Reviews

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry

broncoannee's review against another edition

4.0

I only read some Dickens in grade school, maybe junior high, which I think is too young to care/understand unless you want to read it. And I don’t think I’ll go back now and read it because I do hold a bit of a grudge against it. But how cool would it be to take a college course where you read the books that are most a part of this book and then this book? Like a meta book club.

fxp's review against another edition

3.0

The book started out really strong. I don't think I'm giving away too much when I reveal that in the first chapter, one of the protagonists brings a fictional character from a book to life and struggles with the effects. And in chapter two, the Hound of the Baskervilles makes an appearance. Oh fun! What an exciting novel, I thought, I wonder how many more characters and novel it will feature. In the next chapter, it surprised me with a situation akin to the platform 9 3/4 in [b:Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone|72193|Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)|J.K. Rowling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1170803558l/72193._SX50_SY75_.jpg|4640799]. I was delighted about the creativity.

Unfortunately, it starts to slow down soon after and gets lengthy. The last quarter or so of the book felt more like a chore because I wanted to know how it ends. There is a final showdown, sure, but a long way leading up to it, and also about 20 pages at the end of the book that I didn't think added to the experience.

The two women in the narrator's life seemed pretty weak. There is his wife, Lydia, from whom he keeps everything hidden, and that's mostly as far as her character description goes. And there's his Mom, whom I expected to play a much bigger role in the denouement.

So overall, I enjoyed reading it, but I wouldn't read it again any time soon. The book did one thing for me, though: It made me really want to read a Charles Dickens novel. Now, I'll have to decide between [b:David Copperfield|58696|David Copperfield|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461452762l/58696._SY75_.jpg|4711940] and [b:Great Expectations|2623|Great Expectations|Charles Dickens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631687432l/2623._SY75_.jpg|2612809].

jules_writes's review

5.0

I LOVED every magic-filled page.
Wonderful.
Amazing.
And I hope this is a start to a long series!

tmleblanc's review against another edition

4.0

Definitely a must read for fans of Dickens, Conan Doyle and Austen (multiple Darcys?!) and for anyone who enjoyed their English lit classes in college. A fun read that pulls from a lot of literary sources and made this former English majors heart sing.

I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

ylshelflove's review against another edition

2.0

The concept of this book is unique, has lots of potential, and is the only redeeming factor of this book. Sorry Parry, but your execution was way too distracting for me to focus on the plot. It seems like the author is trying to do too much or cover too much ground, leaving far too little time to flesh out the characters or even the magic system/setting. On top of that, the narrator, Rob, is just really annoying. he says a lot of things like he's trying to convince himself in addition to the reader that this is truly how he is feeling. ("I wanted to turn around. I didn't." "I felt guilty." "At first I didn't understand. Then I did.") I can tell this is a debut novel, and I mean that as a double-edged sword. Grace points because writing is hard, but also I don't think it should be this obvious that the author is new.

sjburton127's review against another edition

4.0

Okay this book was weird. Yes it contains some famous literary characters, but no you do not have to read their stories to understand this book. I love how Parry explained the fictional characters mentioned because I absolutely hate literature so that would’ve led me to ditch this faster than you can say Uriah Heep.

Regarding the plot… it is barmy but I managed to keep up (I think). It’s a little confusing at times, a little mind boggling and sometimes you just sit there and go ‘sorry what’ but it’s interesting. I’ve never read a book about bringing fictional characters to life, so I quite enjoyed the uniqueness. Many would probably poke holes in the plot, but I honestly didn’t even try (and normally I do). Just enjoy it for what it is and leave it be.

I think I would recommend this to other readers because I did like it, but I’m not sure I would place it in my top ten since it is a little weird.

readacorn's review against another edition

3.0

Es war eine wahre Freude in diesem Buch geliebte und ungeliebte Charaktere aus meinem bisherigen Leseleben wieder zu begegnen. Heathcliff, Sherlock, Dorian, Mathilda, Viktor Frankenstein, Darcy waren zum Teil so authentisch gezeichnet, dass sie sehr schnell wieder zu erkennen waren. Besonders Dorians Dandytum kam sehr gut in dieser Neu-Interpretation an.
Der Handlungsstrang um die Familie der Sutherlands war auch interessant und bettete sich gut in die Gesamtgeschichte ein. Insgesamt war es mir leider nur etwas zu lang. Un 100 bis 150 Seiten gekürzt hätte es ein Sternchen mehr von mir gegeben.
Eine lustige Lektüre für Klassiker-Liebhaber und eine kleine Hommage an Charles Dickens.

v5am's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

cncept's review against another edition

4.0

Tolle Idee mit einer guten Umsetzung, einem angespielten Plottwist den man so nicht kommen sieht - großer Spaß, diese Geschichte zu entdecken und in sie einzutauchen!

se_wigget's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

 

Thank you, Goodreads, for the free ebook! 

 

Though not farcical like the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, this book is hilarious (if you're into classics, mostly from the 19th century, like I am) and reminiscent of Thursday Next. 

 

Five Mr. Darcys! One for me, one for you.... moving on.... 

 

Early on, I was focused on a wish that at least one of the brothers was female. They're both white males, and most of the literature is British and 19th century (admittedly, I really got into 19th century British literature before adolescence). I even pictured Rob as an older sister (first person p.o.v.) until it was obvious that he was an elder brother. 

 

Why did the author choose to make Scheherazade a two-dimensional character--that is, a minor and silent character who's off in a corner shelving books and only cares about collecting stories?! The author should have portrayed her as brilliant, bold, innovative, imaginative (she made up those stories herself, fyi), plotting, and fearless. She would have been great as a major character in this book. But no, let's emphasize white males and overlook this brown woman. 

 

But after a little while, I came to enjoy the book so much that I was less concerned over its relative lack of diversity, which comes to make sense as the plot moves on. Literary versions of Victorian England are a huge part of the novel, and for good reason. 

 

Anyway, it's delightful and amusing, especially for fans of classics. 

 

I don't know, I'm tempted to write something similar, but by the time I finish, agents and editors would probably not be interested, since nowadays there are quite a few books involving fictional characters coming out of classics. 

 

Update: after getting about 70% into the ebook, I see why the protagonist is a white male. I did not see that plot twist coming! Not to mention, the villain... well, you'll see. 

 

82% into the ebook, I realized that it's brilliant.