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rubarb05's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
booksthatburn's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
A CASE OF MADNESS opens with Andrew, Sherlock Holmes scholar, losing his job. This news would probably have hit him harder if he weren't already ignoring the possibility that he might have cancer. Soon after, he disrupts a gaybashing and is disoriented to find that the man he rescued wants to keep seeing him, despite having his own romantic complications. Tangling things further, the whole time Andrew is hallucinating Sherlock Holmes, unsure where this apparition lies along the possibilities of complete figment to plural alter.
Haltingly, Andrew tilts from panic to panic, coming out as gay for the first time and starting to deal with things left unsaid from his past. While this is a romance, much of it focuses on Andrew trying to get his shit together so that he can be in a relationship at all. This happens by way of solving a case with the Sherlock Holmes in his head, where one crucial step is figuring out what the focus of the case actually is.
While I would not want this level of stress from every book I read, I am very glad I read this one. My stress was largely from deeply relating to Andrew, even though his overlap with myself is small. When things go awry in real life, they can dissolve into stress and chaos through a series of unrelated terrible things that aren't causally connected, but happen all at once through terrible coincidences of timing. This is a feeling that good books rarely achieve, because of narrative constraints to keep all the bad things connected to the plot and maintaining some kind of purpose. A CASE OF MADNESS engenders a feeling of overwhelm in the reader, mimicking that which is felt by the protagonist in a way that feels closer to real life than most stories tend to manage, all without losing the plot.
A CASE OF MADNESS opens with Andrew, Sherlock Holmes scholar, losing his job. This news would probably have hit him harder if he weren't already ignoring the possibility that he might have cancer. Soon after, he disrupts a gaybashing and is disoriented to find that the man he rescued wants to keep seeing him, despite having his own romantic complications. Tangling things further, the whole time Andrew is hallucinating Sherlock Holmes, unsure where this apparition lies along the possibilities of complete figment to plural alter.
Haltingly, Andrew tilts from panic to panic, coming out as gay for the first time and starting to deal with things left unsaid from his past. While this is a romance, much of it focuses on Andrew trying to get his shit together so that he can be in a relationship at all. This happens by way of solving a case with the Sherlock Holmes in his head, where one crucial step is figuring out what the focus of the case actually is.
While I would not want this level of stress from every book I read, I am very glad I read this one. My stress was largely from deeply relating to Andrew, even though his overlap with myself is small. When things go awry in real life, they can dissolve into stress and chaos through a series of unrelated terrible things that aren't causally connected, but happen all at once through terrible coincidences of timing. This is a feeling that good books rarely achieve, because of narrative constraints to keep all the bad things connected to the plot and maintaining some kind of purpose. A CASE OF MADNESS engenders a feeling of overwhelm in the reader, mimicking that which is felt by the protagonist in a way that feels closer to real life than most stories tend to manage, all without losing the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Homophobia, Violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Cursing, Drug use, Car accident, Medical content, and Blood
Minor: Eating disorder, Colonisation, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Ableism, Infidelity, Body shaming, Vomit, and Fatphobia
hedonicbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, this book! This book right here is a precious, underrated, little gem that needs to be added to everyone's TBR.
I really want to do the book justice and write an intelligent review, but my brain won't cooperate today. So here's some rambling instead.
I love how clever this story is. It's also so freaking funny (I don't think I've ever saved so many lines in a book before), and sprinkled with several deeper emotions like fear, sadness, regret or shame.
I read somewhere that this is a Sherlock Holmes retelling, but even if we get a lot of great info about the detective and his cases/life and Andrew's relationship with Mina (his best friend) is reminiscent of the Sherlock/Watson dynamic, I didn't see it as that. I actually thought of it as a self discovery/coming to terms with your sexuality journey.
The main character, Andrew, is the most precious human ever. He's extremely introverted, he hates socialising, he has cancer, he's just got fired from his job, and on top of that, he's hallucinating and trying to solve a case with Sherlock Holmes himself. I think that idea was brilliant, honestly. To have Andrew's fictional hero as the catalyst and main device for this journey of self acceptance.
I did have a bit of trouble with the insta love vibes that I was getting from Andrew and Matt, but I decided it wasn't a major inconvenience. I do wish Matt was a little bit more fleshed out as a character, though. Because he is a sweetheart and he deserves the world.
I really want to do the book justice and write an intelligent review, but my brain won't cooperate today. So here's some rambling instead.
I love how clever this story is. It's also so freaking funny (I don't think I've ever saved so many lines in a book before), and sprinkled with several deeper emotions like fear, sadness, regret or shame.
I read somewhere that this is a Sherlock Holmes retelling, but even if we get a lot of great info about the detective and his cases/life and Andrew's relationship with Mina (his best friend) is reminiscent of the Sherlock/Watson dynamic, I didn't see it as that. I actually thought of it as a self discovery/coming to terms with your sexuality journey.
The main character, Andrew, is the most precious human ever. He's extremely introverted, he hates socialising, he has cancer, he's just got fired from his job, and on top of that, he's hallucinating and trying to solve a case with Sherlock Holmes himself. I think that idea was brilliant, honestly. To have Andrew's fictional hero as the catalyst and main device for this journey of self acceptance.
I did have a bit of trouble with the insta love vibes that I was getting from Andrew and Matt, but I decided it wasn't a major inconvenience. I do wish Matt was a little bit more fleshed out as a character, though. Because he is a sweetheart and he deserves the world.
jpdubs's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars! What a great surprise this book was! I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. Andrew, the main character, is so quirky and endearing. I just wanted to know if he had a happy ending. This has been, so far, the most "can't put down" book this year.
Sometimes I scoff when I read a summary where a character has a list of issues because it feels like the author is trying to appeal to so many marginalized groups without being genuine. This book does not feel like that at all. Andrew is closeted gay, has cancer, has been fired from his job, and starts hallucinating Sherlock Holmes. But this book is truly about accepting yourself, finding it within yourself to see you deserve love, and learning to live. The romance was a bit of instant love, but it was cute and fit the fast-paced of the book. I wish we had a little more romance before the end, but it was still delightful.
I do wish the ending had a bit more of what happened next. I wanted to know how the illness progresses and if Andrew gets the physical and mental help he needs. Also, Overall, a great read, and I would love to return to these characters again.
Sometimes I scoff when I read a summary where a character has a list of issues because it feels like the author is trying to appeal to so many marginalized groups without being genuine. This book does not feel like that at all. Andrew is closeted gay, has cancer, has been fired from his job, and starts hallucinating Sherlock Holmes. But this book is truly about accepting yourself, finding it within yourself to see you deserve love, and learning to live. The romance was a bit of instant love, but it was cute and fit the fast-paced of the book. I wish we had a little more romance before the end, but it was still delightful.
I do wish the ending had a bit more of what happened next. I wanted to know how the illness progresses and if Andrew gets the physical and mental help he needs. Also,
Spoiler
we never learn what caused the Sherlock delusion, if it was caused by his cancer or something else.booknerdiechris_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
nathanae88's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt
bardbrojosh's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Yvonne Knop for an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.
I should start with saying i haven't read any Sherlock before (however i have seen their stories in other media) but after reading this story it has definitely got me interested in checking out the original stories themselves.
Back to this book though, i had a very good time reading it and was surprised by how deep it managed to reach me. The characters were endearing and felt like real people you would meet and as a gay man, the struggles with identity and love felt all too real. I would be very interested in checking out future work by this writer.
I should start with saying i haven't read any Sherlock before (however i have seen their stories in other media) but after reading this story it has definitely got me interested in checking out the original stories themselves.
Back to this book though, i had a very good time reading it and was surprised by how deep it managed to reach me. The characters were endearing and felt like real people you would meet and as a gay man, the struggles with identity and love felt all too real. I would be very interested in checking out future work by this writer.
jaznbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Omg this book was so good. I loved it. I laughed and I cried. The romance, the comedy, the characters and plot were all written so well. Andrew was such a relatable character. I was really able to connect with him. This book was so sweet and I just love the concepts.
momankara's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.
This a romance about a man who's imagining that Sherlock Holmes is helping him work through some things (including coming out). It is lighthearted and feels a little bit retro as far as gay romances go. I'm not sure the Sherlock thing works because the imagined character is not very "Sherlockian," (not a word) and the mystery part isn't much of a mystery. The rest of the characters are lovely, and it feels true to the emotional state of someone who has to work through powerful emotions in order to find happiness.
This a romance about a man who's imagining that Sherlock Holmes is helping him work through some things (including coming out). It is lighthearted and feels a little bit retro as far as gay romances go. I'm not sure the Sherlock thing works because the imagined character is not very "Sherlockian," (not a word) and the mystery part isn't much of a mystery. The rest of the characters are lovely, and it feels true to the emotional state of someone who has to work through powerful emotions in order to find happiness.
lets_cry_about_books's review against another edition
4.0
First and foremost, I want to say that if you love Sherlock Holmes, you’re absolutely going to adore this book!
I personally had a bit of a slow start with it, because I have no connection to Sherlock Holmes and found it all a bit too philosophical? Which also made it very hard for me to connect to the main character, Andrew.
BUT! This comes down to my personal taste, and not to how good this book is…
What did eventually pull me in when I was close to giving up, was the love story and the love interests’ friends! I kinda wish we had gotten them a lot sooner in the book
I personally had a bit of a slow start with it, because I have no connection to Sherlock Holmes and found it all a bit too philosophical? Which also made it very hard for me to connect to the main character, Andrew.
BUT! This comes down to my personal taste, and not to how good this book is…
What did eventually pull me in when I was close to giving up, was the love story and the love interests’ friends! I kinda wish we had gotten them a lot sooner in the book