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A review by ashkitty93
Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin
3.0
As much as I love the story of Jekyll & Hyde, I've never actually read the source material. I've heard variations of the story for years, from the Wishbone version when I was a kid to the Wildhorn/Bricusse musical and now this retelling. Every version seems to fill in a new space and add something new to the whole mythos, and I love that.
Mary's voice is very distinct, not in the least thanks to her imperfect (and sometimes inconsistent) speech and writing patterns. Early on in the book she was always saying "mun" instead of "must" and then by the end it seemed like she had dropped "mun" completely. Seeing as there was no information about her being further educated or anything like that, I found the change odd. The Afterword felt very reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera, where the author/narrator stayed in character and described receiving Mary's papers. Overall it was nicely written.
Mary's voice is very distinct, not in the least thanks to her imperfect (and sometimes inconsistent) speech and writing patterns. Early on in the book she was always saying "mun" instead of "must" and then by the end it seemed like she had dropped "mun" completely. Seeing as there was no information about her being further educated or anything like that, I found the change odd. The Afterword felt very reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera, where the author/narrator stayed in character and described receiving Mary's papers. Overall it was nicely written.