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bree_h_reads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- 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
I was curious to see how this book would tackle retelling Sherlock Holmes. I was honestly pretty impressed with it.
The world felt very vibrant and chaotic in a way that new elements could be introduced without feeling out of place. I was willing to buy almost anything the book tried to sell, simply from how well it established the strangeness of the world. The chaotic nature of the world lent well to writing ancient eldritch entities, and allowed for some hints of eldritch horror. This aspect was only a detriment when it left the story feeling a bit muddled during busier or more action packed aspects, but it wasn’t anything that took too much from the story.
All the characters felt very interesting and I wanted to learn more about them. I was left to taken with each character and their bright personalities to the degree I was disappointed to find this was the only book featuring them. John, Shaharazad, and the Second Auger especially stood out to and fascinated me. I found everyone extremely enjoyable, even when they weren’t the most morally upstanding.
Finally, the casual queerness of the characters was really nice. I enjoy when it doesn’t feel like a big deal that characters are queer in some way. There’s just a comfort provided by a simple mention of queetness that I appreciate.
Overall a great read, and I definitely recommend it to people looking for a fresh spin on Sherlock Holmes or that enjoy the game Fallen London.
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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 Affair of the Mysterious Letter' by Alexis Hall is a fun, fantastical retelling of Sherlock Holmes.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: War and Police brutality
ladythana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Drug use
Minor: Blood, War, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia
anxiousnachos's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars. This was a weird, wacky and very fun Sherlock Holmes retelling with a trans Watson and pansexual female Holmes! It’s full of amusing one-liners and I think it works very well as a retelling, capturing the voice of Watson excellently. Ultimately, I think I have realised I just don’t necessarily *enjoy* that voice and thus this close a retelling to format/voice hindered my enjoyment a touch as I got a little bored of the very prim and proper Watson quite quickly. But a wonderfully weird science fantasy take on Holmes full of vampires and underwater cities and blackmail.
Content warnings: drug use, drug addiction, dead bodies, murder, sexual assault (by vampire lure), blood, police brutality, confinement, transphobia
Content warnings: drug use, drug addiction, dead bodies, murder, sexual assault (by vampire lure), blood, police brutality, confinement, transphobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Transphobia, Murder, and Blood
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