Monday, October 28, 2019

Fantastic Fiction...

In The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, Theodora Goss weaves together a captivating mystery involving Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and the daughters of several classic mad scientists: Mary Jekyll, Diana Hyde, Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein. Their fathers were all involved in the Societe des Alchimistes, a society devoted to helping humans and animals evolve through transmutation whose strange and terrible experiments involved their very own daughters! And while these men are all dead now, someone from their society has been killing women in London ... and stealing their body parts. Mary Jekyll is determined to figure out her father's part in the society, who this new murderer is, and what his ultimate goal may be.

There are lots of monsters and adventure in this one, and I enjoyed every page. I think it helps to be a little familiar with the original classics that Goss draws from, but she does a good job of having each character narrate enough of her own story to catch you up of you're not familiar with them or their infamous fathers. Mary Jekyll and Beatrice Rappaccini were by far my favorite of the bunch, but all of these headstrong heroines are well-drawn and memorable. And the mystery is a good one, too. But then any mystery with Sherlock Holmes in it is one I know I'll like. For me, this was just a fun read. It's also my fourth and last book for this year's R.I.P.

Happy Reading! 








32 comments:

  1. This one is lurking on my ereader and has been for a few years. Not sure when I'll get round to it but I will!

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    1. It's nice to know it's there when the mood does strike. :D

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  2. I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and you are right that it does help to be familiar with the classics from which the characters are drawn. Fortunately, most of the characters are from familiar books and films. Such a fun re-envisioning of the old favorites through fictional daughters!

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    1. It is a fun re-envisioning of these stories! :)

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  3. Congrats on getting your four books read. This is one I really want to read. The sequel's already out isn't it?

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    1. The sequel is out. In fact, I think the third book in this series came out earlier this month. So once again we're both behind. ;D

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  4. Lark, I had seen this around, but wasn't so sure about. After reading this post, I don't know why I hesitated - it sounds awesome :) Thanks for writing about it!

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    1. I thought it was a lot of fun. Mary Jekyll's a great character, and I even got used to all the characters' asides that are scattered throughout the book. :)

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  5. This book sounds awesome! I've seen it around, but always passed it by. I didn't really know what it was all about, but now, after reading your review, you've got me so excited for it. I'm putting it on my wishlist right now! :D

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    1. I'd love to know what you think of this one, Ashley! :)

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  6. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter sounds like a whole lot of fun. I've seen that one in stores and in the library but for whatever reason never I never stopped long enough to see what all it was about. I won't pass it up next time.

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    1. At least give the first part a read and see how you like it!

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  7. Hi Lark, I do enjoy these literary mysteries. Gathering dust in my closet is the Dante Club which I want to eventually read. Interesting about Beatrice Rappaccini. I didn't know the classic she was connected with and then I googled and its from a Hawthorne story I read years ago.

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    1. I read Rappaccini's Daughter back in high school, but I totally forgot who'd written it and had to look it up. ;D

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  8. This sounds like a fun read. I also like it that there's monsters and mysteries in this book. :)

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  9. Oh I like the cast of characters of this one! The Societe des Alchimistes sounds really creepy and I love how it links to the classic stories.

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    1. A secret alchemistical society does sound really creepy and cool, doesn't it? :)

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  10. This series is just gorgeous --definitely try the rest in the series.

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    1. Have already put the second book on my Christmas list. :D

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  11. Sounds like a fun and original concept. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Lark! :)

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  12. This sounds like one I'd like to try. I love the inventiveness and creativity of the story!

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  13. This sounds super fun. I hadn't heard of it before now, but it's going on my TBR list. Thanks for the rec!

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  14. I need to listen to this on audio. It sounds like so much my kind of fun :)

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    1. I'd love to know how they handle the audio version of this story with all the characters's asides.

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  15. Clearly I need to read Rappaccini's Daughter (which jenclair says is fabulous) and then this title!

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    1. Being familiar with Rappaccini's Daughter would definitely be smart. :)

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  16. I have a copy of this on my wish list and am so glad you enjoyed it, Lark!

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    1. I thought it was a fun read. And I really liked all the strong female characters.

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