A review by notkarlsson
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I have no idea how I feel about this book. The prose could be tighter, probably, and certain character beats happen not where I was expecting them to, but in places where they didn’t feel 100% earned. The influence of BBC Sherlock is clear, and I mean that in an incredibly observational way; certain lines and turns of phrase in the book feel like they’re supposed to be a nod to the original stories but don’t quite escape the BBC Sherlock filter. And then there’s the Jamie Watson Filter (TM.) The thing I found myself wanting most for this story was alternating POVs and a chance to hear Charlotte’s narrative voice equally. When we got a brief chance to, I was delighted by the way she responds to Jamie. I understand that Cavallaro is echoing the original stories where Watson is the biographer for Holmes, and that’s a fair choice, but if the point is that they aren’t their ancestors, I think that shared POVs would serve the dynamic better. Who doesn’t love banter through annotations? On a more serious note, some of the traumatic stuff in Charlotte’s backstory makes me wish we were more grounded in her perspective sometimes. Two final points: one, I kinda wish Jamie had been anything but a cis dude. That’s predictable of me to say but I’m okay with conforming to my brand. Two, even with everything I said above, I left with enough curiosity about what this book set up that I’ll be continuing to read the series. If nothing else, it’s instructive. I guess we’re doing this?
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