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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Non sto dicendo che questo sia un brutto libro, anzi, l'ho trovato carino, scorrevole, lo stile ricorda davvero quello di Conan Doyle e sembra davvero di star leggendo il suo John Watson.
Solo che... non so, mi aspettavo di più? Specialmente nella seconda parte. Non chiedevo e non volevo assolutamente niente di troppo esplicito, ma non so, mi sembra che manchi di qualcosa. Forse sarebbe stato bello vedere un accenno della loro "nuova" vita insieme.
Devo dire di aver letto fanfiction migliori, ecco. Non che questo libro lo sia. Magari un pochino?
Solo che... non so, mi aspettavo di più? Specialmente nella seconda parte. Non chiedevo e non volevo assolutamente niente di troppo esplicito, ma non so, mi sembra che manchi di qualcosa. Forse sarebbe stato bello vedere un accenno della loro "nuova" vita insieme.
Devo dire di aver letto fanfiction migliori, ecco. Non che questo libro lo sia. Magari un pochino?
A lesson worth learning: it's often not worth paying for what the internet does better elsewhere for free.
Some exquisite pining and lovely gay!Watson and asexual!Holmes (maybe? the author seemed a bit unclear) and mysteries revolving around unspoken sexuality, but you give me that much pining, that much devastation at Reichenbach, and all you leave me with is a single kiss and "then we moved back into Baker Street and solved lots of mysteries" and "solved lots of mysteries" isn't even a dodgy euphemism? No, I think not.
Yes, yes, I fully believe in the possibility of a happy platonic ending for Holmes and Watson, even this Holmes and Watson, but you don't give me all that angst and wrap it up with a single kiss and some platonic fondness.
Party foul, I say. Thank god for the rest of the internet.
Some exquisite pining and lovely gay!Watson and asexual!Holmes (maybe? the author seemed a bit unclear) and mysteries revolving around unspoken sexuality, but you give me that much pining, that much devastation at Reichenbach, and all you leave me with is a single kiss and "then we moved back into Baker Street and solved lots of mysteries" and "solved lots of mysteries" isn't even a dodgy euphemism? No, I think not.
Yes, yes, I fully believe in the possibility of a happy platonic ending for Holmes and Watson, even this Holmes and Watson, but you don't give me all that angst and wrap it up with a single kiss and some platonic fondness.
Party foul, I say. Thank god for the rest of the internet.
Sweet, understated, and very well-written. My biggest issue was the wholly unsympathetic portrayal of Mycroft, combined with Watson frequently noting how fat and unappealing he is. The other canon characters were great, though, and I loved Q.B. Wish there was more!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A 3.5 for the very realistic account of what it would have been if Holmes and Watson were truly feeling more than friendship. Huge sympathy for Watson but also a frustration and empathy for Holmes. If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes of any sort I would give it a read. The mystery is obvious to me but I didn't mind that. It was the story going on inside it that I was interested in and it was a wonderful end.
I said to Paul, "This is the best book written in the history of literature," and I meant every word of it. Every sentence is incredibly satisfying, if you love angst. And my god do I love angst
First of all, THANK YOU to Goodreads and Rohase Piercy for sending this to me as a giveaway prize. I have legit wanted to read this for, like, probably 10 years? Ever since I first got super obsessed (as opposed to low-key obsessed) with Sherlock Holmes, and in particular with the Holmes/Watson dynamic.
I distinctly remember reading the Holmes canon back in 6th grade and declaring to my classmates that he and Watson must be in love. This was before I knew I was queer myself, and right before my obsessive shipping days of Remus/Sirius frenzy began (remember HMS Wolfstar? I sure do), so at the time it was more of a passing comment than anything I had a clear conviction on, or personal stake in. But I saw it then, and despite the scorn and ridicule it earned me from my fellow 11-year-olds, I stood by it.
Then, in college, after a Bad Thing happened, Sherlock Holmes became my salvation. I read the stories over and over. I memorized all of the abbreviations and consulted all of the (many) scholarly timelines. I read essays and books and, of course, fanfiction. And the romance between Holmes and Watson, their slow-burn, steady, all-encompassing love for each other, got me through that time more than anything else did-- when I had trouble trusting or believing in anyone.
All of which is to say: I ship it.
Piercy published this originally back in 1988, which is insane. (For reference, it was 2001 when I insisted on queering Holmes in 6th grade and was bullied mercilessly for it-- imagine how much worse it would have been 15 years earlier.) And of course, people went crazy and clutched their pearls and screamed about the children exactly as much as you would expect. But I think it must have been a huge relief for the people like me, who had seen it from the beginning, who had felt seen and heard and validated by it, who had needed that icon, that iconic relationship, to be something they could be a part of.
So in that sense, this book is a tour de force.
As a pastiche, it's a good read, with skillful writing and pretty good characterization. I did find Piercy's Watson slightly too self-conscious and awkward for my tastes-- I suppose it makes sense considering the subject matter of the book (namely, Watson coming to terms with his feelings for Holmes), but it did feel somewhat off from the narration of the originals, where Watson is a pretty confident man even when Holmes is being an ass to him. There were a few moments where my second-hand embarrassment squick kicked in and I had to jump ahead a page or two just to ensure it got smoothed out. But for the most part, this was pretty minor, and the second half of the book in particular (circa FINA) was lovely. (Although she did remove one of my favorite canon moments, darn it!)
I do think the mystery was, well, not quite up to Doyle's par. It was pretty obvious to me exactly what was happening there from the beginning, which wouldn't have been an issue (I wasn't reading for the mystery anyway) except that it contributed to my overall sense of Watson being just slightly, well, more Bruce-like than I would have wanted. For the record, this applies only to the first half of the book, as the second does away with the mystery element altogether-- which I frankly preferred.
Overall, I'm just so thrilled to finally get a chance to read-- and own!-- this landmark book, which serves as a piece of history in its own right for the Sherlock Holmes legend, not to mention for the LGBTQ+ movement. And thank you again to the author, whose other books I'm definitely going to go check out.
I distinctly remember reading the Holmes canon back in 6th grade and declaring to my classmates that he and Watson must be in love. This was before I knew I was queer myself, and right before my obsessive shipping days of Remus/Sirius frenzy began (remember HMS Wolfstar? I sure do), so at the time it was more of a passing comment than anything I had a clear conviction on, or personal stake in. But I saw it then, and despite the scorn and ridicule it earned me from my fellow 11-year-olds, I stood by it.
Then, in college, after a Bad Thing happened, Sherlock Holmes became my salvation. I read the stories over and over. I memorized all of the abbreviations and consulted all of the (many) scholarly timelines. I read essays and books and, of course, fanfiction. And the romance between Holmes and Watson, their slow-burn, steady, all-encompassing love for each other, got me through that time more than anything else did-- when I had trouble trusting or believing in anyone.
All of which is to say: I ship it.
Piercy published this originally back in 1988, which is insane. (For reference, it was 2001 when I insisted on queering Holmes in 6th grade and was bullied mercilessly for it-- imagine how much worse it would have been 15 years earlier.) And of course, people went crazy and clutched their pearls and screamed about the children exactly as much as you would expect. But I think it must have been a huge relief for the people like me, who had seen it from the beginning, who had felt seen and heard and validated by it, who had needed that icon, that iconic relationship, to be something they could be a part of.
So in that sense, this book is a tour de force.
As a pastiche, it's a good read, with skillful writing and pretty good characterization. I did find Piercy's Watson slightly too self-conscious and awkward for my tastes-- I suppose it makes sense considering the subject matter of the book (namely, Watson coming to terms with his feelings for Holmes), but it did feel somewhat off from the narration of the originals, where Watson is a pretty confident man even when Holmes is being an ass to him. There were a few moments where my second-hand embarrassment squick kicked in and I had to jump ahead a page or two just to ensure it got smoothed out. But for the most part, this was pretty minor, and the second half of the book in particular (circa FINA) was lovely. (Although she did remove one of my favorite canon moments, darn it!)
I do think the mystery was, well, not quite up to Doyle's par. It was pretty obvious to me exactly what was happening there from the beginning, which wouldn't have been an issue (I wasn't reading for the mystery anyway) except that it contributed to my overall sense of Watson being just slightly, well, more Bruce-like than I would have wanted. For the record, this applies only to the first half of the book, as the second does away with the mystery element altogether-- which I frankly preferred.
Overall, I'm just so thrilled to finally get a chance to read-- and own!-- this landmark book, which serves as a piece of history in its own right for the Sherlock Holmes legend, not to mention for the LGBTQ+ movement. And thank you again to the author, whose other books I'm definitely going to go check out.
