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wardenred's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Although his public, formal manners were perfect, as angels' manners always were, I had discovered that he had no real understanding of how to treat someone with whom he did not have a strictly defined, formal relationship. I often caught him staring at me as if he had simply no idea what to do with the fact of my existence. It was not that he disliked me or that he did not wish us to be friends. He simply had no idea how and in some ways only the vaguest conception that the thing was possible at all.
Well, this was... certainly different from The Goblin Emperor, which happens to be one of my favorite books ever.
I did know, going in, that this was a Sherlock Holmes retelling. I figured that maybe, since it's been years since I last cracked open a Conan Doyle book, my recollection of the specifics of the crimes would be dim enough for me to still enjoy the plot. Apparently, my memory functions are faring better than I thought. Even with all the supernatural twists and the addition of an overarching storyline connecting the familiar investigation, the plot was incredibly predictable and I had trouble focusing on the plotty bits. Er... on most of the book.
I did enjoy the moments that were focused more on character interactions. Addison's version of Moriarty is now officially my favorite, and Crow—the Sherlock stand-in—is a compelling character, as well. Most of all, I enjoyed the parts that explored the setting. As I said in one earlier review of another book (The Bear and the Nightingale), the setting alone isn't enough to carry the story for me, but in this case, combined with interesting characters, it at least held my attention. I strongly feel that this version of Victorian London with all its angels and vampires and hemophages and hellhounds deserves a book with its own original plot that focuses on fully exploring what this world has to offer. I hope to read it someday.
My favorite moment was the conversation that revealed the characters' queerness. Like some reviews I've seen state, it did come pretty much out of the blue and it didn't influence anything much. However, that's precisely what I loved it. I always enjoy stories where queer characters get to just, you know, exist and do stuff and not have parts of their fictional lives turn into educational pamphlets. There doesn't have to be a point to a character being queer any more than there needs to be a point to a character being straight. If you don't ask questions like, "But what was the point of X being cishet? It doesn't add anything to the story!", you shouldn't ask these questions about characters who are trans, or ace, or gay, or queer in any other way. That's my hill, I'm prepared to die on it. :)
Overall, however, I'm sad to say I didn't enjoy the book very much. I did enjoy the parts of it that belonged to Katherine Addison's imagination and not the one that came from Conan Doyle's stories. I'll say it again: this world and these characters deserve something uniquely their own.
Read for the following September 2020 readathons:
- Monsterathon: Mystery
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Physical abuse
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