Berls
Written on May 24, 2015
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Wow. A Study in Silks took me FOREVER to read! I started it April 21, shortly after y'all selected it for My TBR List, and didn't finish until May 24 (meaning I didn't get it read in time for my TBR List Review). That's probably the longest it's taken me to read a book in years - but here's the thing: I never wanted to quit reading it. A Study in Silks had great characters, a compelling plot, and a solid mystery. It just came at a point in my life where I fell asleep every time I tried to read. Bad luck:/
I'm particularly interested in the world Emma Jane Holloway created in A Study in Silks. It's very steam punk - filled with mechanical devices of all kinds - but it also has this fascinating magical element that is very different from anything I've read. There's these nature spirits -air, earth, plant, etc- called devas and it's a magic users connection with them (I think) that gives them power. I would have liked to see it a little more fleshed out - I have questions about what's unique to the main character and what's "normal".
Which brings me to the characters - I love them all, even the ones I love to hate. They're so fully developed and complicated - each and every one of them. There's a bit of a love triangle - but for me it was a but different because I equally liked and had problems with both guys making it really hard to see a clear choice. I was really happy with how it was dealt with by the end as well.
For those reading this for it's connection to Sherlock Holmes - I have no idea if it will satisfy you. I wasn't reading it for that, but I was very happy with his role in the story. For one, the mystery was a convoluted and fixed on tiny details as I remember Sherlock Holmes's stories being, which is both cool and frustrating. And he's in it a good amount - but not so much that Holloway took many liberties with his character, which I thought was appropriate.
All in all, really good and worth your time. I gave it 34 days and I don't regret it, so I suspect you won't regret the much shorter time it's likely to take you to read :)