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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
This was really, really good. Like, I'm a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this.
I picked this up because I needed something light and easy to read after being exhausted from work in the evenings and this just really hit the spot. Not only was it incredibly easy to get into, it was really compelling and I ended up having a hard time putting it down.
The characters are fantastic, the mystery is engaging and overall I'd highly recommend giving it a try.
I picked this up because I needed something light and easy to read after being exhausted from work in the evenings and this just really hit the spot. Not only was it incredibly easy to get into, it was really compelling and I ended up having a hard time putting it down.
The characters are fantastic, the mystery is engaging and overall I'd highly recommend giving it a try.
This novel I started reading because my brother was reading it and i needed an escape from the heavy-duty reading I was doing. It is fairly boring, and I didn't enjoy it. I don't think it is written as well as it could have been written.
I rate this a 2/5
(I will not be continuing with this series)
I rate this a 2/5
(I will not be continuing with this series)
This is probably a 3.5 for me. Mysteries aren't usually my favorite genre, so the plot wasn't really intriguing. I'm not usually good at solving the case, but I knew the culprit in this one as soon as the character was introduced. About halfway through the book, the relationship between Mycroft & Watts got interesting and I was hooked. I would continue reading the series to see what shenanigans these two get themselves into next.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Trigger warnings: murder, blood, death of a friend, death of a parent (in the past), animal death, mental health, car accident (in the past), implications of parental abuse, alcohol abuse.
22/1/2023
I love these two fools so much. It DOES feel a little dated now that it's been out for ten years, but that's hardly surprising. It's still a lot of fun and I love it.
21/3/2019
I still ship it like whoa. A+ swoon. (Also the mystery is super compelling, obvs)
21/11/2015
I love this book so much. Everything I said last time around still stands. I ship it so hard. SO HARD, YOU GUYS. Read this series. It's glorious.
13/11/2014
Holy crap. I loved literally every second of this. There aren't, as far as I can tell, a whole lot of YA crime novels out there, so this one stands out because of that alone. But add in the fact that it's set in Melbourne, and it's pretty much out there on its own. And it's kind-of-sort-of a Sherlock Holmes retelling, except with teenagers.
Things I loved:
- The characters. So fabulously teenaged, and so wonderfully flawed. Mycroft's all screwed up because of his parents dying, and the fact that he lives with his aunt who basically doesn't give a shit about him. Rachel's all screwed up because her parents' farm was foreclosed and now she has to live in the city. They're typical teenagers - drinking and smoking and sneaking out and wagging school. But they're also trying to solve the murder of a homeless man they'd befriended and trying to sort out their problems. And also maybe pass year 12.
- The diversity. Rachel's best friend Mai is Vietnamese. Mai's boyfriend, Gus, is Sudanese. Mai's dealing with the usual (or so my Vietnamese friends tell me) "How do I tell my parents I'm dating a boy who's not Vietnamese?" dilemma. Rachel and Mycroft visit cafes run by little old Greek men, they catch public transport with Ethiopian women and gay couples, and their attempts to find Dave's murderer lead them to interactions with Aboriginal and Middle Eastern characters. All of which was a big fat A+ for me, because that's exactly what Melbourne's like.
- The setting. It's pretty rare to find books that are set in Melbourne. But this one captures Melbourne's inner suburbs so perfectly. With every step, I could picture the landscapes the characters were walking through and the routes they were taking to get between them. I knew the train lines and tram routes they were taking and the stations they were getting off at. And I know the layout of the zoo well enough that I knew which animals the characters would have walked past as they headed from the train station end to the admin building.
- The writing. Seriously, it was great. Rachel's voice reminded me quite a lot of Ellie Linton from John Marsden's Tomorrow series, and it made sense for them to have similar voices, given that they're both farm girls from sheep country. It's a very Australian voice, and the writing was utterly fabulous from start to finish.
- The swoon. Oh my God, the swoon. Mycroft and Rachel spend like two thirds of the book insisting that they're just friends and that they have ZERO FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER OMG. Except that it's really obvious that Rachel does, given that she's our narrator and she's all "I fought the urge to touch his fingers/hair/back". And it's really obvious that Mycroft feels the same. It just takes them a while to work it out. And when they do, it's squee-worthy.
- The story. There were a few moments that were slightly predictable - I worked out who the villain was basically the minute they turned up, and I knew how Detective Pickup would react to Mycroft wanting to see Dave's body. But those things aside, the story unfolded really smoothly. It was well paced and compelling, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
- No cliffhangers. This is the first book in a trilogy, but it could easily be a stand-alone, because there aren't really any threads left hanging. Which isn't to say that we get a neatly wrapped up package where every single problem is solved and they march off into the sunset. But we're not left hanging as to who the villain is or whether they'll escape from a life threatening situation.
- Parents. It's a reasonably rare thing for YA books to feature parents who are present and involved in their kid's life and who are actually responsible parents. Yes, Rachel does a lot of the housework, but her parents are slogging their guts out in menial jobs to keep a roof over their heads and yet still have the time to be interested in what Rachel's doing and her plans for the future and whether or not Mycroft is getting enough to eat, because seriously, that boy needs a hug and a responsible adult in his life...
Things that annoyed me:
- The blurb gives away the big climax. Um, seriously, blurb writer?? Well, it doesn't give away specific details. But it gives away the location, and that's enough to let you join a few dots early on about who the villain might be.
- That's literally it.
In short, this was the best book I've read in months.
22/1/2023
I love these two fools so much. It DOES feel a little dated now that it's been out for ten years, but that's hardly surprising. It's still a lot of fun and I love it.
21/3/2019
I still ship it like whoa. A+ swoon. (Also the mystery is super compelling, obvs)
21/11/2015
I love this book so much. Everything I said last time around still stands. I ship it so hard. SO HARD, YOU GUYS. Read this series. It's glorious.
13/11/2014
Holy crap. I loved literally every second of this. There aren't, as far as I can tell, a whole lot of YA crime novels out there, so this one stands out because of that alone. But add in the fact that it's set in Melbourne, and it's pretty much out there on its own. And it's kind-of-sort-of a Sherlock Holmes retelling, except with teenagers.
Things I loved:
- The characters. So fabulously teenaged, and so wonderfully flawed. Mycroft's all screwed up because of his parents dying, and the fact that he lives with his aunt who basically doesn't give a shit about him. Rachel's all screwed up because her parents' farm was foreclosed and now she has to live in the city. They're typical teenagers - drinking and smoking and sneaking out and wagging school. But they're also trying to solve the murder of a homeless man they'd befriended and trying to sort out their problems. And also maybe pass year 12.
- The diversity. Rachel's best friend Mai is Vietnamese. Mai's boyfriend, Gus, is Sudanese. Mai's dealing with the usual (or so my Vietnamese friends tell me) "How do I tell my parents I'm dating a boy who's not Vietnamese?" dilemma. Rachel and Mycroft visit cafes run by little old Greek men, they catch public transport with Ethiopian women and gay couples, and their attempts to find Dave's murderer lead them to interactions with Aboriginal and Middle Eastern characters. All of which was a big fat A+ for me, because that's exactly what Melbourne's like.
- The setting. It's pretty rare to find books that are set in Melbourne. But this one captures Melbourne's inner suburbs so perfectly. With every step, I could picture the landscapes the characters were walking through and the routes they were taking to get between them. I knew the train lines and tram routes they were taking and the stations they were getting off at. And I know the layout of the zoo well enough that I knew which animals the characters would have walked past as they headed from the train station end to the admin building.
- The writing. Seriously, it was great. Rachel's voice reminded me quite a lot of Ellie Linton from John Marsden's Tomorrow series, and it made sense for them to have similar voices, given that they're both farm girls from sheep country. It's a very Australian voice, and the writing was utterly fabulous from start to finish.
- The swoon. Oh my God, the swoon. Mycroft and Rachel spend like two thirds of the book insisting that they're just friends and that they have ZERO FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER OMG. Except that it's really obvious that Rachel does, given that she's our narrator and she's all "I fought the urge to touch his fingers/hair/back". And it's really obvious that Mycroft feels the same. It just takes them a while to work it out. And when they do, it's squee-worthy.
- The story. There were a few moments that were slightly predictable - I worked out who the villain was basically the minute they turned up, and I knew how Detective Pickup would react to Mycroft wanting to see Dave's body. But those things aside, the story unfolded really smoothly. It was well paced and compelling, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
- No cliffhangers. This is the first book in a trilogy, but it could easily be a stand-alone, because there aren't really any threads left hanging. Which isn't to say that we get a neatly wrapped up package where every single problem is solved and they march off into the sunset. But we're not left hanging as to who the villain is or whether they'll escape from a life threatening situation.
- Parents. It's a reasonably rare thing for YA books to feature parents who are present and involved in their kid's life and who are actually responsible parents. Yes, Rachel does a lot of the housework, but her parents are slogging their guts out in menial jobs to keep a roof over their heads and yet still have the time to be interested in what Rachel's doing and her plans for the future and whether or not Mycroft is getting enough to eat, because seriously, that boy needs a hug and a responsible adult in his life...
Things that annoyed me:
- The blurb gives away the big climax. Um, seriously, blurb writer?? Well, it doesn't give away specific details. But it gives away the location, and that's enough to let you join a few dots early on about who the villain might be.
- That's literally it.
In short, this was the best book I've read in months.
A friend recommended this because she LOOOOOOVES it, and I really enjoyed it. Another friend claimed it has a slow start, but I was hooked right away. I appreciated the slow burn of the love story. Like basically all the other reviews, I love the diversity in the story, which is so important in YA. The voice is totally talky-talk, which I love. It's always good when the voice actually sounds like a teenager voice. I'm really particular about that, with the whole being around teenagers every day of my life thing. I figured out who did it early on, because I'm a super genius, or something like that. I'm definitely looking forward to the second book!
This review was written for here
You can read the full review here
This book fell onto my radar thanks to Angie’s (Angieville) and Caits’s (Paper Fury) reviews and both of them were so complimentary and effusive in their praise that I simply had to get hold of a copy for myself, so this one is totally on you two. And thankfully this book more than lived up to all those high expectations I went in it with.
I am a big fan of the BBC Sherlock – I love the way the stories translate to a modern day setting, so the idea of another modern day exploration of Sherlock was an excellent starting point. Add in that ‘Watson’ is a girl called Rachel Watts, ‘Holmes’ is a teenage genius who lives two doors down called James Mycroft, the fact that their chemistry and friendship is off the charts and it’s both brilliant and set in Australia and quite frankly: be still my beating heart.
(Tiny side note of glee for fans of the original books, I giggled like a little crazed thing whenever anyone called Watts Rache, because Study in Scarlet. Detail.)
This book is genius, basically. Watts and Mycroft are one of my favourite pairings in fiction ever. Which is a truly incredible feat. Their friendship is such a strong foundation and they work so brilliantly together that I would have been happy were they only ever friends. However the chemistry between them is truly electric, and I absolutely adored the slow build of tension between them throughout the story. They just work so well together. Watts is neither stupid nor bumbling. She may not put the pieces together at the same speed as Mycroft (really, who could?) but she’s methodical and sharp and attentive and is an equal half of the partnership rather than a documenter of Mycroft’s genius.
Whilst there is plenty of attention paid to Mycroft and his delectable brilliance (yes I have a fiction crush, how did you guess?) the real heart and soul of the story is Watts. She is such an incredible protagonist. Told from her point of view the story is very firmly grounded with her at the centre, and she holds firm against the overwhelming tidal wave that is Mycroft. Some characters would get lost against his brightness, but she is grounded and sure of herself and she provides the heart, soul and humour that turns this from a good book into a brilliant book.
I also loved that this isn’t a Sherlock and John story, they are never playing at being them, there are plenty of references to the Conan Doyle stories. It’s played as simply an amusing coincidence rather than anything else and it works brilliantly. It allows the story and characters the space to breathe and become their own, whilst still giving a sly wink and nod at Conan Doyle’s characters – the perfect blend.
The murder mystery is also brilliantly handled, so that whilst they are two teenagers sleuthing around trying to fit the pieces together and catch the murderer, it never felt ridiculous or unrealistic. The motives and thought process behind it all made sense. I never once questioned it or felt that it was ridiculous what they were trying to do. And I loved the varied reactions of the adults around them when confronted with their super sleuthing, plus their general awesome pairing.
Admittedly I did know who the murderer was as soon as they were introduced – I think I may have read one too many murder mysteries that I can now spot them a mile away. But for once I wasn’t frustrated by the knowledge, the story was so good that I just got swept up in it, and the thrill of the chase and desperate climax were superb.
It’s a brilliant debut – wonderfully paced, with two incredibly real and vivid characters who tugged me into their world and brought me racing breathlessly after the murderer with them. I fell for Watts and Mycroft completely and I cannot wait to see where they go next in the sequel “Every Word”.
You can read the full review here
This book fell onto my radar thanks to Angie’s (Angieville) and Caits’s (Paper Fury) reviews and both of them were so complimentary and effusive in their praise that I simply had to get hold of a copy for myself, so this one is totally on you two. And thankfully this book more than lived up to all those high expectations I went in it with.
I am a big fan of the BBC Sherlock – I love the way the stories translate to a modern day setting, so the idea of another modern day exploration of Sherlock was an excellent starting point. Add in that ‘Watson’ is a girl called Rachel Watts, ‘Holmes’ is a teenage genius who lives two doors down called James Mycroft, the fact that their chemistry and friendship is off the charts and it’s both brilliant and set in Australia and quite frankly: be still my beating heart.
(Tiny side note of glee for fans of the original books, I giggled like a little crazed thing whenever anyone called Watts Rache, because Study in Scarlet. Detail.)
This book is genius, basically. Watts and Mycroft are one of my favourite pairings in fiction ever. Which is a truly incredible feat. Their friendship is such a strong foundation and they work so brilliantly together that I would have been happy were they only ever friends. However the chemistry between them is truly electric, and I absolutely adored the slow build of tension between them throughout the story. They just work so well together. Watts is neither stupid nor bumbling. She may not put the pieces together at the same speed as Mycroft (really, who could?) but she’s methodical and sharp and attentive and is an equal half of the partnership rather than a documenter of Mycroft’s genius.
Whilst there is plenty of attention paid to Mycroft and his delectable brilliance (yes I have a fiction crush, how did you guess?) the real heart and soul of the story is Watts. She is such an incredible protagonist. Told from her point of view the story is very firmly grounded with her at the centre, and she holds firm against the overwhelming tidal wave that is Mycroft. Some characters would get lost against his brightness, but she is grounded and sure of herself and she provides the heart, soul and humour that turns this from a good book into a brilliant book.
I also loved that this isn’t a Sherlock and John story, they are never playing at being them, there are plenty of references to the Conan Doyle stories. It’s played as simply an amusing coincidence rather than anything else and it works brilliantly. It allows the story and characters the space to breathe and become their own, whilst still giving a sly wink and nod at Conan Doyle’s characters – the perfect blend.
The murder mystery is also brilliantly handled, so that whilst they are two teenagers sleuthing around trying to fit the pieces together and catch the murderer, it never felt ridiculous or unrealistic. The motives and thought process behind it all made sense. I never once questioned it or felt that it was ridiculous what they were trying to do. And I loved the varied reactions of the adults around them when confronted with their super sleuthing, plus their general awesome pairing.
Admittedly I did know who the murderer was as soon as they were introduced – I think I may have read one too many murder mysteries that I can now spot them a mile away. But for once I wasn’t frustrated by the knowledge, the story was so good that I just got swept up in it, and the thrill of the chase and desperate climax were superb.
It’s a brilliant debut – wonderfully paced, with two incredibly real and vivid characters who tugged me into their world and brought me racing breathlessly after the murderer with them. I fell for Watts and Mycroft completely and I cannot wait to see where they go next in the sequel “Every Word”.
This was a very fun, yet gritty, Sherlock Holmes re-working, with Holmes and Watson now Mycroft and female Watts, as well as teenagers in Australia. I have only read a few of the original Holmes stories, but I have seen the television shows Sherlock and Elementary, and this book adds another well-done tribute to the line-up.
Mycroft as Holmes is still a troubled-but-brilliant detective, plagued by drugs (in this case, just cigarettes and alcohol) and heartbreak in his history. Watts is a new-to-town country girl, a loner in her past due to rural isolation and now a loner as "new girl." I liked the way this worked out. Watts and Mycroft, two lonely people who otherwise may not have become friends, do so, not out of hero-worship on Watts' part, but because they need each other.
One direction that this book does head in, that the two aforementioned shows do not, is that Mycroft and Watts do become romantically involved. It's sweet and swoony, and yes, I ship them! I ship them all the way to Australia and back! ;)
The mystery was decently complex and I unraveled it slightly more slowly than the two protagonists (which is the way I like it). I liked that the case was personal to Mycroft and Watts, and that it wasn't just some morbid, sociopathic urge on the part of our Holmes-incarnation. Solving Homeless Dave's murder is important, as the pair know that the police will probably not make it a top priority, so they make it their top priority.
However, I didn't love this book as much as I was hoping to and I think it was due to all of the Australian idioms, jargon, and brand names. Now don't misunderstand, I really enjoyed all of the new words and phrases, but I felt that it slowed down my reading and I didn't get swept up into the story the way I was hoping. So mainly this just illustrates the fact that I am a limited reader and I need to read more books from non-American authors and expand my vocabulary. ;)
To end, I am really looking forward to the sequel, Every Word (which isn't being published in the US until 2015! So unfair!), as I'm pretty sure the reading will be easier the second time 'round, and I did really enjoy the story once I got into it. So yes, I highly recommend this one to you mystery-lovers and Sherlockian fans! In fact, I've already loaned my copy out!
Mycroft as Holmes is still a troubled-but-brilliant detective, plagued by drugs (in this case, just cigarettes and alcohol) and heartbreak in his history. Watts is a new-to-town country girl, a loner in her past due to rural isolation and now a loner as "new girl." I liked the way this worked out. Watts and Mycroft, two lonely people who otherwise may not have become friends, do so, not out of hero-worship on Watts' part, but because they need each other.
One direction that this book does head in, that the two aforementioned shows do not, is that Mycroft and Watts do become romantically involved. It's sweet and swoony, and yes, I ship them! I ship them all the way to Australia and back! ;)
The mystery was decently complex and I unraveled it slightly more slowly than the two protagonists (which is the way I like it). I liked that the case was personal to Mycroft and Watts, and that it wasn't just some morbid, sociopathic urge on the part of our Holmes-incarnation. Solving Homeless Dave's murder is important, as the pair know that the police will probably not make it a top priority, so they make it their top priority.
However, I didn't love this book as much as I was hoping to and I think it was due to all of the Australian idioms, jargon, and brand names. Now don't misunderstand, I really enjoyed all of the new words and phrases, but I felt that it slowed down my reading and I didn't get swept up into the story the way I was hoping. So mainly this just illustrates the fact that I am a limited reader and I need to read more books from non-American authors and expand my vocabulary. ;)
To end, I am really looking forward to the sequel, Every Word (which isn't being published in the US until 2015! So unfair!), as I'm pretty sure the reading will be easier the second time 'round, and I did really enjoy the story once I got into it. So yes, I highly recommend this one to you mystery-lovers and Sherlockian fans! In fact, I've already loaned my copy out!
Book review up on the blog: https://fromthelibraryofemily.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/every-series-by-ellie-marney/