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booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
As a narrator, Captain John Wyndham is torn between fascination with Shaharazad's hedonism and a need to maintain his own sense of propriety. He grew up in a strictly religious environment, implicitly having chosen to live away from home due to some degree of transphobia which he never quite describes. I like how his words convey so much of his personality along with Shaharazad, making his paraphrases of her language quite clear and not just pretending she has more decorum than she does. He also makes reference to the serial release of this story's chapters, discussions with his editor, and the fact that he's writing this several decades after the events. Instead of just infodumping, he flags any particularly dense descriptions as skippable for a reader who is already familiar with the setting and recent history, at once providing guidance for readers who dislike dense descriptions, and also deepening the sense of immersion by making the reader party to the world.
Things I love, in no particular order: The clever use of parts of Dracula; the resolution to Eirene Viola's problem; the way Wyndham keeps so tightly to propriety even when it's comically unsuitable to the situation; the narrative style, Shaharazad's bravado and continual attempts to plan as little as possible and still have things work out well enough.
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Classism, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Confinement, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
Minor: Ableism, Xenophobia, Cursing, Transphobia, Self harm, Sexism, Animal death, and War
aj_langley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Moderate: Murder, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Minor: Police brutality
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The story is told from the point of view of Captain Wyndham, a doctor who was previously a soldier. The story begins when Captain Wyndham is searching for lodgings and takes up an offer from the eccentric sorceress Shaharazad Haas. When one of Ms. Haas' acquaintances shows up with a mysterious letter that is trying to blackmail her, Haas takes up the case, pulling Wyndham along on a series of increasingly more intense adventures.
Hall has created a fun homage to Sherlock Holmes that injects fantasy and a touch of science fiction. Wyndham is a good point of view character and Ms. Haas is a fitting gender bent, fantastically inclined rework of Sherlock Holmes. The world is vast and I found that in some places it did feel a little bit underbaked. There is so much going on and such a wealth of history that Wyndham infuses into his narrative that it feels surface level at best. I think this does work with the story as long as you know it going in and are really looking for a fun, fantastical romp. The plot did feel like it stretched over a bit more time than it needed to and I wonder if two cases within the novel would have worked better. I did absolutely love the ending and the ultimate conclusion of the mystery though. It was a great piece of character work. This feels like the start of a series but to the best of my knowledge is a standalone (at least in 2023). I will definitely be picking up more of what Hall writes as he seems to do a great job with intriguing characters.
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: War and Police brutality
demongrrl's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Drug use
Minor: Religious bigotry
ladythana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Drug use
Minor: Blood, War, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia
purplepenning's review
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Religious bigotry
vickybuka's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Murder
Minor: Religious bigotry
anxiousnachos's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content warnings: drug use, drug addiction, dead bodies, murder, sexual assault (by vampire lure), blood, police brutality, confinement, transphobia
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Transphobia, Murder, and Blood
lmilner13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Interesting use of the Sherlock Holmes structure.
For me it was so fantastical that it became mundane.
Moderate: Drug use, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Transphobia