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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
I really hate authors who try to hook Sherlock Holmes up with a female lead. Part of Holmes's character is that he does not have romantic feelings.
Having said that, the rest of the story is pretty good. There are a lot of background characters to have to keep track of. I also did not like the ending, although it makes sense.
Having said that, the rest of the story is pretty good. There are a lot of background characters to have to keep track of. I also did not like the ending, although it makes sense.
I was pleasantly surprised how much this book hooked me after the first 50 pages. The plot does take time to develop, but once the characters have been established and the protagonist continues to cross paths with Sherlock Holmes, the plot moves from slightly promising to vastly intriguing. A great read for those interested in detective novels and the struggles that females in the professional sphere faced during the late 1800's.
I quite liked this book. Anna was a believable, smart, and sympathetic heroine and Holmes was smart, slightly snarky, and had the right amount of condescension. I felt the other characters were well described and had specific voices and characteristics that made them distinctive. I also liked the plot - medical testing done on the less fortunate and a secret club performing the tests. Anna and Sherlock are on the case and trying to figure out who's doing what and why. Unfortunately, this isn't a stand alone book, but the first in a series. I was unaware of that before reading it, so instead of closure, you're left waiting until the next book comes out to find out what happens. Boo for me (and you) until that second book comes out.
There were two things I disliked. First was the change in point of view. The book is told in three parts - Anna, Anton, and Sherlock. Part one was told in Anna's first person POV. Considering Anna and Anton are the same person, you would expect those parts to be told from the same first person POV. Instead, part two switched to third person and occasionally slipped back into first person. Part three was also told in first person, but not Sherlock's so I don't entirely understand labeling each section with a different character since it doesn't change narrator. I thought perhaps part two was told in third person to make the reader feel like they were experiencing Anna/Anton watching her own actions without being attached to them, but I'm not entirely sure. If this was the intent, I guess it worked? Otherwise I felt it was kind of distracting.
The second thing that was bothersome to me was the editing. There were instances where the author meant to write were and wrote where instead. Same with loosing when losing was the correct word in the sentence. I realize that most people would overlook things like this, it just bothers me because it's simple spelling that's incorrect and it makes me stop and reread a sentence to determine what was meant.
There were two things I disliked. First was the change in point of view. The book is told in three parts - Anna, Anton, and Sherlock. Part one was told in Anna's first person POV. Considering Anna and Anton are the same person, you would expect those parts to be told from the same first person POV. Instead, part two switched to third person and occasionally slipped back into first person. Part three was also told in first person, but not Sherlock's so I don't entirely understand labeling each section with a different character since it doesn't change narrator. I thought perhaps part two was told in third person to make the reader feel like they were experiencing Anna/Anton watching her own actions without being attached to them, but I'm not entirely sure. If this was the intent, I guess it worked? Otherwise I felt it was kind of distracting.
The second thing that was bothersome to me was the editing. There were instances where the author meant to write were and wrote where instead. Same with loosing when losing was the correct word in the sentence. I realize that most people would overlook things like this, it just bothers me because it's simple spelling that's incorrect and it makes me stop and reread a sentence to determine what was meant.
There seems to be a Sherlock Holmes boom these years, so I was a bit apprehensive at first to read this short thriller - but my worries were completely unfounded and this was a fresh and exciting read from start to finish!!
More like a 3.25 - 3.5. Will read the next one for sure.
Dr. Anton Kronberg is a bacteriologist who is called in by the police to the scene of a body - a cholera victim - who has been found floating in the city's drinking water supply. There he meets Sherlock Holmes who in the space of a few minutes has discovered the Doctor's secret. They then join forces to solve the crime of the cholera victims
Could not finish at 50%. Not really engaged in the story and Sherlock and Watson do not feel authentic at all.
Enjoyable book
I found the characters intriguing and picking up Sherlock Holmes in the mystery was fun.I will pick up the next book to see what happened.
I found the characters intriguing and picking up Sherlock Holmes in the mystery was fun.I will pick up the next book to see what happened.
Very interesting character and certainly a match for Sherlock Holmes.
I rarely write reviews because I always think, quality is in the eye of the beholder so who am I to judge with words when I already gave my opinion with the rating. However, this time I do have to say some things about this book.
As I read the summary I was intrigued. There is nothing better for me than a good written new case where Sherlock Holmes is involved. I love Sherlock. I love what Arthur Conan Doyle had created, no matter how much he hated Holmes, I love him. His distant way to interact with people, his arrogance, his inhumanity in certain aspects and I always - and I repeat - always adored the way he talked about woman. I don't want to start a discussion about if Holmes was just not interested in love and woman because it was in his nature or because he made himself this way, but I always thought it was a huge part of his personally that the only person he let in his life was Watson, and even he wasn't treated nicely simply because it wasn't in Sherlock's nature. Periode.
Now about this book. As I read Doctor Anton Kronberg is actually a woman I was thrilled. A female protagonist who meets the infamous Sherlock Holmes who has no idea who she is. And that is where I was completely mistaken. Already on page 16 of 238 Holmes figured out who she was. Well, Sherlock is good, but the way it was written already threw me completely of guard. Anna just assumed Sherlock knew by the way he looked at her, confronting him herself. I seriously tried to let it slip, but then I thought, if she went through all the hassle of everything to become a doctor, why just throwing this secret out like it was nothing? I should have stopped reading the story right there because it only got worse, and that while the case itself was quite intriguing, I give the author that much. But having Anna reading one of Sherlock's cases that was written by Watson and Anna complaining about the details Watson focused on rather than the oh so obvious clues he was given and never noticed himself, made me furious seeing we got to read every time Anna poured 'hot water over the expensive tea leaves'.
Maybe I'm too defending when it comes to Sherlock Holmes, but this story was too much for my taste and to be honest it felt more like a Mary Sue fanfictionAnnelie...Anna...I'm just saying than a serious try to bring a new character in the Holmes universe. Sherlock didn't seem like Sherlock at all that with the way he all of the sudden cared so much for a woman and at the same time appeared so useless because Anna could do everything on her own because she is a woman who doesn't need anybody, which the author liked to mentioned every other chapter. I understand Annelie tried to chreate a character who was on the same level as Sherlock and it could have worked, if Anna hadn't been such a contradictory character who seemed more like someone still trying to find herself rather than what she was supposed to be. Also, I totally understand that this book isn't about Sherlock Holmes, but if you take the time and apparently enjoy this character so much that you want him to appear in your story, than try to write him as Doyle had created him and don't bend him to something he is not, because than you can easily use your own character.
As I read the summary I was intrigued. There is nothing better for me than a good written new case where Sherlock Holmes is involved. I love Sherlock. I love what Arthur Conan Doyle had created, no matter how much he hated Holmes, I love him. His distant way to interact with people, his arrogance, his inhumanity in certain aspects and I always - and I repeat - always adored the way he talked about woman. I don't want to start a discussion about if Holmes was just not interested in love and woman because it was in his nature or because he made himself this way, but I always thought it was a huge part of his personally that the only person he let in his life was Watson, and even he wasn't treated nicely simply because it wasn't in Sherlock's nature. Periode.
Now about this book. As I read Doctor Anton Kronberg is actually a woman I was thrilled. A female protagonist who meets the infamous Sherlock Holmes who has no idea who she is. And that is where I was completely mistaken. Already on page 16 of 238 Holmes figured out who she was. Well, Sherlock is good, but the way it was written already threw me completely of guard. Anna just assumed Sherlock knew by the way he looked at her, confronting him herself. I seriously tried to let it slip, but then I thought, if she went through all the hassle of everything to become a doctor, why just throwing this secret out like it was nothing? I should have stopped reading the story right there because it only got worse, and that while the case itself was quite intriguing, I give the author that much. But having Anna reading one of Sherlock's cases that was written by Watson and Anna complaining about the details Watson focused on rather than the oh so obvious clues he was given and never noticed himself, made me furious seeing we got to read every time Anna poured 'hot water over the expensive tea leaves'.
Maybe I'm too defending when it comes to Sherlock Holmes, but this story was too much for my taste and to be honest it felt more like a Mary Sue fanfiction