Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Steampunk done the right way and with a nifty twist: Dr. Eliza Jekyll, crime scene investigator has a dark secret. She is also Lizzie Hyde!! That's right Jekyll/Hyde. The setting is Victorian London and Eliza is trying to catch "the Chopper" using all kinds of cool gadgets and gizmos. She must hide "Lizzie" while pursuing Chopper with the hot/handsome Captain Lafayette at her side. He is an enforcer for the Royal Society with his own agenda to expose all her secrets while keeping a few of his own!
Very good storytelling and the book just whirls along at a breakneck pace. This is subtitled Electric Empire #1 so I am looking forward to more of these characters. Top marks for this one with 4 well deserved stars. I received a copy of the book-this is my own opinion.
Very good storytelling and the book just whirls along at a breakneck pace. This is subtitled Electric Empire #1 so I am looking forward to more of these characters. Top marks for this one with 4 well deserved stars. I received a copy of the book-this is my own opinion.
A thoroughly enchanting and entertaining book!
I have to say that I completely enjoyed reading The Diabolical Miss Hyde much more than I originally anticipated.
Generally speaking, I have never been interested in the whole Jekyll/Hyde story. I neither read the original fiction, nor watched the movie, about the Man who is supposed to be our lovely Eliza's father in this new tale.
The first thing that caught my attention about this novel was the cover and the title. I found them interesting, without "trying too hard" to be so.
I found the characters in this novel to be down right charming, even some of the antagonists. Right away, I found myself liking Dr. Eliza Jekyll, and quickly became invested in her well-being. I also found myself quite intrigued by Lizzie, as sassy and unrestrained as she might be.
Another favorite character was Captain Lafayette, who is charming, confident, smarmy. All the things I want in a potential "love interest" for my female leads.
My favorite character other than Eliza/Lizzie/Captain Lafayette, was the adorable Hippocrates.
The story line was pretty good, and the dialogue entertaining. If there was one thing I didn't care for about the book, it would be that from time to time the descriptions could be quite long, to the point of having to scan back over the beginning of a paragraph to remind myself what was happening; however, those instances were few and far between, so I really didn't mind all that much.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction novel, with a bit of a sci-fi/fantasy/steam punk twist to it.
I enjoyed the book so much, I not only bought the paper back version to start with, but also purchased the kindle version after making it only halfway through the book, so I could read it more easily on the go.
Viola Carr, I sincerely hope to read more adventures of The Diabolical Miss Hyde in the future.
I have to say that I completely enjoyed reading The Diabolical Miss Hyde much more than I originally anticipated.
Generally speaking, I have never been interested in the whole Jekyll/Hyde story. I neither read the original fiction, nor watched the movie, about the Man who is supposed to be our lovely Eliza's father in this new tale.
The first thing that caught my attention about this novel was the cover and the title. I found them interesting, without "trying too hard" to be so.
I found the characters in this novel to be down right charming, even some of the antagonists. Right away, I found myself liking Dr. Eliza Jekyll, and quickly became invested in her well-being. I also found myself quite intrigued by Lizzie, as sassy and unrestrained as she might be.
Another favorite character was Captain Lafayette, who is charming, confident, smarmy. All the things I want in a potential "love interest" for my female leads.
My favorite character other than Eliza/Lizzie/Captain Lafayette, was the adorable Hippocrates.
The story line was pretty good, and the dialogue entertaining. If there was one thing I didn't care for about the book, it would be that from time to time the descriptions could be quite long, to the point of having to scan back over the beginning of a paragraph to remind myself what was happening; however, those instances were few and far between, so I really didn't mind all that much.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction novel, with a bit of a sci-fi/fantasy/steam punk twist to it.
I enjoyed the book so much, I not only bought the paper back version to start with, but also purchased the kindle version after making it only halfway through the book, so I could read it more easily on the go.
Viola Carr, I sincerely hope to read more adventures of The Diabolical Miss Hyde in the future.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting take on a classic tale. I like it a lot. It's written in that London voice which took some getting used to. I loved Lizzie immediately, if you love when a female character gets to be completely feral then give this a try.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content
A bit predictable, which was worse in the first half of the book. The last third or so was better. A little too romance-y for me too.
I received this book through First Reads.
The book's blurb appealed to me: Steampunk, mystery, a twist on the classic Jekyll & Hyde story. There are so many appealing elements.
The beginning was a bit slow for me to get into, as the characters and world were introduced. I set the book aside for a while, still curious about the story but not inspired to read it. When I picked it back up, I sped through. The most interesting part for me was the interplay between Eliza and Lizzie.
I enjoyed the story but it won't be for everyone. Those who enjoy the various elements will find it entertaining. Will I read the sequel that seems to be implied? Maybe.
The book's blurb appealed to me: Steampunk, mystery, a twist on the classic Jekyll & Hyde story. There are so many appealing elements.
The beginning was a bit slow for me to get into, as the characters and world were introduced. I set the book aside for a while, still curious about the story but not inspired to read it. When I picked it back up, I sped through. The most interesting part for me was the interplay between Eliza and Lizzie.
I enjoyed the story but it won't be for everyone. Those who enjoy the various elements will find it entertaining. Will I read the sequel that seems to be implied? Maybe.
I read this for the Darkest London square for Halloween Bingo
In London, we've got murderers by the dozen. Rampsmen, garroters, wife beaters and baby farmers, poisoners and pie makers and folk who'll crack you over the noddle with a ha'penny cosh for the sake of your flashy watch chain and leave your meat for the rats. Never mind what you read in them penny dreadful: there ain't no romance in murder.
This was a mashup of steampunk, Victorian, Gothic, and classic horror. Our heroine is Dr. Eliza Jekyll AND Lizzie Hyde. She helps Inspector Griffin study crime scenes to catch the killers, currently trying to find The Chopper, and works/studies at Bedlam. Captain Lafayette comes on the scene, he works for the Royal Society. The Royal Society works to keep fey/magical people from society, they burn them when they find them. We also have a Mr. Todd who currently resides in Bedlam courtesy of Eliza, Finch who makes Eliza's elixir that helps keep Lizzie at bay, A.R. who is Eliza's mysterious benefactor, two doctors at Bedlam who may be up to no good, Johnny the mysterious fey boy, a Penny Dreadful writer, and a bunch of characters I'm probably forgetting because holy cow. All those characters I mentioned bring with them previously created horror themes. We've got Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (of course), Frankenstein, Werewolves, Sweeny Todd, Jack the Ripper, and a sort of Silence of the Lambs relationship. Again, I'm probably forgetting something.
It took me until around the 15% mark to get any sort of footing because of the amazing amount of characters and story threads happening, I felt like I was starting in the middle of a series. The Chopper plot started off the strongest and I thought that was the main one but towards the middle, it starts to get left behind as we focus more on Eliza and issues in her life. All male characters seem to be in love with her, which was sort of annoying and the few female characters seemed to be jealous of her.
I pull his hand beneath my skirts, between my thighs, an inch above my garter where the stiletto sings. "See?" My breath is sultry against his neck. "Told you I had a weapon."
"Consider me ambushed."
Eliza, Inspector Griffin, and Captain Lafayette had fun chemistry when they went back and forth in their conversations but then Griffin heads more to the sides and a romance teases around Lafayette and Eliza and Lizzie. This is clearly the first in a series that will follow Eliza and I'm sure there will be a deepening of this relationship as we just get the start here.
Most of this was in first person pov from Eliza, with Lizzie cutting in and as so, when action scenes happen it was sometimes hard to follow along. I'm sure the author had a clear picture in her mind of what was happening but as a new to the scene reader, it was far from being clear and some of it breezed by me, it would have been nice to have a third person overview.
Basically, this story was jammed packed with characters and storylines (Sir Isaac Newton makes an appearance and starts a storyline that I'm not sure was ever really explained) and I spent a lot of time feeling lost. It was different and interesting and I might try the second now that I have at least an introduction to the world and characters.
(If anyone has read this, who is supposed to be on the guy on the cover?! Johnny?)
In London, we've got murderers by the dozen. Rampsmen, garroters, wife beaters and baby farmers, poisoners and pie makers and folk who'll crack you over the noddle with a ha'penny cosh for the sake of your flashy watch chain and leave your meat for the rats. Never mind what you read in them penny dreadful: there ain't no romance in murder.
This was a mashup of steampunk, Victorian, Gothic, and classic horror. Our heroine is Dr. Eliza Jekyll AND Lizzie Hyde. She helps Inspector Griffin study crime scenes to catch the killers, currently trying to find The Chopper, and works/studies at Bedlam. Captain Lafayette comes on the scene, he works for the Royal Society. The Royal Society works to keep fey/magical people from society, they burn them when they find them. We also have a Mr. Todd who currently resides in Bedlam courtesy of Eliza, Finch who makes Eliza's elixir that helps keep Lizzie at bay, A.R. who is Eliza's mysterious benefactor, two doctors at Bedlam who may be up to no good, Johnny the mysterious fey boy, a Penny Dreadful writer, and a bunch of characters I'm probably forgetting because holy cow. All those characters I mentioned bring with them previously created horror themes. We've got Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (of course), Frankenstein, Werewolves, Sweeny Todd, Jack the Ripper, and a sort of Silence of the Lambs relationship. Again, I'm probably forgetting something.
It took me until around the 15% mark to get any sort of footing because of the amazing amount of characters and story threads happening, I felt like I was starting in the middle of a series. The Chopper plot started off the strongest and I thought that was the main one but towards the middle, it starts to get left behind as we focus more on Eliza and issues in her life. All male characters seem to be in love with her, which was sort of annoying and the few female characters seemed to be jealous of her.
I pull his hand beneath my skirts, between my thighs, an inch above my garter where the stiletto sings. "See?" My breath is sultry against his neck. "Told you I had a weapon."
"Consider me ambushed."
Eliza, Inspector Griffin, and Captain Lafayette had fun chemistry when they went back and forth in their conversations but then Griffin heads more to the sides and a romance teases around Lafayette and Eliza and Lizzie. This is clearly the first in a series that will follow Eliza and I'm sure there will be a deepening of this relationship as we just get the start here.
Most of this was in first person pov from Eliza, with Lizzie cutting in and as so, when action scenes happen it was sometimes hard to follow along. I'm sure the author had a clear picture in her mind of what was happening but as a new to the scene reader, it was far from being clear and some of it breezed by me, it would have been nice to have a third person overview.
Basically, this story was jammed packed with characters and storylines (Sir Isaac Newton makes an appearance and starts a storyline that I'm not sure was ever really explained) and I spent a lot of time feeling lost. It was different and interesting and I might try the second now that I have at least an introduction to the world and characters.
(If anyone has read this, who is supposed to be on the guy on the cover?! Johnny?)
DNF (read less than 50% so no rating)
I don't really want to say too much. Honestly I didn't read enough of it to be fair. What I will say is I didn't like it. The violence appeared to be gratuitous and the characters vacuous.
But I read less than 20% so take my comments with a grain of salt.
I don't really want to say too much. Honestly I didn't read enough of it to be fair. What I will say is I didn't like it. The violence appeared to be gratuitous and the characters vacuous.
But I read less than 20% so take my comments with a grain of salt.
I'm honestly on the fence about this story. Don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting premise, but the story was burdened with too much detail. It slowed the pace down considerably! Eliza and Lizzy were an interesting dichotomy and Captain Lafayette was an interesting foil for Lizzy. Eliza seemed almost stupid at times, or terribly naive, and I liked seeing a couple of the classics mashed into this book, not to mention finding out a possibility of what happened to the original Jekyll/Hyde character. I'm curious to see what happens in the next book, but unless it is on a major sale, I can't see myself spending more money on the series when I'm not certain of my enjoyment of this one!