unscathed. The story continued to intrigue me, and if it weren't for the real world calling, it would have been entirely unputdownable.
Charlotte is an enigma, with similar attributes a fan would long have associated with her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes. However, the friendship between Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson by far trumps that of their predecessors in my opinion. While there are definitely some ups and downs (mostly downs), our young Watson feels far less like a sidekick and more like a best friend that Sherlock and John.
Overall, this was a great read. My only complaint came in that the mystery to be solved in this story took a backseat to the personal drama between Jamie and Charlotte. However, having read the entire series before writing my review, I can guarantee that this is vastly made up for in the next installment of the series, [b:The Case for Jamie|33810737|The Case for Jamie (Charlotte Holmes #3)|Brittany Cavallaro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498506342s/33810737.jpg|54719623].
ecstarr's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
livia610's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
this book was harder to get through than the first one, it felt more like a spy book than a detective one which isn’t necessarily bad but it’s just pretty different from the first book. I still liked and the ending has me going CRAZY!! I really didn’t like how Charlotte was treating Jamie in this book, it made me really sad, like I used to root for them to get together but I don’t anymore because while there is chemistry I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to even be together.
bhnmt61's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the first book in this series, A Study in Charlotte. I thought Cavallaro did a great job of reinventing the Holmes-Watson dynamic, playing off it without following it slavishly. There was a thread of romance through the whole book, but it didn't overwhelm the plot, and it felt in character with Charlotte and Jamie. This second book in the series, the Last of August, unfortunately spent far too long hammering on the we-love-each-other-but-we-can't-be-together angst and far too little on what was actually happening. I kept putting it down and forgetting about it. In fact, when I accidentally left it in a rental car at the end of vacation, I almost decided not to finish it. But I do like the setup, and there's always a chance the next book will be better, so I checked it out from our library's ebook site and finished it this afternoon.
On the plus side, I liked getting a couple of chapters from Charlotte's perspective. And the art auction was beautifully done--it even made me laugh. But on the other hand, there was all that setup--I don't have the book anymore, so I can't tell you how many pages, but it felt like 200 pages of setup, and then the actual plot is compressed into the last fifty-ish pages. It's so compressed that I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the last ten pages. If Milo really made the stupid mistake at the end that it appears that he did, then it pretty much ruins his character for future books. The whole point of Milo is that he is supposed to be nearly godlike in his ability to know what's going on. Based on the way his character has been built through the first two books, there's no way he would have been that stupid. So, I'm very close to losing interest. Maybe I will read the next one a few months from now when the bad taste from this one is gone.
On the plus side, I liked getting a couple of chapters from Charlotte's perspective. And the art auction was beautifully done--it even made me laugh. But on the other hand, there was all that setup--I don't have the book anymore, so I can't tell you how many pages, but it felt like 200 pages of setup, and then the actual plot is compressed into the last fifty-ish pages. It's so compressed that I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the last ten pages. If Milo really made the stupid mistake at the end that it appears that he did, then it pretty much ruins his character for future books. The whole point of Milo is that he is supposed to be nearly godlike in his ability to know what's going on. Based on the way his character has been built through the first two books, there's no way he would have been that stupid. So, I'm very close to losing interest. Maybe I will read the next one a few months from now when the bad taste from this one is gone.