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onthesamepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I highly recommend the audiobook by the way, the narrator is fantastic.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, and Murder
jg93's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Murder
Minor: Rape
bea__reads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Sexism, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Alcohol
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Stalking
jess_justmaybeperfect's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Charlotte Holmes is brilliant, basically neglected by her parents, and has no desire to be a properly married lady. So, she purposely ruins herself and then runs away from home. Through the help of friends and strangers she finds her way and her purpose, and starts to find her love.
From the dense but gorgeous Roger and ruination, the “moo” when Charlotte sneaks out, the Mrs. Watson origin story, Inspector Robert Treadles and his beloved Alice, Ash and Charlotte and their friendship/feelings, the mystery (check the CWs, the resolution is brutal), the sisters, and THAT kiss.
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
rafacolog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Murder
blewballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Our character introduction is Charlotte getting caught sleeping with a married man. Infidelity really bothers me, so I knew it was gonna be an uphill battle to try to like her. We then spend a big chunk of the first part of the book in a bunch of other character's perspectives (mostly Charlotte's sister, so I was a little confused as to who the main character actually was for a bit) before we even get to hers and learn her poor rationale for her choices. So smart yet so dumb? An argument could be made that maybe the author is going for her being smart with facts and riddles, but bad at interpreting emotions and human behavior. She seems to be strongly coded as autistic as well. There's a bunch of casual fat-phobia sprinkled around because one of Charlotte's other main character traits is that she really likes food, but of course it would be bad if she got too plump. 🙄
I was going to DNF the book, but then
Most of the investigation of the main mystery is not done by Charlotte herself, but by an Inspector. Huge chunks of the book are just him interviewing people and considering their testimony. He's fine at his job. He feels sad and surprised when
I could not get on board with the love interest. I get that this is historical England and people were in unhappy marriages, but I do not feel the chemistry, I do not feel the friendship, I feel like I'm being told that I should want them to be together (as master and mistress? 🤢) but I don't feel why I should.
The resolution to the big mystery is pretty dark in subject matter, I wasn't expecting that, but I do think it was talked about in a remote enough way not to be overly disturbing.
I think the author did overall do a decent job of coming up with puzzles and mysteries and tying things together for Charlotte and the other characters to solve. I like that other characters had skills and specialized knowledge to contribute,
Moderate: Death, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, War, and Classism
ramakn22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Murder
knit_the_resistance's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, and Murder
sarahholliday's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The plot is tight and smart, and matches Doyle's original style while allowing for a slightly more collaborative approach to solving the mystery. I loved the forbidden romance angle between Charlotte and Ash, particularly because it allows us to see their friendship and genuine connection (along with their *obvious* desire to bone).
I'm really excited to continue on in the series!
Graphic: Misogyny and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity and Pedophilia