Theodora Goss

Gave up on page 370: Chapter XX, Morning in Budapest

It would be easier if this book was an abomination and utter bore. That's not the problem here.

It took me a month to get to page 370. I just couldn't stand the main characters which is a shock because they seemed so well-rounded with potential to grow on from the first book.

Imagine if you will, all the characters you loved from different authors and their respective universes all converging in Budapest and London. This would be literary gold - the prospect of Irene Adler meeting Mina Harker and then Dr Moreau's ultimate creation sneaking around plotting to save one monster and kill another monster. It feels like the pancake flop that was "The League of Extraordinary Men" with Sean Connery. The women leads are godawful - for some reason the writer still saddles these characters with stereotypical characteristics found in novels written hundreds of years ago portraying women as jealous, fickle and insecure things.

Every single main character(save for Beatrice, Diana and Mrs Poole) whine on and on about their lacking capabilities and compared themselves to other characters. Failing to bring together each character on an intellectual level, each character felt like a teenager still trying to compete with her frenemies in a competition inside their heads. Seriously? You have people to rescue and secret organizations to shut down and you're wondering why you can't climb walls like this character or why Sherlock asked for regular updates or why you hadn't been as observant as so and so and peaches and cream and pumpkin spice tea - see, I can ramble nonsensically just like the characters.

The characters got so infuriating I could only stomach one chapter a day thus dragging out the whole experience which was already an annoyance. So what was good here?

A few positives:

⦁ The entire Oriental Express sequence was well written (ignoring all of Mary's whining and "woe is me" nonsense)
⦁ Irene Adler appears as a covert character working for the clandestine agency in the form of Mrs Norton almost genius.
⦁ Van Helsing as a mad scientist would not have even been on my bingo card (especially since my mind can only see Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing now).
⦁ Science and experiments as the origin of the vampyre, the strigoi and the lamia was really well presented.

There are way too many books in the world and new ones coming out each day to waste your time dragging out a book you'd normally finish in 4-5 sittings or even a week.… (more)

This writing style of including diary extracts,letters, police reports, dissertation journaling and newspaper extracts is quite engaging. I'm beginning to identify the author's signature - multiple voices, multiple view points almost creating the feeling of an intimate bookclub for academics or an appointment to defend a thesis.

This novella has it all but it small doses, fantasy or magic, easily explained away by science in the 20th and 21st century. Kangaroo courts and injustice, Freakshows, Abuse, misguided notions of love.

It feels a little less than whole. I am not sure what it's missing, but there is something... more
Still, it made for an interesting hour and break from everything else… (more)