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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THE AFFAIR OF THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER is a Sherlock Holmes retelling which is witty and delightful, with Watson (Captain John Wyndham) as a trans man, Sherlock (Ms. Shaharazad Haas) as a bisexual woman, and Irene Adler (Miss Eirene Viola) as a former lover being blackmailed in her engagement. The setting is fantastical, time travel is a matter of connection and logistics, other dimensions are distant but accessible, and Captain John Wyndham is too aghast to actually write how many times Shaharazad says "fuck" (though he faithfully chronicles his reticence at every turn). I adore retellings, and this was a special treat since, having begun with Sherlock Holmes in a queernorm fantasy setting, it pulled in pieces of at least two other stories I could identity, weaving them in to give me no fewer than three retellings in one.
As a narrator, Captain John Wyndham is torn between fascination with Shaharazad's hedonism and a need to maintain his own sense of propriety. He grew up in a strictly religious environment, implicitly having chosen to live away from home due to some degree of transphobia which he never quite describes. I like how his words convey so much of his personality along with Shaharazad, making his paraphrases of her language quite clear and not just pretending she has more decorum than she does. He also makes reference to the serial release of this story's chapters, discussions with his editor, and the fact that he's writing this several decades after the events. Instead of just infodumping, he flags any particularly dense descriptions as skippable for a reader who is already familiar with the setting and recent history, at once providing guidance for readers who dislike dense descriptions, and also deepening the sense of immersion by making the reader party to the world.
Things I love, in no particular order: The clever use of parts of Dracula; the resolution to Eirene Viola's problem; the way Wyndham keeps so tightly to propriety even when it's comically unsuitable to the situation; the narrative style, Shaharazad's bravado and continual attempts to plan as little as possible and still have things work out well enough.
As a narrator, Captain John Wyndham is torn between fascination with Shaharazad's hedonism and a need to maintain his own sense of propriety. He grew up in a strictly religious environment, implicitly having chosen to live away from home due to some degree of transphobia which he never quite describes. I like how his words convey so much of his personality along with Shaharazad, making his paraphrases of her language quite clear and not just pretending she has more decorum than she does. He also makes reference to the serial release of this story's chapters, discussions with his editor, and the fact that he's writing this several decades after the events. Instead of just infodumping, he flags any particularly dense descriptions as skippable for a reader who is already familiar with the setting and recent history, at once providing guidance for readers who dislike dense descriptions, and also deepening the sense of immersion by making the reader party to the world.
Things I love, in no particular order: The clever use of parts of Dracula; the resolution to Eirene Viola's problem; the way Wyndham keeps so tightly to propriety even when it's comically unsuitable to the situation; the narrative style, Shaharazad's bravado and continual attempts to plan as little as possible and still have things work out well enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Classism, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Confinement, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
Minor: Ableism, Xenophobia, Cursing, Transphobia, Self harm, Sexism, Animal death, and War
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I was curious to see how this book would tackle retelling Sherlock Holmes. I was honestly pretty impressed with it.
The world felt very vibrant and chaotic in a way that new elements could be introduced without feeling out of place. I was willing to buy almost anything the book tried to sell, simply from how well it established the strangeness of the world. The chaotic nature of the world lent well to writing ancient eldritch entities, and allowed for some hints of eldritch horror. This aspect was only a detriment when it left the story feeling a bit muddled during busier or more action packed aspects, but it wasn’t anything that took too much from the story.
All the characters felt very interesting and I wanted to learn more about them. I was left to taken with each character and their bright personalities to the degree I was disappointed to find this was the only book featuring them. John, Shaharazad, and the Second Auger especially stood out to and fascinated me. I found everyone extremely enjoyable, even when they weren’t the most morally upstanding.
Finally, the casual queerness of the characters was really nice. I enjoy when it doesn’t feel like a big deal that characters are queer in some way. There’s just a comfort provided by a simple mention of queetness that I appreciate.
Overall a great read, and I definitely recommend it to people looking for a fresh spin on Sherlock Holmes or that enjoy the game Fallen London.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Minor: Police brutality
imds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Body horror, and Transphobia
ladythana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Drug use
Minor: Blood, War, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia
anxiousnachos's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars. This was a weird, wacky and very fun Sherlock Holmes retelling with a trans Watson and pansexual female Holmes! It’s full of amusing one-liners and I think it works very well as a retelling, capturing the voice of Watson excellently. Ultimately, I think I have realised I just don’t necessarily *enjoy* that voice and thus this close a retelling to format/voice hindered my enjoyment a touch as I got a little bored of the very prim and proper Watson quite quickly. But a wonderfully weird science fantasy take on Holmes full of vampires and underwater cities and blackmail.
Content warnings: drug use, drug addiction, dead bodies, murder, sexual assault (by vampire lure), blood, police brutality, confinement, transphobia
Content warnings: drug use, drug addiction, dead bodies, murder, sexual assault (by vampire lure), blood, police brutality, confinement, transphobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Transphobia, Murder, and Blood
mar's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm always a big fan of fantasy mysteries and mean lady detectives, so this was just in my wheelhouse. I wasn't super invested in the main plot/mystery, honestly - it was a bit weak and disjointed - but the humour, LGBT representation, endearing characters, and cool worldbuilding that's a wild mess of fantasy and sci-fi with eldritch magic and time travel kept me reading anyway. I also wish there was more character development, but, other than that, I liked it a lot. It's super weird and ridiculous, but in a delightfully charming way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Death, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Infidelity
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