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ariaunarae's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of those rare novels that met all of your priorities when looking for your perfect book. This book was not a light read. It was intense and captured your attention from page 1. Character development was written very well and the characters were amazing. The main character, Rachel, or as some people call her, Watts, is an amazing person. She is down to earth and so....real. She wasn't scared to say her opinion and she did what she wanted. A real take-charge type of person. The other main character, James, or as everyone calls him, Mycroft, is an amazing roll model (most of the time).
He is a very.....different character. He is not like most boys that you would read about. He is his own person completely and that is to be appreciated. He was definitely my favourite character. The romance was very good in it as well. You could tell when the feelings began to spark between them. They are really good together, in my opinion.
This book was not at all what I expected. It was way better. This is a breath of fresh air. It really gives you an aspect on how others in the world live. It was detailed well. 100% for me.
I recommend this book to any mystery lovers and romance junkies!
He is a very.....different character. He is not like most boys that you would read about. He is his own person completely and that is to be appreciated. He was definitely my favourite character. The romance was very good in it as well. You could tell when the feelings began to spark between them. They are really good together, in my opinion.
This book was not at all what I expected. It was way better. This is a breath of fresh air. It really gives you an aspect on how others in the world live. It was detailed well. 100% for me.
I recommend this book to any mystery lovers and romance junkies!
sam_hartwig's review against another edition
5.0
Such a captivating story with a modern twist to that detective everyone loves so much. I was sucked in from the first few pages. Ellie Marney has a fantastic way of capturing Melbourne so that I could picture every detail in my mind so clearly.
Rachel Watts is a fresh, new type of character who I liked straight away! A country girl trying to fit in while in the big city. The romance between Mycroft and Watts was something, after hearing reviews, that I was looking forward to and boy was I happy with what I got. It slowly crept up on me, it happened so quickly and all of a sudden I was left feeling all warm and gooey inside.
There was also a lot of depth to both Mycroft and Watts. Their friendship is something I savoured and enjoyed. I was learning things about them that they were finding out for themselves and because of this I could really connect with them.
The grisly murder that kick starts Mycroft and Watts into a duo detective team was developed perfectly. Little tastes of what may have happened were ever so slowly revealed until the most unlikely character is found out. I liked how the whole story seemed real, I didn't think while reading that certain things they were doing seemed too ridiculous. I believed that two teenagers can solve a murder. Although there is quite a unique and frightening escape made by Mycroft and Watts at the end which I found to be a bit unbelievable, but I can let that slide because it was so quirky. (there are others books in the series so I'm not giving any spoilers away by telling you they lived!)
I have heard even better things about "Every Word", so I'll have my magnifying glass ready. I fell into this book head first hoping and wishing for it to be wonderful, and I got that and SO much more! The game's afoot and I never want it to end!
Also on my blog
Rachel Watts is a fresh, new type of character who I liked straight away! A country girl trying to fit in while in the big city. The romance between Mycroft and Watts was something, after hearing reviews, that I was looking forward to and boy was I happy with what I got. It slowly crept up on me, it happened so quickly and all of a sudden I was left feeling all warm and gooey inside.
There was also a lot of depth to both Mycroft and Watts. Their friendship is something I savoured and enjoyed. I was learning things about them that they were finding out for themselves and because of this I could really connect with them.
The grisly murder that kick starts Mycroft and Watts into a duo detective team was developed perfectly. Little tastes of what may have happened were ever so slowly revealed until the most unlikely character is found out. I liked how the whole story seemed real, I didn't think while reading that certain things they were doing seemed too ridiculous. I believed that two teenagers can solve a murder. Although there is quite a unique and frightening escape made by Mycroft and Watts at the end which I found to be a bit unbelievable, but I can let that slide because it was so quirky. (there are others books in the series so I'm not giving any spoilers away by telling you they lived!)
I have heard even better things about "Every Word", so I'll have my magnifying glass ready. I fell into this book head first hoping and wishing for it to be wonderful, and I got that and SO much more! The game's afoot and I never want it to end!
Also on my blog
laurasauras's review against another edition
5.0
Somehow, despite the strong writing, the references to Melbourne and the country that I know gave me the impression that this book would not be surprising. I was enjoying it from the start, but didn't expect to be wow'ed.
And then, all at once, I knew I had been tricked, knew that I had trusted my protagonists to be able to figure out the mystery and never doubted their abilities. The conclusion was intense, dramatic, and made me start reading it when I had only a minute to spare, just so I could see what would happen in the next couple of sentences.
Regarding romance, it never felt forced. I could empathise with being attracted to a friend and being more than happy with nothing coming out of it lest it ruin the friendship, and I completely believed the electricity between the characters. I liked the casual references to the Mai and Gus' utter attraction to each other too; they are constantly aware of each other in a way that teenage couples tend to be, hanging out for the next opportunity to give in to their impulses.
An excellent book! So glad I read it, and definitely recommending it as an example of Australian genius.
And then, all at once, I knew I had been tricked, knew that I had trusted my protagonists to be able to figure out the mystery and never doubted their abilities. The conclusion was intense, dramatic, and made me start reading it when I had only a minute to spare, just so I could see what would happen in the next couple of sentences.
Regarding romance, it never felt forced. I could empathise with being attracted to a friend and being more than happy with nothing coming out of it lest it ruin the friendship, and I completely believed the electricity between the characters. I liked the casual references to the Mai and Gus' utter attraction to each other too; they are constantly aware of each other in a way that teenage couples tend to be, hanging out for the next opportunity to give in to their impulses.
An excellent book! So glad I read it, and definitely recommending it as an example of Australian genius.
stephxsu's review against another edition
3.0
I think I would’ve liked this book a lot more if I hadn’t approached it with the expectation that it was a “teenage Sherlock Holmes.”
Similarities to the “essence of Sherlock”: there’s a guy whose last name is Mycroft and a girl, Rachel, whose last name is Watts. Mycroft is smart, but socially inept. Like Sherlock, Mycroft is prone to doing stupid, offensive, and/or outrageous things that the reader is supposed to overlook on account of them being “expressions of brilliance.” Rachel holds her own in smarts and yet is somehow, inexplicably, illogically stuck on Mycroft because of course your first reaction if your new friend is constantly getting in trouble with the school principal is to stick by his side.
I would have been fine with this premise, shortcomings of the original aside, if EVERY BREATH hadn’t tried to add more layers to the tale. There’s the romantic tension aspect between Rachel and Mycroft, of course. I get that Sherlock Holmes has Byronic appeal, and Watson’s against-all-logic loyalty for Holmes can lead one to many (b)romantic musings. (Holmes-Watson fanfic, anyone?) This surfaces again and again in other works inspired by Sherlock Holmes. The older Holmes character in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series does not always remain securely in a paternal role to Mary. The TV show Elementary even makes Watson a woman (and Sherlock a really hot man) just to open that can of worms / realm of possibility further.
Through it all, though, Holmes and Watson’s relationship has always remained pure: a professional working relationship that worms its way into Holmes’ emotionally inept heart. If there’s any sexual or romantic tension to be had, it’s pretty much all in your head.
That’s why they call it fiction.
And I like that kind of fiction. Imagining it has so much more “scope for the imagination” than seeing it printed.
So, reading about Watts’ physical reactions to Mycroft’s lanky, tall, messy-haired, electric-blue-eyed body felt almost…dirty, since I was trying to hold this image of a pure Holmes-and-Watson relationship in my mind.
But what was even more jarring for me was the subplot about Rachel’s splintering family and their bumpy adjustment to city life after their farm forecloses. Rachel was already getting on my nerves with her drawn-out, near-hysterical reactions to discovering the body. (Side note: Inner Editor REALLY wanted to ask for a rewrite of the first half of the book. Too much near-fainting! Too much recalling the night of finding the body! Drag, drag, drag.) Then, whenever she is in a scene with any family member, it’s all drama this, drama that, fight here, fight there. Call me out of touch with the feelings of teenagers (I guess I am an adult now *cries*), but when I am expecting a Sherlock Holmes-esque book, I want ACTION and DEDUCTION and PWNAGE and not family soap opera.
And that is the problem with using comparisons to classics as your marketing strategy. Any new element added—no matter how well done—will cause your hackles to rise as you internally defend your love for the original. So, in the end, EVERY BREATH was actually more well-written than many books out there, but I was anticipating a certain set of elements that I associate with Sherlock Holmes so much that I couldn’t put them aside to appreciate Mycroft and Watts’ story for itself.
Final words: EVERY BREATH is a good read for fans of Sherlock Holmes. It is NOT—repeat, NOT—a YA version of Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft is not Sherlock. Rachel is not Watson. (And it took me until I typed those words to finally realize that.) Adjusting your expectations in this way could make a big difference as to how much you let Rachel and Mycroft into your heart.
Similarities to the “essence of Sherlock”: there’s a guy whose last name is Mycroft and a girl, Rachel, whose last name is Watts. Mycroft is smart, but socially inept. Like Sherlock, Mycroft is prone to doing stupid, offensive, and/or outrageous things that the reader is supposed to overlook on account of them being “expressions of brilliance.” Rachel holds her own in smarts and yet is somehow, inexplicably, illogically stuck on Mycroft because of course your first reaction if your new friend is constantly getting in trouble with the school principal is to stick by his side.
I would have been fine with this premise, shortcomings of the original aside, if EVERY BREATH hadn’t tried to add more layers to the tale. There’s the romantic tension aspect between Rachel and Mycroft, of course. I get that Sherlock Holmes has Byronic appeal, and Watson’s against-all-logic loyalty for Holmes can lead one to many (b)romantic musings. (Holmes-Watson fanfic, anyone?) This surfaces again and again in other works inspired by Sherlock Holmes. The older Holmes character in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series does not always remain securely in a paternal role to Mary. The TV show Elementary even makes Watson a woman (and Sherlock a really hot man) just to open that can of worms / realm of possibility further.
Through it all, though, Holmes and Watson’s relationship has always remained pure: a professional working relationship that worms its way into Holmes’ emotionally inept heart. If there’s any sexual or romantic tension to be had, it’s pretty much all in your head.
That’s why they call it fiction.
And I like that kind of fiction. Imagining it has so much more “scope for the imagination” than seeing it printed.
So, reading about Watts’ physical reactions to Mycroft’s lanky, tall, messy-haired, electric-blue-eyed body felt almost…dirty, since I was trying to hold this image of a pure Holmes-and-Watson relationship in my mind.
But what was even more jarring for me was the subplot about Rachel’s splintering family and their bumpy adjustment to city life after their farm forecloses. Rachel was already getting on my nerves with her drawn-out, near-hysterical reactions to discovering the body. (Side note: Inner Editor REALLY wanted to ask for a rewrite of the first half of the book. Too much near-fainting! Too much recalling the night of finding the body! Drag, drag, drag.) Then, whenever she is in a scene with any family member, it’s all drama this, drama that, fight here, fight there. Call me out of touch with the feelings of teenagers (I guess I am an adult now *cries*), but when I am expecting a Sherlock Holmes-esque book, I want ACTION and DEDUCTION and PWNAGE and not family soap opera.
And that is the problem with using comparisons to classics as your marketing strategy. Any new element added—no matter how well done—will cause your hackles to rise as you internally defend your love for the original. So, in the end, EVERY BREATH was actually more well-written than many books out there, but I was anticipating a certain set of elements that I associate with Sherlock Holmes so much that I couldn’t put them aside to appreciate Mycroft and Watts’ story for itself.
Final words: EVERY BREATH is a good read for fans of Sherlock Holmes. It is NOT—repeat, NOT—a YA version of Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft is not Sherlock. Rachel is not Watson. (And it took me until I typed those words to finally realize that.) Adjusting your expectations in this way could make a big difference as to how much you let Rachel and Mycroft into your heart.
netflix_and_lil's review against another edition
5.0
This book changed how I wrote. This book improved the way I wrote. Ellie Marney is a beautiful human being and her stories will always hold a special place in my heart, even if I've moved on from the genre as a whole. Enola Holmes who?
bookishmadness's review against another edition
4.0
What I thought: There are so many Holmes-esque things out there these days - BBC's Sherlock, CBS's Elementary, the two Robert Downey Jnr. films, Anthony Horowitz's new Sherlock story - and now we have a Young Adult adaptation, which doesn't do too badly. Personally, I can't get enough of Sherlock Holmes and all the different adaptations out there, and now Ellie Marney's series can be adding to my list. Sure, some of it is quite unrealistic, but if you look past that, Every Breath is a really enjoyable story. Rachel Watts has moved from the country to the big city of Melbourne and despite the friends she's made, she doesn't like it at all. She longs to be back on her old farm, doing manual labour that would make any girl cry. James Mycroft is an eccentric genius, with a tragic past and throughout the book there is plenty of references to Holmes and Watson.
There adventure is full of danger and gruesome work, but the dynamic duo have their mind set on solving a murder case, and nothing can get in their way. Plus it must be easy work when you have a genius with amazing observational skills by your side.
James and Rachel's detective work is reasonable, and logical, and doesn't stretch the boundaries of realism too much. But my most favourite part of this story is the fact that Watts and Mycroft have a really strong attraction - about damn in my opinion! What's even better is Marney giving us a series of books rather than just a stand-alone, and I for one cannot wait!
The Good: The Watts/Mycroft romance trumped all for me!
The Bad: A few parts left me shaking my head, thinking that wouldn't really happen.
Rating: 4 bookstacks
There adventure is full of danger and gruesome work, but the dynamic duo have their mind set on solving a murder case, and nothing can get in their way. Plus it must be easy work when you have a genius with amazing observational skills by your side.
James and Rachel's detective work is reasonable, and logical, and doesn't stretch the boundaries of realism too much. But my most favourite part of this story is the fact that Watts and Mycroft have a really strong attraction - about damn in my opinion! What's even better is Marney giving us a series of books rather than just a stand-alone, and I for one cannot wait!
The Good: The Watts/Mycroft romance trumped all for me!
The Bad: A few parts left me shaking my head, thinking that wouldn't really happen.
Rating: 4 bookstacks
steph01924's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars!
The whole 'we're not actually incarnations of Sherlock characters, because Sherlock is a thing in the world, but we're very, very similar' kind of bothered me a bit (it felt needlessly complicated. Like, for some reason James Mycroft is supposed to be our Sherlock - then why give him two names of other characters from the book/show?), but eventually I just said, "Screw it" and went along with it.
The mystery itself was also not super complicated and I guessed who the murderer was the first time we met them, but the story was really more about Rachel and Mycroft and their internal struggles (and their hot kisses). The romance was definitely my favorite thing about the book, and I wouldn't mind reading the other two to see what happens next.
The whole 'we're not actually incarnations of Sherlock characters, because Sherlock is a thing in the world, but we're very, very similar' kind of bothered me a bit (it felt needlessly complicated. Like, for some reason James Mycroft is supposed to be our Sherlock - then why give him two names of other characters from the book/show?), but eventually I just said, "Screw it" and went along with it.
The mystery itself was also not super complicated and I guessed who the murderer was the first time we met them, but the story was really more about Rachel and Mycroft and their internal struggles (and their hot kisses). The romance was definitely my favorite thing about the book, and I wouldn't mind reading the other two to see what happens next.
wsm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Violence, and Death
esshgee's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this fast-paced story set in Melbourne...apart from the smooshy romantic bits.