Reviews with content warning for Death - A Study in Charlotte

Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

37 reviews

ahalexont's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you are a fan of mysteries that involve slow burn romances this is the book for you. The relationship between the two protagonists is a huge selling point for me, and it's not a girl chase boy story it's the other way around. A nice change for an otherwise overused trope in the romance genre. Besides the romance of it the mystery itself is a fun call back to a classic Sherlock Holmes story all wrapped up in a modern twist. Fans of the BBC Sherlock or Elementary will get a kick out of reading this first-time adventure between Charlotte Holmes and her new partner Jamie Watson.

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laylamckane's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Ok here we go. I've sat with my thoughts about this book for a day and my original description of "this reads like a fever dream in the worst way possible" still stands. Let's unpack what didn't work for me!

I spent most of the time reading this book in confusion about what was going on. Now, this might be because I was listening to the audiobook but usually my two brain cells are good at following a story. Not with A Study in Charlotte. I had multiple moments where I was completely lost and felt like I had missed a bunch of pieces of very vital information.

The plot and pacing felt incredibly erratic. A lot of stuff happens but to me, there was no clear throughline of how events and characters related to one another. Which is the one job a mystery has, in my opinion. I genuinely could not recount the plot and how the crime gets resolved!

I did not like Jamie's perspective. As a narrator, he just did not work for me. His characterization and that of Charlotte through his eyes felt inconsistent and like they played to plot conveniences instead of the characters internal motivations. Especially Charlotte was incredibly hard to grasp because her behaviour was inconsistent and basically just gave me emotional whiplash. This made it very hard to be invested in either of the two main characters. Additionally, I absolutely hated the way Jamie thought about and described women, it felt necessarily sexist and objectifying and quite frankly, made me uncomfortable at times.

In a similar vein, a past sexual assault plays a big part in the plot and is treated as fundamental to the character of

Charlotte

. But it is never properly addressed with the sensitivity that I think it needs and it feels like a misguided attempt at introducing some drama for the sake of motive. Having sexual assault be treated as a dramatic plot device just does not sit right with me.

So yeah, it was a pretty disappointing reading experience and sadly put me off the rest of the series.

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thequeenofembers's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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writerreader81's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have been an on and off fan of Sherlock Holmes for many years. :) I really liked this modern day take and possibility of all the "stories" being true!!

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