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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
imds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Body horror, and Transphobia
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
alba_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
"I believe the right to disregard the law is intrinsic and unalienable."
The premise of this is great. Basically, it is a fantasy, gender-reversed, sorceress take on Sherlock Holmes. It's an adventure story, full of swashbuckling heroes, gothic monsters and evil villains. There are time travellers too, sweeping – and tragic – love stories, and a litany of bizarre characters along the way.
I love the way that it's broken into "instalments" – the way that things were published during the Victorian era. The author did a great job at the characterisation of Shaharazad Haas, Hall's take on Sherlock Holmes. Her sidekick John Wyndim, and his constant attempt at moralising tales that are amoral, added a hilarious element to the book.
I couldn't give much of a summary other than that Shaharazad is hired by a friend, Irenie, to investigate a blackmailing, and Shaharazad and John investigate a list of five suspects, spread over five instalments.
I fully admit I wasn't as tapped into the story as I could be, and wish I had given more focus on the details. However, I started listening to the book at the tail end of work as maternity leave was about to start, so in the flurry of stress and activity wrapping things up at work, I sadly didn't give the audiobook my full attention until after mat leave started about halfway through. I missed out on some of the details in the earlier "instalments." That said, because of the fake instalment style, the author did a good job summing up what happened in previous sections so I was able to keep on top of the meandering adventure story and the various characters they met along the way.
Overall, and despite my distraction for the first few hours, I found it fun, enjoyable and actually quite funny. Dry, ridiculous British humour (esp. via audiobook) gets me every time...! John made me laugh so much with his moralising, and how he constantly dug himself holes by insisting on telling the truth in detail. The Augher (sp?) or second augher – the policeman – was my favourite. He was trying so hard to help John out, to stay out of trouble, giving him every chance to throw someone else under the bus instead of himself, and somehow, John just kept grabbing the shovel back and kept digging the hole deeper.
I listened to the last chunk of it today (with my full attention, for once!) and actually managed to sort of guess the ending, which is a surprise. But regardless, I found it fun and very entertaining. A great fantasy adventure story and a fun take on the Sherlock Holmes character. It's perfect for anyone looking for a solid adventure tale with a good dose of British humour and a main character that will repeatedly make you either roll your eyes, say "oh John," in an exasperated voice, or face palm.
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Toxic friendship
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
mar's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Death, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Infidelity