Beth Bernobich

Quick Word: 2.5 or 3 stars - I couldn't quite decide. The premise was fantastic and there were some aspects of the world building with real potential. I loved the idea of the animal spirit companions, the relational subtext between Kai's old gang members (especially Yun), and the Chinese influences. Despite all of that, I never quite bought into the emotional levels of the novel, or believed in Kai’s affection for his mother, friends, Yun, or even Chen, his pig spirit. I also felt that the merge of fantasy and magical technology was a little shaky, and I couldn’t pick up a vibe from the city atmospheres.… (plus d'informations)

I went into this book intrigued for three reasons:
- Claire O'Dell is the (open) pseudonym for fantasy author [a:Beth Bernobich|1394555|Beth Bernobich|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1270570844p2/1394555.jpg], who's works I adore
- Female Sherlock Holmes and Watson!
- Near Future/quasi-scifi leanings!

The fact both of them were black and queer didn't even register with me - I saw the cover (which of course features two Black women - also I love this cover), but I hadn't read the backcover before I was requesting the book.

This is a compelling read. Yes, I used the word compelling and yes I meant it. While the bare bones of the well trod Sherlock mythos are here, O'Dell gives us a new take that grounds the story in a very real sense of the world. We're not given the exact year this is set, but its after the current presidency and its explicitly stated that the war Watson fought in is a result of the world this presidency encourages. but I won't get into my own politics - cause I agree with a lot of the conclusions drawn and implied here as well as can easily see this sort of thing occurring in the real world It gives this an undercut of tension while I was reading, a sort of fear that "holy shit this is all too true" feeling.

It made it hard at times to read as fast as I wanted. Emotionally I got overwhelmed; with how Watson felt, with how she reacted, with how the world was. But I needed to know what was going to happen. I needed to know how the puzzle pieces fit together, why it all mattered. So many things that on the surface amounted to very little - the death of a veteran who was obviously haunted by the demons from the War, a military Doctor who disappeared, a squadron who disobeyed orders - these are all so mundane, so common, but Watson felt it was imperative to dig deeper. And that urgency, that drive, made me feel it too.

Holmes, Sara Holmes, is both every frustrating characteristic of Sherlock Holmes and all the best parts amplified. She is not written more "feminine" or in any fashion that would pigeon hole her as "oh she's just a female Holmes" and easily dismissed. She's fascinating because honestly her behavior is so gender non-specific. She's not warmer because she's female nor did it seem to give her any special insight. Her calculations and intelligence are genderless; her motivations and her actions equally so. If Watson didn't remind us that Holmes was female, I'd be hard pressed to find any where in the narrative (that isn't a physical description of her) that points to that conclusion.

In the end, like most Holmes' tales, the mystery has a very common place motivation. And for me, this book became way less about the mystery then it did about who Watson would be at the end. Would she still be the bitter, veteran who just wanted a device that would allow her to reclaim a part of herself she considered essential? Would she recapture any of the idealism she had before she joined the War effort 3 years prior?

Or would she, like so many of her comrades in arms, succumb to the misery the world was forcing onto the broken and discarded in the name of progress?… (plus d'informations)

I read Passion Play through in one sitting. I saw the book advertised for an author signing at Book Expo and knew I had to have it. The cover is gorgeous, the synopsis sounds tailored for my interests and most importantly, I wanted to read it.

The book starts out giving us a a good sense of what home life is like for Ilse (and to avoid confusion, her name is originally Therez, but she changes it when she runs away). An imposing restrictive household, a society that doesn't leave young women many choices and a restlessness to leave and do something more. To find a path in life that she can be happy with. If her father hadn't pushed her hand, I truly believe Ilse would have run away regardless. Her father's ideals and her own were vastly different and with no allies to back her up, I still think she would have run away. Her plan may have been less hasty however and more thought out.

Ilse's journey from her city is...traumatizing to say the very least. She's young (not yet 16), sheltered and has no idea what the real world can be like. The stories she has heard from her father's friends and her brother don't prepare her and her naivety is almost painful to read about. Choices she makes haunt her throughout the rest of the novel; plaguing her dreams and making her fretful during waking hours. Bernobich's handling of the post-traumatic stress Ilse feels is subtle and heart-wrenching. Everyone she meets is suspect and she's scared of revealing too much lest they turn out to be like those before.

Kosenmark, and his household, is a unique place. A pleasure house for certain, but it seeks to pleasure not just the body, but the mind as well. His courtesans are singers, dancers, board game players and musicians. They tell stories and charm with more than their bodies. Raul himself is enigmatic for the better part of the book. Pieces of his backstory filter out, at times when the information is completely necessary for Ilse to know, but we don't see a true Raul until near the very end. Gaurded, clever and quick to judgments, he's also a paranoid man with good reason to fret for his life. His bantering with Ilse seem to bring him as much pleasure as the games he plays with his long time lover.

In the last third of the book something transpires between Raul and Ilse that I'm a little uncomfortable with. Its not their relationship, but accusations made that made me a little leery of the deepening affection between the two. I could just be a naturally suspicious person however.

The other characters are, for the most part, well developed. I wish we had learned more about some of the serving girls (Lys and Rosel, for example) and I hope we see more of the courtesan Nadine and certain misconceptions are remedied. The second book is due out in 2011 and the third is due out in 2012 (according to the author's website). I'm looking forward to learning more about Erythandra and the hinted at destiny for Ilse.… (plus d'informations)

These women, Janet Watson and Sara Holmes, are not Sherlock and Holmes. It would have been a boring book if O'Dell just changed their genders, plopped them in the future and had them do over the classic stories. Like the TV show Elementry, this book takes the essence of the two classic characters and crafts these characters' story around those essences.

The story really starts when a female veteran that Watson meets at her job dies. everything in Watson's life starts to snowball and get even worse than it is at the start of the novel (and that's saying something).

I enjoyed the novel for sure. The characters were interesting and most definitiely unique. At times here and there some parts felt over done by a bit, but, overall, it was just a heckuva thriller ride, especially at the end.… (plus d'informations)