Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
* 2016 Reading Challenge // A book over 500 pages // Book 4 on TBR list
Long books are normally my favorite, they normally jam pack it from start to finish. This is not the case however, in this book. There are a lot of characters but the action is minimal and becomes very repetitive. The action doesn't outweigh the amount of self reflection the book presents of each character, which while a nice insight into their thoughts becomes boring and the same over analytical crap for some characters.
This book follows Evelina Cooper, Sherlock Holmes's niece as she navigates both a murder and the opening of the London season. Evelina is caught between two worlds, the Gypsy circus of her past and the gentry upbringing of her adopted grandmother's world. She hides her gypsy past, and even more importantly her inherent magic which is outlawed and punishable by death, from all those around her, save her best friend Imogen Roth who is clued in but not fully aware of how deep the connections go. The book continues to remind you of these two things continuously throughout the book, though their impact on the main story is not as important as you may be led to believe.
The plot has about 500 small branches (perhaps a slight exaggeration) that barely intersect each other and just make for an extra long book. Its as if the author couldn't decide which she liked best and decided all would make for an appropriate story that would hold interest through the numerous pages. I put the book down and read so many others during this read that I have probably forgotten some of the more minor details.
My favorite part was the budding relationship between Imogen and Bucky. There is no triangle, there is no endless pining, its very pure and cute and ahhh.
I didn't hate the book, but I wish a lot of the bull shit would have been cut out of it. I see no point in writing just so a book can be a high number of pages. Quality over quantity any day of the week.
Long books are normally my favorite, they normally jam pack it from start to finish. This is not the case however, in this book. There are a lot of characters but the action is minimal and becomes very repetitive. The action doesn't outweigh the amount of self reflection the book presents of each character, which while a nice insight into their thoughts becomes boring and the same over analytical crap for some characters.
This book follows Evelina Cooper, Sherlock Holmes's niece as she navigates both a murder and the opening of the London season. Evelina is caught between two worlds, the Gypsy circus of her past and the gentry upbringing of her adopted grandmother's world. She hides her gypsy past, and even more importantly her inherent magic which is outlawed and punishable by death, from all those around her, save her best friend Imogen Roth who is clued in but not fully aware of how deep the connections go. The book continues to remind you of these two things continuously throughout the book, though their impact on the main story is not as important as you may be led to believe.
The plot has about 500 small branches (perhaps a slight exaggeration) that barely intersect each other and just make for an extra long book. Its as if the author couldn't decide which she liked best and decided all would make for an appropriate story that would hold interest through the numerous pages. I put the book down and read so many others during this read that I have probably forgotten some of the more minor details.
My favorite part was the budding relationship between Imogen and Bucky. There is no triangle, there is no endless pining, its very pure and cute and ahhh.
I didn't hate the book, but I wish a lot of the bull shit would have been cut out of it. I see no point in writing just so a book can be a high number of pages. Quality over quantity any day of the week.
Evelina Cooper is a woman caught between two worlds. Her gently-raised mother scandalized society by marrying a circus performer. Both her parents died when she was young, and she was raised by her grandmother, a fortune teller in Ploughman's Paramount Circus. When she was around 12, her other grandmother took her away to provide her a proper education and teach her to be a lady. And, by the way, Evelina's uncle is none other than Sherlock Holmes.
Victorian Britain is controlled by "Steam Barons", powerful oligarchs who control through the supply of power to homes - cross the barons, and you may end up "disconnected" - in a house with no steam, no gas, and no coal. To maintain their control, the Barons use any method possible to stifle competition from possible upstart technology - such as electricity or the combustion engine.
In this envisioning of Steampunk London, magic also exists, but practicing magic is against the law. Anyone caught practicing magic could be tried and burned at the stake, or sent to a scientific institution where their abilities will be "studied."
Evelina is staying with Imogene Roth, a friend from school. Imogene is also the daughter of Lord Bancroft, a peer who chafes against the upstart Barons who control so much. Evelina has an interest in building little devices, such as mechanical animals. While it seems an innocent enough hobby, in the world of the Steam Barons it is one that can get her in a great deal of trouble.
Then a maid is murdered in Lord Bancroft's house. Evelina begins to discreetly investigate, using techniques taught to her by her famous uncle. The more she investigates the more tangled up she becomes in conspiracies and counter-conspiracies, as the aristocracy and the upstart Steam Barons squabble and struggle for control of the country. And then the mysterious Dr. Magnus appears. He claims to be a mesmerist, but Lord Bancroft appears to hate the man, and Evelina can sense dark magic about him
Besides the mystery, Evelina is also caught between two men - Nick - her childhood friend and a knife-thrower in Ploughman's Circus, and Tobias Roth - Imogene's older brother.
The story is well written and kept me riveted (and up too late as usual with good books). The world feels very well constructed and the characters are all likeable.
Victorian Britain is controlled by "Steam Barons", powerful oligarchs who control through the supply of power to homes - cross the barons, and you may end up "disconnected" - in a house with no steam, no gas, and no coal. To maintain their control, the Barons use any method possible to stifle competition from possible upstart technology - such as electricity or the combustion engine.
In this envisioning of Steampunk London, magic also exists, but practicing magic is against the law. Anyone caught practicing magic could be tried and burned at the stake, or sent to a scientific institution where their abilities will be "studied."
Evelina is staying with Imogene Roth, a friend from school. Imogene is also the daughter of Lord Bancroft, a peer who chafes against the upstart Barons who control so much. Evelina has an interest in building little devices, such as mechanical animals. While it seems an innocent enough hobby, in the world of the Steam Barons it is one that can get her in a great deal of trouble.
Then a maid is murdered in Lord Bancroft's house. Evelina begins to discreetly investigate, using techniques taught to her by her famous uncle. The more she investigates the more tangled up she becomes in conspiracies and counter-conspiracies, as the aristocracy and the upstart Steam Barons squabble and struggle for control of the country. And then the mysterious Dr. Magnus appears. He claims to be a mesmerist, but Lord Bancroft appears to hate the man, and Evelina can sense dark magic about him
Besides the mystery, Evelina is also caught between two men - Nick - her childhood friend and a knife-thrower in Ploughman's Circus, and Tobias Roth - Imogene's older brother.
The story is well written and kept me riveted (and up too late as usual with good books). The world feels very well constructed and the characters are all likeable.
“A Study in Silks” is one of those books with an awesome cover and premise that has the ability to disappoint since the very start.
I tried to like it. I really really tried, but not so long ago I’ve listened a read long audiobook that was king of disappointing. So when I saw the 21 hours of this one I just felt that it was too long. Maybe I should read the book, maybe is better than the audiobook. I don’t know. What I can say is that the pacing is really slow.
Holloway tries to bring the Sherlock mystery alive, but it fails. Mostly because of the characters. Don’t get fooled by the cover, Evelina is a boring main character. There are so many characters that she just get lost in the middle of a huge side cast. There is a love triangle with a rich and high society male and a poor and romani male, which was just a sad choice.
The plot is quite complicated to fully understand, because you follow multiple narratives of characters. There is political intrigue with multiple conspiracies and even the social status is not that obvious. There was all too much of too many things there.
Finally, I love the steampunk genre and I have nothing against magic in this kind of story, but Sherlock’s nice does magic? It felt just wrong to me. I DNF this book, so there’s not much I can criticise beyond the 38% I´ve heard, I started to feel more and more frustrated by the minute. So I just gave up.
I tried to like it. I really really tried, but not so long ago I’ve listened a read long audiobook that was king of disappointing. So when I saw the 21 hours of this one I just felt that it was too long. Maybe I should read the book, maybe is better than the audiobook. I don’t know. What I can say is that the pacing is really slow.
Holloway tries to bring the Sherlock mystery alive, but it fails. Mostly because of the characters. Don’t get fooled by the cover, Evelina is a boring main character. There are so many characters that she just get lost in the middle of a huge side cast. There is a love triangle with a rich and high society male and a poor and romani male, which was just a sad choice.
The plot is quite complicated to fully understand, because you follow multiple narratives of characters. There is political intrigue with multiple conspiracies and even the social status is not that obvious. There was all too much of too many things there.
Finally, I love the steampunk genre and I have nothing against magic in this kind of story, but Sherlock’s nice does magic? It felt just wrong to me. I DNF this book, so there’s not much I can criticise beyond the 38% I´ve heard, I started to feel more and more frustrated by the minute. So I just gave up.
I'm hit-and-miss with steam punk, but overall I would say I enjoyed this. It had some aspects I didn't like, but it had a strong female protagonist which is a big selling point for me.
I loved that Evelina managed to change her life and rise above a societal role that should have been impossible. She is clever, spunky, resourceful and kind, despite being treated terribly by the English caste system that was beyond ignorant and spiteful. I also loved that she never became jaded or bitter, even though she had every reason to do exactly that. The writer really seems to love Evelina, and that came across to me as the reader, so I loved her too.
The men in Evelina's life are another matter entirely. Both of them are undeserving of her in different ways for different reasons. We all know that love is rarely simple or neat, so I guess it's no surprise. If everything was easy and wonderful there would be no interest for the reader, but I was much more interested in Evelina than I was in either of her potential suitors.
I also enjoyed how Evelina's uncle, Sherlock Holmes, is woven into the story. He doesn't take over, but rather complements Evelina's investigative efforts. I liked the interplay between them and how he encouraged her to do things on her own in detecting about the murder.
The steam punk aspect was intriguing, and there were definitely setups for the second and third books of this series, which I would consider reading, although they won't go to the top of my list. The best thing about this book was unquestionably Evelina, and that's what would get me to read others in the series.
I loved that Evelina managed to change her life and rise above a societal role that should have been impossible. She is clever, spunky, resourceful and kind, despite being treated terribly by the English caste system that was beyond ignorant and spiteful. I also loved that she never became jaded or bitter, even though she had every reason to do exactly that. The writer really seems to love Evelina, and that came across to me as the reader, so I loved her too.
The men in Evelina's life are another matter entirely. Both of them are undeserving of her in different ways for different reasons. We all know that love is rarely simple or neat, so I guess it's no surprise. If everything was easy and wonderful there would be no interest for the reader, but I was much more interested in Evelina than I was in either of her potential suitors.
I also enjoyed how Evelina's uncle, Sherlock Holmes, is woven into the story. He doesn't take over, but rather complements Evelina's investigative efforts. I liked the interplay between them and how he encouraged her to do things on her own in detecting about the murder.
The steam punk aspect was intriguing, and there were definitely setups for the second and third books of this series, which I would consider reading, although they won't go to the top of my list. The best thing about this book was unquestionably Evelina, and that's what would get me to read others in the series.
A great twist on the original Sherlock Holmes. Recommend for anyone that loves steampunk.
3,5 stars
with fewer pov's this would have been a solid for star book, but as a mystery it didn't quite work because some of the pov's were spoiling the mystery. However as a romance and a fantasy of manners it was good and the adventures were pulpy and fun
with fewer pov's this would have been a solid for star book, but as a mystery it didn't quite work because some of the pov's were spoiling the mystery. However as a romance and a fantasy of manners it was good and the adventures were pulpy and fun
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This has been on my to be read list for a long while. What attracted me to this book was the steampunk and magic mix along with the suspense and mystery. This book was slow at first, then picked up a little later. The pace felt right once the story hit its stride. I enjoyed this book and thought it was a decent set up book for the trilogy.
Evelina Cooper is a character with many layers. She is smart, persistent, and holds her background close to her chest. At a young age, Evelina was living with family from her father’s side in a traveling circus until her Granny Holmes finds out. Now she must learn to live a life caught between two worlds. In her circus life, she was free to use her magic. In her new world, she had to hide her gift.
This is what I like about Evelina. She was not the typical girl in high society London. She wants to go to a university instead of getting married. Instead, Evelina gets sponsored. When her debutante season starts, a murder in her friend’s home starts a chain reaction of events. Evelina does not hesitate to jump into the mysteries surrounding the murder. The author wrote her well and I am looking forward to seeing how well her character grows in the next two books.
There are so many other characters in this book. Each one has their own quirks. Imogen was a strong character in her own right and took it upon herself to help Evelina in her mystery solving events. Nick connects with Evelina through her circus background. He wants to protect her and carry his love for her further than a childhood crush. Bird and mouse are Evelina’s little spies. They are steampunk mechanic devices she had created and mixed her own magic into them to bring them to life. This attempt drew the attention of Dr Magnus.
Dr Magnus was a mysterious character and seemed to know more than he let on. He seemed to be everywhere, invited or not. Jasper Keating is one of the many steam barons readers are introduced to. Unlike the others, Keating plays a big part in this book. He wants to take control over London, one district at a time. Tobias is caught between his family and himself. He wants to make it through society without the help of his father, but not damage his family name because of his mother and sisters. The author wrote these characters well and had layers of their own. They were flushed out enough for their roles in the book, and I am excited to see how much some of them grow in the next books.
Victorian London, steampunk, and magic blended well, making the world feel natural. As a reader, I did not feel any overpowering the other. The way the society sees magic and steampunk are completely different reasons, magic was evil and steam brought money, but only the steam barons could tinker with mechanics. Steam barons were the actual rulers of London. The author explained the societal thinking nicely in the book without the infamous info dumping.
I am not at all familiar with the Holmes world and was unnecessary to read this book. In fact, he was not in the story enough to make a difference. If you are looking for a story strictly in the Holmes world, I would not recommend this story. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about steampunk, magic, Victorian London, mystery and suspense.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No