one4ale's reviews
78 reviews

Only just barely a four.

Another good one, though it felt like less of a mystery and more of a sensational story. The actual detective work was interesting, though, and was grounded and believable by the facts of the story. If I re-read this, I'm sure I would see where all the clues and hints were hidden before the reveal.

The man critique I have is that it's late 19th century Britain, so it has some bad, racist depictions of Indian & aboriginal cultures. It doesn't take up anything more than a few scenes, but it is glaring.

4.5 stars, a very near 5.

This is one of the funniest and most entertaining stories I have ever read. Leblanc is a master of his craft, and perfectly captures the importance of a petty rivalry of geniuses.

The actual capers of the Blue Diamond, Blonde lady, and Jewish Lamp themselves were entertaining in their own right and Sholmes' investigation made sense as a reader, in that it didn't feel like it could only have been solved via deus ex machina.

The best aspect of this book was the dynamic between Sholmes and Lupin. Lupin especially, despite not being the main character of his own book, really shined. I must critique, however, the portrayal of Sholmes. It was clearly meant to be comedic and somewhat removed from the real Holmes, but the issue is that he was more or less the same as his real-counterpart save for his treatment of Watson/Wilson. At times, it felt like Leblanc had a personal vendetta against Watson as he constantly depicted him as a useless, simping sidekick.

tl;dr: One of the best stories I've read all year, save for one or two critiques.

What a great story. I love the little mystery, and was pleasantly surprised by

Spoiler

how enjoyable the latter half was considering the shift in tone and setting towards a "Western" prairie.

If I had to give a critique, some of the conclusions Holmes draw seem to come from nowhere that I could've known, but they do make sense for him to have known. This doesn't really take me out of it, though.

One of the best translations of any work I've read. I've always been a fan of The Odyssey, since I was a kid, but Emily Wilson's translation really takes it to a different level. It's very thorough and well put-together. The introduction, which was very long, was chock full of info that added a lot to the experience of reading this. The translator's note specifically was great, and I appreciated Wilson's efforts to make this a somewhat modernized and woman-led perspective of a classic.

tl;dr: This was wonderful, everyone read this version now!

I can't believe it was as good as it was.

Things I Liked:
- The characters were very interesting; I didn't get to see a lot from the side-chars. but was given just enough to like them
- The power system is really interesting
- The ending was great, no feelings of loose ends
- Quick to read, never felt dragged out
- The back-and-forth timelines weren't all that confusing, and the plot overall was engaging and fun to read about

Things I Didn't (Nitpicks):
- Not their fault, but I don't care for academia in books (esp. if a character says they think it's pretentious, you go there!)
- I wish the characters used their powers more
- The story felt very tumblr, but it's 2013 so not their fault either
-

Spoiler

Angie Knight was so wasted. Literally got fridged after only being used as a plot device to make Victor a "scorned ex-best friend/nice guy"

tl;dr: Good book, I liked it. Will likely pick up the rest of the series.

4.5/5, closer to a 5 than a 4.

I loved this book, it was so interesting and well-written. The VA for this particular audiobook really added to it as well. I think what I liked best were the dialogues between Lord Henry and Dorian, even if what the former was saying was wrong. The ending was good too; I expected it but was not disappointed by it.

Spoiler

I especially like that he had so many chances to reform/escape death and remained a hypocrite through and through until the end, which is why I think he got that end and not Lord Henry. He, at least, was not a hypocrite - just a bad person.

If there was one thing I would've liked to see it would be

Spoiler

more of a focus into his specific sins. There were many allusions to them, the lives he'd ruined and addictions/vices he accrued, but it would have been nice to see them in real time besides the opium and Sybil, etc. etc.

It's not a dealbreaker though, obviously.

Incredible. I could not have expected how touching this story is. There is very little "action" that takes place throughout the book (especially in the start) but it remains thrilling the entire time anyway. It's a great conclusion to the Assassins Trilogy, acting as a perfect standalone with various references to the older works. It makes me want to reread the series from the start, just to see Kabuto love his family one more time.

Reading the introduction added so much to this play, which itself is short but manages to convey everything it needs to without feeling rushed. Despite being 60 years old I found it still relatable, mostly, and I'm sure others would too in more or less ways than I did. It was emotional and fulfilling, and I intensely recommend it. Anyone could finish it in a day, if not a few hours.

I will always love a tragedy as much as I will hate that it happens; the modern Orpheus.

This was one of the best reads of my life. I will say now that

Spoiler

I thought a lot of Addie's past was hinted at more than it should've been shown

but it's a minor nitpick that does not take away from it as a whole. It was very slow at first and I could still not say it was bad. Once Henry comes in, everything flows out easily.

4.5/5 What an interesting read. I think for most of Part 1 I was annoyed, and most of Part 2 I was confused. The book was abstract, esoteric around this point and I found myself going back a lot or marinating on points to make sure I got it. Part 3 everything becomes clearer, and I'm glad to know what I thought in the earlier parts was on the mark.

I'm a big fan of metatextual stories, so this was a great for me as a thriller and as commentary on the writing process. Some of the twists were more or less what I expected, but this is the type where if you guess it you still can't be disappointed by it.

I think this one will be good to revisit in a while to see what I missed.