A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Pages: 321

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Murder Mystery

Notes for Parents: Contains coarse language, drinking, drug use, smoking, death, and other mature scenes

The Back Cover

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. 

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series.

What’s good?

The descendants of the legendary Sherlock Holmes and John Watson find themselves at the same American boarding school and become embroiled in, you guessed it, a murder mystery. Jamie Watson is a typical awkward teen that has fantasized about solving crimes with the Charlotte Holmes, but when the opportunity presents itself, it’s more than he bargained for. The plot is strong and the pace is steady. There’s mystery, romance, humour, danger, and lots of deductive reasoning.

Best Part: Jamie Watson.

What isn’t good?

The chapters were long, the action was sparse, and Charlotte Holmes was impossible to like. In an attempt to make Charlotte like her great-great-great-grandfather Sherlock Holmes, the author made her smart, obnoxious, a gambler, a narcissist, and addicted to drugs. Unfortunately, she had none of the charisma that made Sherlock entertaining despite his many flaws. Heavy topics like rape, drug addiction, and murder were treated lightly while family and friendship issues were overdramatized.

Worst part: Charlotte Holmes.

Recommendation ☺☺ (2.5/5)

I just didn’t buy it. The story was trying to be a modern day retelling of the original, but it didn’t translate well with gender reversed teens playing the parts of a crotchety detective and his sidekick. It has murder, mystery, and even sophistication, but it’s missing the idiosyncrasies of the original. There are better Sherlock reincarnations out there.

Cavallaro, Brittany. A Study in Charlotte. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2017.

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

Pages: 179

Intended Audience: 8-12 year-olds

Genre: Supernatural

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature scenes

The Back Cover

When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Serenna Izard. It seems that Serenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls—a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it!

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series. It was made into a movie starring Jack Black in 2018.

What’s good?

This is a sweet, enjoyable story about an orphaned boy who finds adventure when he moves in with his uncle. It’s a quick and easy read with a straight forward plot and likeable characters. There’s magic and mystery with subplots that focus on friendship, family relationships, and resiliency.

Best Part: The movie looks good.

What isn’t good?

It was slow. I expected more excitement, more magic, and more mystery. The premise is intriguing, but the execution lacks depth and complexity, even for a middle-school level book. Perhaps it digs deeper in subsequent books in the series.

Worst part: The story summary on the back gives too much away. The beginning is boring because we know where it’s going!

Recommendation ☺☺ (2/5)

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t keep my attention. The only reason I was able to finish it was because it was short. You probably have to be a lot younger than me to appreciate the low-level of scare and adventure. I hope the visuals in the movie make the story more interesting.

Bellairs, John. The House with a Clock in its Walls. New York: Puffin Books, 1993 ©1973

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

Pages: 385

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Supernatural

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature scenes

The Back Cover

On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three Ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn’t.

And then she died.

Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge—as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change…

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is based on Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.

What’s good?

Holly is a failed Scrooge that has spent the last six years trying to convince other Scrooges to change their ways. With sarcasm and dry humor, Holly, with the rest of the Project Scrooge team, investigate their new target, a handsome teenaged boy. It’s a compelling premise that is both comical and engaging. The characters are likeable, especially Stephanie, and even Holly and Ethan who are both self-absorbed but also battling grief and trust issues. While a lot of the story is predictable, the conclusion was completely unexpected. The ending is well-crafted.

Best Part: No Scrooges in Canada! Also, I loved Marty’s explanation of why his generation (teens today) doesn’t believe in magic and the supernatural. (page 243-244)

What isn’t good?

For at least the first half, the story moves slowly. We learn about Holly’s past and her present routine, and a little about the new Scrooge, but nothing terribly exciting happens. It does pick up in the second half, and eventually I felt invested enough in Holly and the other characters to want to know how everything turns out. The romance is light and predictable. The story itself stays fairly superficial despite hitting on tough topics like grief and loneliness. There are some cheesy moments and quite a few stereotypes.

Worst part: Nothing was terrible.

Recommendation ☺☺☺ (3.5/5)

This could have been a 4 out of 5, but the start was slow. I considered stopping a few times, but I’m happy I didn’t because the last half of the book was well worth it. Ultimately, this was a fun read, and considering I read it over Christmas it was very apropos. The story was light and easy, with the feel of a Hallmark movie. It may be a bit awkward for those who don’t know Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, but otherwise it was entertaining with a great twist at the end.

Hand, Cynthia. The Afterlife of Holly Chase. New York: Scholastic, 2017.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Pages: 403

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Fantasy / Mystery

Notes for Parents: Contains violence, sexuality, and mature scenes

The Back Cover

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful and cruel father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a trilogy.

What’s good?

Caraval is a game wrought with danger and intrigue, where high risk reaps big rewards. While Scarlett has dreamed for years of participating, she’s not prepared for the stakes when her sister is taken and rescuing her is the only way to win. The writing is heavy with descriptive prose and metaphors. The plot is inundated with twists and turns, misdirection, and deception. Nothing is what is seems. Scarlett’s relationships are tested; who can she trust? This is a dark tale with mystery, adventure, romance, and magic, as well as passion and desperation. The end wraps up nicely but with a tantalizing invitation to the next game.

Best Part: the shifting dress

What isn’t good?

The cover description gives too much away so the readers end up waiting for things we already know are going to happen. The story would have been much better served if the teaser had been as mysterious as the story. While I like the character of Scarlett, her constant wavering gets annoying, her romance is over-dramatic, and her traits are inconsistent. The world-building is disappointingly vague and character development is minimal.

Worst part: When Scarlett tells Donatella, “You can’t be in love with someone you just met,” yet Scarlett is in love with some she just met. Did I miss something?

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻ ☻ (3.5/5)

I really did enjoy this book, but it also felt like it was lacking in so many ways. I was never bored, yet I was often annoyed by inconsistencies, strange metaphors, or missing explanations. The plot is fueled by lies and deception so the twists and turns are dizzying, and in the end, the overall intention isn’t clear. Perhaps the other two books in the series make everything clearer.

Garber, Stephanie. Caraval. New York: Flatiron Books, 2017.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Pages: 416

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Notes for Parents: Contains some coarse language, mild violence, under-age drinking, and other mature scenes.

The Inside Cover

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

In 1936, shortly after the school opened, Ellingham’s wife and daughter, Iris and Alice, were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great crimes of American history. Something like that could never happen again, of course…

Years later, true-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series.

What’s good?

Stevie Bell is observant, brave, a little compulsive, and very persistent. She is determined to solve a mystery that has plagued her new school since 1936. However, a present-day death at the school presents her with a new opportunity to put her sleuthing skills to use. Both crimes are intriguing and there’s plenty of suspense and foreshadowing. Mysteries abound and the plot is strong, but the story focuses also on the relationships that develop between Stevie and her new housemates. There’s a hint of romance but nothing distracting. The story ends with a cliffhanger.

Best Part: Stevie.

What isn’t good?

It started slow and it only picked up a moderate amount. There wasn’t much action, and for a place that was supposed to be “a wonderful place full of riddles,” I was disappointed that there were only three. There was no resolution to the first murder (yet), and the second murder’s solution was vague and unsatisfying. It was a bit predictable and the cliffhanger at the end had nothing to do with either murder!

Worst part: the lack of resolution.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻ ☻ (3/5)

It ended on a cliffhanger. I’ll read dozens of books between now and the next book in this series, so I likely won’t read it knowing that I won’t remember the details of the 1930s murder enough to pick up where it left off. Having said that, it was still a fun read. I really liked Stevie and I found both murder mysteries intriguing.

Johnson, Maureen. Truly Devious. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2018. (Hardcover)