Scan barcode
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
kays_reading_journal's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
“People like you keep me alive. Without you, I would only be a figure pressed between yellowed pages. I owe you my life.”
This book is so many things wrapped into one. It’s a book for Holmes lovers, it’s a romance, it’s a ghost story, its heavy, and it’s about becoming your true self. The characters were rich and well developed. The plot was easy to follow while also being surprising and intriguing. I truly enjoyed reading this.
We meet Andrew during a mid-life crisis, when absolutely everything is going wrong. But Sherlock Holmes shows up to help him solve the case of himself.
I enjoyed that even the side characters were well developed. Despite the book only being from Andrews pov, you still get a really strong sense of all the cast. I really enjoyed the plot too: the mystery of the note, the romance subplot, and everything that Andrew deals with. If you’re wondering, the romance came into play heavily about 40% in.
I did find the dialogue hard to follow at times, it felt like I just didn’t understand the discussion, but for most of the novel this wasn’t an issue.
Overall, if you enjoy Speculative Fiction, coming of age, a mid-life crisis, or romance sub-plots, I think you should give this book a try!
Thank you to NetGalley, Improbable Press, and Yvonne Knop for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley, Improbable Press, and Yvonne Knop for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction and Terminal illness
More...