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A review by boandr
Surgeons' Hall by E.S. Thomson
4.5
Oh I loved this! As testament to this statement, I got the worst sunburn of my holiday because I wouldn’t put it down, so you know it’s a real one.
The book follows Jem- who I so adored as a main character- taking place in Victorian London, this read struck a brilliant chord of historical accuracy within the historical fiction genre, making it informative all the while being completely entertaining. Furthermore, Jem’s gender identity and their relationship to this within themself, society, and their relationships added another layer of depth and meaning.
An especially clever choice was how the confession letters the reader progressively comes across, scattered between the chapters, tell you who the person behind the ‘original’ murder was before it’s revealed to them by Jem near the end- but you have to be paying especially close attention to spot it. I hadn’t, and got called out for this by Jem in the reveal- a very clever choice on the writer’s part which also emphasises Jem’s intelligence and insight to us.
On the note of crime and the ‘mystery’ surrounding these, it was excellently written both in its macabre theme, befitting of the offence and setting, and in encouraging the reader to think, consider. With a wealth of possible culprits, we are kept on our toes as readers- our judgement to flicker, which only further highlights Jem’s evident confidence and assuredness in figuring it all out even more.
Adding to this is Jem’s personal conflicts. I felt for their character, finding myself completely invested in all elements of the read- from character conflicts and development, to the central plotline. Maintaining these different elements isn’t easy, but the author did it amazingly well- the story was well-paced and kept me hooked the whole time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this- so imagine my thrill when I found out there were more! My only regret is not reading the preceding stories in the ‘timeline’ before picking up ‘Surgeon’s Hall’, something I’ll be rectifying as soon as possible
The book follows Jem- who I so adored as a main character- taking place in Victorian London, this read struck a brilliant chord of historical accuracy within the historical fiction genre, making it informative all the while being completely entertaining. Furthermore, Jem’s gender identity and their relationship to this within themself, society, and their relationships added another layer of depth and meaning.
An especially clever choice was how the confession letters the reader progressively comes across, scattered between the chapters, tell you who the person behind the ‘original’ murder was before it’s revealed to them by Jem near the end- but you have to be paying especially close attention to spot it. I hadn’t, and got called out for this by Jem in the reveal- a very clever choice on the writer’s part which also emphasises Jem’s intelligence and insight to us.
On the note of crime and the ‘mystery’ surrounding these, it was excellently written both in its macabre theme, befitting of the offence and setting, and in encouraging the reader to think, consider. With a wealth of possible culprits, we are kept on our toes as readers- our judgement to flicker, which only further highlights Jem’s evident confidence and assuredness in figuring it all out even more.
Adding to this is Jem’s personal conflicts. I felt for their character, finding myself completely invested in all elements of the read- from character conflicts and development, to the central plotline. Maintaining these different elements isn’t easy, but the author did it amazingly well- the story was well-paced and kept me hooked the whole time.
Overall, I really enjoyed this- so imagine my thrill when I found out there were more! My only regret is not reading the preceding stories in the ‘timeline’ before picking up ‘Surgeon’s Hall’, something I’ll be rectifying as soon as possible