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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Enjoyable reimagining of the Holmes and Watson stories with an occult twist.
slow-paced
It needs a new narrator for the audio book.
Enjoyed it a bit less when I realised how much it was just Sherlock Holmes and then read the afterword about winged fanfic... Wouldn've liked to have seen the premise fleshed out a bit more.
Fun surprise in the middle, though.
Fun surprise in the middle, though.
adventurous
mysterious
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:
No
I’m not usually a fan of fan fiction or spin offs, but this was a wonderful version of Sherlock Holmes. Just familiar enough to be comfortable but then entirely new.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I've seen a few reviews that said that this felt like queer-baiting because it was never really explicit about Doyle's gender or it was only hinting at Doyle and Crow's relationship becoming romantic, but I honestly feel like this is a non-problem.
This review is just for me to defend the book.
I think the way Doyle's gender is handled fits the time period it's set in, even if it is a fantasy alternate world. I felt like the lack of a clear (modern) term for Doyle to label his gender resonated with the setting. To have Doyle say he was a trans-man or genderqueer or a butch woman would've felt anachronistic. This isn't to say that trans or genderqueer people never existed before the 2000s, but I don't think this language was as widely known or used in the (alternate) time this book takes place in.
Furthermore, I liked how Doyle's gender is ambiguous. Because it resonated with me and my experience with gender. I don't think my gender fits into clear and distinct labels as trans-man or nonbinary or demi-woman/man, just that it's not cis.
With Crow and Doyle's relationship, I also thought it was queer even if it wasn't explicitly gay-- in fact, it was queer because it wasn't explicitly gay. I read it as a queer platonic relationship and I don't think I see that in a lot of books, so I was very happy.
I've seen reviews where readers were saying that Crow could still have an ace romance with Doyle because asexuality doesn't mean aromanticism, but I feel like so many people say that to justify shipping and ignore that sometimes lack of sexual attraction does equate to lack of romantic attraction. Just because it wasn't a gay ace romance doesn't make the subtext of their relationship less queer.
That's the end of my personal beef with other reviews. But in terms of other aspects of the book, I would say this feels a bit too packed. It covers about three cases and a lot of world-building in one book; I assume because it is a standalone.
I do agree with other reviews when they say that the book doesn't give a lot of details, especially on the world-building. It provides a snapshot or a cool concept, but fails to expand upon it.
On the other hand, I think the way it presents these details of the world reflects a sense of familiarity (on the protagonist's part), so the narration and presentation of the world feels immersive. I wouldn't really let this aspect of the book bother you if you like that. It's kind of like with sci-fi novels and how they use a bunch of sci-fi jargon that you just have to nod your head along with and accept.
This review is just for me to defend the book.
I think the way Doyle's gender is handled fits the time period it's set in, even if it is a fantasy alternate world. I felt like the lack of a clear (modern) term for Doyle to label his gender resonated with the setting. To have Doyle say he was a trans-man or genderqueer or a butch woman would've felt anachronistic. This isn't to say that trans or genderqueer people never existed before the 2000s, but I don't think this language was as widely known or used in the (alternate) time this book takes place in.
Furthermore, I liked how Doyle's gender is ambiguous. Because it resonated with me and my experience with gender. I don't think my gender fits into clear and distinct labels as trans-man or nonbinary or demi-woman/man, just that it's not cis.
With Crow and Doyle's relationship, I also thought it was queer even if it wasn't explicitly gay-- in fact, it was queer because it wasn't explicitly gay. I read it as a queer platonic relationship and I don't think I see that in a lot of books, so I was very happy.
I've seen reviews where readers were saying that Crow could still have an ace romance with Doyle because asexuality doesn't mean aromanticism, but I feel like so many people say that to justify shipping and ignore that sometimes lack of sexual attraction does equate to lack of romantic attraction. Just because it wasn't a gay ace romance doesn't make the subtext of their relationship less queer.
That's the end of my personal beef with other reviews. But in terms of other aspects of the book, I would say this feels a bit too packed. It covers about three cases and a lot of world-building in one book; I assume because it is a standalone.
I do agree with other reviews when they say that the book doesn't give a lot of details, especially on the world-building. It provides a snapshot or a cool concept, but fails to expand upon it.
On the other hand, I think the way it presents these details of the world reflects a sense of familiarity (on the protagonist's part), so the narration and presentation of the world feels immersive. I wouldn't really let this aspect of the book bother you if you like that. It's kind of like with sci-fi novels and how they use a bunch of sci-fi jargon that you just have to nod your head along with and accept.
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia
Great concept, but lacking something in the execution. If someone read this book who wasn't already familiar with Sherlock Holmes, I don't think they would understand or enjoy it.
Many of the mysteries just rapidly solved themselves, and there were no scenes of Crow doing any Sherlockian deduction to show how the murder was accomplished. In the world of the novel, angels apparently can't leave their place of habitation, which meant that Crow went missing for anything that happened outside London.
Many tantalizing hints of worldbuilding that weren't sufficiently developed. I would have liked an entire chapter on Victoria's Needle, or a glimpse of the angels of Madrid.
Favorite lines:
Spot on. I have had bosses exactly like that.
Many of the mysteries just rapidly solved themselves, and there were no scenes of Crow doing any Sherlockian deduction to show how the murder was accomplished. In the world of the novel, angels apparently can't leave their place of habitation, which meant that Crow went missing for anything that happened outside London.
Many tantalizing hints of worldbuilding that weren't sufficiently developed. I would have liked an entire chapter on Victoria's Needle, or a glimpse of the angels of Madrid.
Favorite lines:
Major Smith bustled into the square, snapping questions without waiting for answers and bringing with him a sense of anxiety that he probably thought of as urgency, if he noticed it at all. I recognized his type immediately, having encountered it among both doctors and military officers. He would never get the best out of his men, and he would never know why.
Spot on. I have had bosses exactly like that.
Angel of the Crows is a fantasy retelling of many of the classic stories of Sherlock Holmes. Starting as a fan fic of the originals, it follows the original story beats very slowly despite adding a fantastical twist to them. These twists generally revolved around the cast of fantasy creatures in this version of London (Holmes in an Angel, there are vampires, werewolves and all sorts of creatures). This is both a great strength and weakness for the book. The fantastical elements are one of the best elements of the book but since it is determined to follow the plot of the original they are often sidelined for the sake of the narrative which diminished my enjoyment. The book would have been more enjoyable if it leaned into these elements and bent the original story.
The writing style was very true to the time period of the original which helped to create a strong atmosphere for the novel, however, it was at times very obtuse and obfuscated meaning and clarity to maintain this narrative style. This lead to points where I had to continually re-read a sentence to glean its meaning and it created a sense of clunkiness to the novel for me.
Lastly, the narrative voice (Doyle AKA Watson) was far from the most interesting character. He largely felt like a set of eyes through which to enjoy Crow (Holmes). Even though the character has a couple of secret reveals which were interesting they sort of fell flat due to a lack of follow up and development on these points. They are thrown out for a twist and mentioned only once or twice after that. And the last 20% largely features Doyle without Crow which lowered my enjoyment as Crow really was the star.
The writing style was very true to the time period of the original which helped to create a strong atmosphere for the novel, however, it was at times very obtuse and obfuscated meaning and clarity to maintain this narrative style. This lead to points where I had to continually re-read a sentence to glean its meaning and it created a sense of clunkiness to the novel for me.
Lastly, the narrative voice (Doyle AKA Watson) was far from the most interesting character. He largely felt like a set of eyes through which to enjoy Crow (Holmes). Even though the character has a couple of secret reveals which were interesting they sort of fell flat due to a lack of follow up and development on these points. They are thrown out for a twist and mentioned only once or twice after that. And the last 20% largely features Doyle without Crow which lowered my enjoyment as Crow really was the star.
I really wish Addison would have given as much character development and world building to this Sherlock Holmes retelling as she gave to The Goblin Emperor. Unfortunately, Addison relies far too much on the Arthur Conan Doyle source material, and what could have been a more original retelling turned out to be wingfic fanfiction. I was very disappointed that she didn't delve into J. H. Doyle (Dr. Watson in this retelling) with the same kind of detail and finesse, as she did with Maia in The Goblin Emperor. I also wish she would've have given a lot more of time and detail to the Jack the Ripper storyline, which should have been the main plot. If you're looking for well-written fanfiction, then this one is for you. If you're looking for an original retelling pass on this one.
adventurous
mysterious
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I was a bit suprised by how direct a retelling of Sherlock Holmes this was, there is a fair bit of verbatim dialog, and almost no plot alterations at all. It was an enjoyable adaption, but I've read too much Sherlock Holmes, and too much fanfiction for it to stand out as it's own work.
I think where the book really gets in to trouble is when you introduce clairvoyance and ghosts, it just doesn't make sense that they're not used to solve all of or at least most of the murders. We see scrying used once to find out how one murder was done but they couldn't do that for any of the ripper victims? There was never a justification given for why.
Additionally, for how long the ripper thread was throughout the book it was wrapped up very fast and very easily. No investigation at all. In fact, many threads that the author introduces as her own do not get resolved at all. The two other murders that Crow is obsessed with never get solved, Doyle's bond to the vampires goes nowhere, Doyle's potential romance is shut down and never brought up again, and she doesn't fully commit to the possible queer story lines for Doyle or Crow.
Overall, a popcorn book that feels like it should have more depth than it does.
I think where the book really gets in to trouble is when you introduce clairvoyance and ghosts, it just doesn't make sense that they're not used to solve all of or at least most of the murders. We see scrying used once to find out how one murder was done but they couldn't do that for any of the ripper victims? There was never a justification given for why.
Additionally, for how long the ripper thread was throughout the book it was wrapped up very fast and very easily. No investigation at all. In fact, many threads that the author introduces as her own do not get resolved at all. The two other murders that Crow is obsessed with never get solved, Doyle's bond to the vampires goes nowhere, Doyle's potential romance is shut down and never brought up again, and she doesn't fully commit to the possible queer story lines for Doyle or Crow.
Overall, a popcorn book that feels like it should have more depth than it does.