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lucyp21 's review for:
This is an ARC from NetGalley that I got months ago and stopped and started several times before finally finishing it.
This book is about Sherlock Holmes and zombies, narrated by Watson after Holmes’ ‘death’. Anne Prescott comes to Holmes for help finding her fiance and her sister and this puts them on the trail of dark magic and twisted medicine. Much like in Dracula, we know a lot of the lore about zombies but the characters do not and they find out along the way.
When it came down to it, I enjoyed this plot. I liked how it progressed along, it was well-paced and I really enjoyed reading about how they learned more and more about the zombies and why they were here in England. The connection between the zombies and Jack the Ripper, which is part of this story, was one I had not predicted and I did enjoy seeing how the little details were created by the author, as well as how Jack the Ripper was stopped. Holmes was not in as much as I wanted, he disappeared quite a few times, leaving Watson as the main character, along with Anne Prescott.
And here is the reason why it took me so long to start and continue this book. The main plot of this book is connected to the romance which has come up between Watson and Anne Prescott (and yes, he is still married to Mary at this point) and I found this romance plot irritating and boring, by the end of it. Apart from being very insta-love, Anne is held up as this amazing woman who can even make Holmes reevaluate his long-standing sexism and I wouldn’t have minded that, if it wasn't in the context of the romance. However, she does have flaws that are never addressed (like the fact that she knew Watson was married and it didn’t seem to slow her down at all, but then again, neither did Watson) and after a certain point of the book, she becomes more of a plot point than a character. Things happen to her and she is no longer making her own decisions. All the focus is on Watson and what he feels about what is happening to her and I did not realise quite how much this annoyed me until I was writing this review.
The romance also made Holmes and Watson very unlike themselves, such as having many conversations about Watson’s attraction to Anne Prescott when I’m sure Holmes would not bring up who Watson was pining over, especially since it could only lead to unhappiness. I wanted to see more of the Holmes and Watson team but the scenes with them were few and far between and coloured by whatever was going on with Watson and Anne.
If the romance had been taken out of the book, we could have had some interesting debate within Watson about how to end Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror, juggling his view as a doctor with his need to protect innocents, but instead we got an abrupt turnabout but not before two more women died because of his hesitation. I feel like there was so much potential in that plotline and instead it was taken over by this dull romance subplot.
If I had been going on the plot of this book alone, I would be looking at 4/4.5 stars but with the romance and the treatment of Anne Prescott’s character, I do not think I can give this book more than 3 stars. I sped through the plot parts, I really enjoyed them but I resented everything to do with the romance and found myself wanting to put the book down at those points.
3 stars!
This book is about Sherlock Holmes and zombies, narrated by Watson after Holmes’ ‘death’. Anne Prescott comes to Holmes for help finding her fiance and her sister and this puts them on the trail of dark magic and twisted medicine. Much like in Dracula, we know a lot of the lore about zombies but the characters do not and they find out along the way.
When it came down to it, I enjoyed this plot. I liked how it progressed along, it was well-paced and I really enjoyed reading about how they learned more and more about the zombies and why they were here in England. The connection between the zombies and Jack the Ripper, which is part of this story, was one I had not predicted and I did enjoy seeing how the little details were created by the author, as well as how Jack the Ripper was stopped. Holmes was not in as much as I wanted, he disappeared quite a few times, leaving Watson as the main character, along with Anne Prescott.
And here is the reason why it took me so long to start and continue this book. The main plot of this book is connected to the romance which has come up between Watson and Anne Prescott (and yes, he is still married to Mary at this point) and I found this romance plot irritating and boring, by the end of it. Apart from being very insta-love, Anne is held up as this amazing woman who can even make Holmes reevaluate his long-standing sexism and I wouldn’t have minded that, if it wasn't in the context of the romance. However, she does have flaws that are never addressed (like the fact that she knew Watson was married and it didn’t seem to slow her down at all, but then again, neither did Watson) and after a certain point of the book, she becomes more of a plot point than a character. Things happen to her and she is no longer making her own decisions. All the focus is on Watson and what he feels about what is happening to her and I did not realise quite how much this annoyed me until I was writing this review.
The romance also made Holmes and Watson very unlike themselves, such as having many conversations about Watson’s attraction to Anne Prescott when I’m sure Holmes would not bring up who Watson was pining over, especially since it could only lead to unhappiness. I wanted to see more of the Holmes and Watson team but the scenes with them were few and far between and coloured by whatever was going on with Watson and Anne.
If the romance had been taken out of the book, we could have had some interesting debate within Watson about how to end Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror, juggling his view as a doctor with his need to protect innocents, but instead we got an abrupt turnabout but not before two more women died because of his hesitation. I feel like there was so much potential in that plotline and instead it was taken over by this dull romance subplot.
If I had been going on the plot of this book alone, I would be looking at 4/4.5 stars but with the romance and the treatment of Anne Prescott’s character, I do not think I can give this book more than 3 stars. I sped through the plot parts, I really enjoyed them but I resented everything to do with the romance and found myself wanting to put the book down at those points.
3 stars!