Scan barcode
knordy's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
zoefruitcake's review
4.0
An energetic romp around London with so many literary nods you'll be wanting to re-read some classics with a fresh eye. I hope we will be treated to another installment of the Athena Club (note that that is spelt with the English double L) my only real criticism of this entertaining book are the anachronistic Americanisms, far too many uses of the word 'gotten' made me wince (a word which we simply do not use) purse instead of handbag and sidewalk. So much effort had gone into painting these scenes of Victorian London only to be let down by language.
amy_j18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
maggiereadz's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
dilchh's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly what’s not interesting about this book? To be completely honest I’m not a big fan of classics, but who wouldn’t know (or at least heard of) Jekyll, Hyde, Frankenstein, Rappaccini, and Moreau (honestly though, I’m not quite familiar with The Island of Dr Moreau)? That being said, of course this book is interesting, the daughters (and I use this term incredible lightly) of these big names all gather together to play detectives in order to solve the gruesome murders that have been happening around them, damn my inner feminist is raging just from reading the book’s blurb.
Like I said, the interesting characters (look, we have Holmes and Watson here too) and the plot are very very very promising. I wanted to see how the so called daughters came to be, surely not all of their fathers actually marry a woman and produce these children, right? I have to say, the backstory to all of the daughters are incredibly entertaining and I am totally here for it. And then, the idea of having a group of female detectives in 1890s just fired me up big time. I love that the ladies are very diverse, and you can see different outlook and views on things that seems taboo at the time, such as views on female clothing of the time, views about what it means to be feminine and strong. You know what, basically this book won big time through its characters. It’s as if the characters came out to life.
That being said, the overall story evolves incredibly slow. I understand that this was going to be the first with the second one coming out July 2018, so it is understandable that almost more than half of the books are only filled with the story on how the girls eventually meet up and share their backstory, but here’s what I have to say, I was incredibly disappointed at how the story ends. All the build ups throughout the book and only to have the ending to that anticlimactic? Oh boy, the book really didn’t end on a good note for me. But, fear not, for I still love the characters and I can’t wait to meet them again on the second book, which I hope would not be as slow as this one.
Like I said, the interesting characters (look, we have Holmes and Watson here too) and the plot are very very very promising. I wanted to see how the so called daughters came to be, surely not all of their fathers actually marry a woman and produce these children, right? I have to say, the backstory to all of the daughters are incredibly entertaining and I am totally here for it. And then, the idea of having a group of female detectives in 1890s just fired me up big time. I love that the ladies are very diverse, and you can see different outlook and views on things that seems taboo at the time, such as views on female clothing of the time, views about what it means to be feminine and strong. You know what, basically this book won big time through its characters. It’s as if the characters came out to life.
That being said, the overall story evolves incredibly slow. I understand that this was going to be the first with the second one coming out July 2018, so it is understandable that almost more than half of the books are only filled with the story on how the girls eventually meet up and share their backstory, but here’s what I have to say, I was incredibly disappointed at how the story ends. All the build ups throughout the book and only to have the ending to that anticlimactic? Oh boy, the book really didn’t end on a good note for me. But, fear not, for I still love the characters and I can’t wait to meet them again on the second book, which I hope would not be as slow as this one.
bzliz's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
The best I can say is that this sure is a book I listened to. It’s like Disney’s Descendants meets classic monster stories and also Sherlock Holmes is there. The lead character is Mary Jekyll. She ends up bringing together her maybe-half-sister Diana Hyde, a poisonous woman, a woman developed from a puma, a lady Frankenstein, her housekeeper and her former maid to form a club living together and investigating a secret society of men who do inhumane experiments on women.
The characters all get lost because of the attempt to create an ensemble cast and none are interesting enough on their own to warrant undivided attention. There are several asides and interjections within the story from the characters themselves which was charming at first but it quickly became tedious. At least three were Diana asserting that the author can accurately capture her voice when she wants to. Even with this crew of women brought together, they still need Sherlock Holmes to help them investigate and lend them credibility because they are women living in a deeply misogynistic world. On top of that, the villains were so cartoonish that they helpfully spew exposition for the benefit of readers in a way that nobody has ever talked or ever will talk.
I cannot subject myself to the next book no matter how much I need something to listen to while I clean my house. It’s 700 pages long and this entire book felt like a preamble to explain how these women met and I can’t bear to recount it all over again.
The characters all get lost because of the attempt to create an ensemble cast and none are interesting enough on their own to warrant undivided attention. There are several asides and interjections within the story from the characters themselves which was charming at first but it quickly became tedious. At least three were Diana asserting that the author can accurately capture her voice when she wants to. Even with this crew of women brought together, they still need Sherlock Holmes to help them investigate and lend them credibility because they are women living in a deeply misogynistic world. On top of that, the villains were so cartoonish that they helpfully spew exposition for the benefit of readers in a way that nobody has ever talked or ever will talk.
I cannot subject myself to the next book no matter how much I need something to listen to while I clean my house. It’s 700 pages long and this entire book felt like a preamble to explain how these women met and I can’t bear to recount it all over again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual assault
I’ve tagged sexual assault specifically for a mention of Justinelurker_stalker's review
3.0
I did have some issues with the style of writing - random interjections in the middle of the narrative - but overall I enjoyed this book a lot. Going to move on to the sequel.