Name: A study in Charlotte
Rating: 3.797979797979798 (396 reviews)
ISBN: 9780062398901

Brittany Cavallaro

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson descendants, Charlotte and Jamie, students at a Connecticut boarding school, team up to solve a murder mystery.

a Charlotte Holmes novel

A study in Charlotte

Sarah Sammis

Christine

started off 1.5, rose to 3 reluctantly. spent half of the book wishing to sucker punch jamie watson, but that tends to happen a lot w/ mystery sidekicks. i suppose he wasn’t as stupid as arthur hastings, at least? 

note to self: stop reading books at 3am

That was way more dramatic than I expected but I understand the CharlotteJamie hype

nina 

4.25 stars

I sped through this book in less than 24hrs. It was such a quick and easy read that’s great to end a reading slump

mari

there was nothing to like or connect with the characters. will i probably read the sequel? Yeah, but thats just because I don't like to leave things unfinished.

Jazelle H

Brittany Cavallaro's "A Study in Charlotte" recreates the relationship between Holmes and Watson in a modern setting. Following tradition, the narration is set by Watson, who follows Holmes left unaware of specific details until the final reveal. Unlike tradition, this young version of Watson is besotted with the young, female Holmes, who finds herself needing to prove that she deserves the Sherlock name. While the long-developing crush builds Watson's narrative and motivates many of his actions, it is also distracting from the mystery (namely because it distracts Watson from his surroundings). This novel is a light read compared to its inspiration, making it suitable for younger readers who are taking their first steps into the Sherlockian universe.

alexandra

when i heard this was going to be a SHERLOCK retelling, i surly exploded with excitement. ASIC did not disappoint. the plot is beautifully thought out, bringing concepts from the original story and also adding its own originality.

however, i think this story had the potential to be more. i felt like it lacked that last breath, but can't pinpoint what it precisely is. it might've been because the pacing was a little fast for my taste. the story felt surprisingly short i just wanted moooooore.

other than that THING i can't pinpoint, i truly enjoyed this novel. additionally to the interesting plot, our main characters are unique and snarky. the writing flows nicely and it made me feel like i was solving crimes with sherlock and holmes. overall, this is a fantastic debut! brittany cavallaro creates original and yet familiar characters that draw out a mysterious and wonderful storyline.

Colleen

A Study in Charlotte is supposed to be a continuation of The Sherlock Holmes stories. The title is clever and cute, but the duo-chromatic cover is awful. In this reimagining, Sherlock and Watson were real characters and Jamie and Charlotte are their descendants. They are thrown together and not surprisingly end up trying to solve mysteries. It was an interesting concept. I will admit that the idea of having the descendants of Sherlock and Watson team up was appealing. But A Study in Charlotte went too far in repeating the original stories. While I enjoyed it at first, eventually TOO much was copied from the originals, and the book did not venture out on its own enough.

The decision to set the story in America seemed odd. Sherlock Holmes is an iconic British character; setting the story in America really took the oomph out of it. I suppose it was because the author is American. Both main characters were supposed to be from London but did not sound like it. The character of Jamie Watson struggled to balance having ties to England and America, and the whole story had a similar identity crisis although that seemed unintentional. It was more likely the result of a light anglophile trying to mash a classic British novel into a modern American setting. It just did not transition smoothly. The modern time period also causes the loss of the historical element. Obviously a novel about the descendants of the original characters necessitates a more modern setting. But the overall result felt like the homage was done in name only, not in writing style or content. It certainly lacked the classic British humor that I so love. And both the characters and plot were too heavily copied to allow anything organic to occur. Big Spoiler: (view spoiler)[I was initially ok with the storyline setting up with reenactments of the past, however as the story went on and yet failed to venture out on its own my sense of dread grew. Before I was even halfway through, I was mentally chanting "Please don't let Moriarty be the bad guy" over and over in my head. But of course, not only Moriarty IS the villain, but it's done in a tawdry, predictable way. I was ok with the descendants of Sherlock and Holmes teaming up. I can buy the premise of families being so entrenched in their legacy that they try to force each generation to continue in the same way. I can even go along with family feuds spanning generations. But when you put that all together and the result is essentially retelling the same story, it becomes too implausible. The modern generation seems to entirely be the reincarnations of their forefathers. Their personalities, interests, flaws, everything is mimicked to an unbelievable degree. So by the time Charlotte's powerful brother is pulling government strings and Moriarty starts his villainous gut spill, I was disenchanted with the story. (hide spoiler)] I should also mention that this book contains several large spoilers to Arthur Conan Doyle's work. So if you have not read them and were planning too, then I would recommend reading them prior to reading A Study in Charlotte.

Taking an adult series and transitioning it to a YA book also damaged the relationship between the replica and original. It was also a little farfetched to have a couple of teenagers be so powerful and all-knowing. Admittedly, teenagers doing whatever they want, saving the day, and running circles around bumbling adults is a mainstay of Young Adult literature, but I still expected better.

The main characters have a convenient predilection towards being called by their last names only. It seemed like this was done only as a constant reminder towards who they were supposed to be. (Notice that I have stalwartly only referred to them by their first names in this review.) Without leaning on its inspiration, this story does not have strong legs on which to stand. It relies heavily on nostalgia, and while it is cute in parts the end result was messy. 

I liked Jamie's character most of the time, and having him narrate the story was fitting. But Charlotte was not engaging, interesting, or original. In her, the blatant carbon copying of the original character is so overdone that it is off-putting. Why would reincarnating an adult male, genius sociopath with a drug addiction into a teenage girl seem like a good idea? Right, the author tried too hard to be clever about replicating the story. I like reimaginings when they are well done. But it is extremely difficult to balance staying true enough to the source material while being creative enough to justify retelling the story. If that balance is not struck then it is nothing more than fan fiction that got published. Sherlock was such a well written and complex character that despite being a narcissistic jerk, he was still engaging and even lovable. Hence why Doyle's classic character is still so well-known. But Charlotte has none of that verve or complexity. She is intelligent but lacking in depth or wit. But her character is more like an image that has been photocopied too many times and had lost all the details. It's grainy and monotonous. Unfortunately, this leaves Jamie's character to carry the whole story. It still sort of works since he is the one narrating. Charlotte is slightly humanized through Jamie's eyes. But I have to wonder how much of his fondness is due to an odd sort of sense of obligation and loyalty rather than destiny or true affection. 

The story has a disturbing attitude towards serious subjects. Drug use and rape were dropped casually into the story but were glossed over and not really addressed. I could not tell if the author was trying to make the story more edgy and did not follow through or if she really had no idea how to tackle those subjects. Charlotte's drug use was certainly only put in because she is the shameless re-embodiment of her predecessor. The treatment of rape was even less thought out. Even the murders were handled in an offhand way. It lent the story a disingenuous feel. The story wavered between trying to be dark and serious and struggling to maintain a light, nearly Cozy Mystery feel. All in all, A Study in Charlotte seemed caught awkwardly in between too many things. 

Overall, it was good enough for a debut even if it did not live up to its potential. Still, I will probably read the next in the series. Hopefully it will improve upon itself. However, if it does not move beyond regurgitating the plots of the real stories, then I will not move on with the series.

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Attention to Detail: 3 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

menna

3.5⭐

I didn't read the original novels by Arthur Conan Doyle, i only watched the tv show adaptation and i love it so much so i had to read this one and i loved it!

Jamieson

“We weren't Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I was ok with that, I thought. We had things they didn't, too. Like electricity, and refrigerators. And Mario Kart.” 


this is one of those times I just wanna reiterate that a THREE STARS means I LIKED IT. there is this weird thing here 3 stars = bad. This book isn't bad. I liked it. I just didn't REALLY like it, or love it. But I had a lot of fun reading it, and I plan to continue the series. I can see so much potential for this series, and these characters. But this book felt like too much set up for ~the next book~. 

A Study in Charlotte follows the great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes and the great grandson of John Watson. In this world, Watson and Sherlock were real, and Arthur Conan Doyle was their benefactor who published the books. Thus, the Sherlock, Watson and also Moriarty families all have living descendants who continue on the legacies of their famous forefathers. 

We follow Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, who've just started at a new boarding school together. Despite getting off on a bad foot, the two are forced to work together after someone starts murdering student at their school in Holmes mystery-esque ways and framing the two for it. 


  “A voice cut through the blood-roar. “Watson,” Holmes shouted, at what sounded like an enormous distance, “what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” 


my favourite thing about this was the mystery I really liked how this mystery kept me on my toes. Until the very end I had no idea which theory to believe and there is SO many red herrings and potential suspects I felt hopelessly lost. The twist at the end got me SO good and I always love being surprised at the reveal in a mystery!

I also loved the modernisation of the story and the world-building around the Sherlock/Watson's. It was really interesting how the families in these stories had status in the world and that people were kind of .. reverential about the characters? It was super cool that the Moriarty's were also included and I liked that there was heaps of complex dynamics between each different family, with the Watsons/Holmes/Moriarty's all having these complicated relationships. 

Finally, the relationship between Charlotte and Jamie specifically was really interesting. There is much more potential for growth here as the series progresses but it's a good start. I liked that they started off badly together and then they're forced together. No offence but the "forced to work with someone you don't like until you inevitably end up liking them" is a great trope. 


  “She was altogether colorless and severe, and still she managed to be beautiful. Not the way that girls are generally beautiful, but more like the way a knife catches the light, makes you want to take it in your hands.” 


The modernisation was fun, I liked that it was set in a school setting and they had more access to technology and information than the originals. But it didn't really go far enough in my opinion and this is my major criticism. 

So much of this series felt really similar to BBC Sherlock in terms of characterisation and plot. Charlotte didn't really deviate much from Sherlock in terms of personality and that was really annoying. It felt more like they were The Same Person instead of related. I felt like Cavallaro could have done so much more with her character and made her a bit more complex/dynamic then she was. 

Jamie had potential but it was kinda lost. I felt like his character was both trying to be A Sweet Soft and also an Angry Violent it was confusing. So much of his personality and thought process basically revolved around Charlotte and I wish he had more characterisation that was unrelated to her. 

I also felt like I had kind of seen so many things here before, in either Sherlock or Elementary. Although the way the families were set up was fun, and unique, and it was cool to see these characters as teenagers, everything else felt a bit Done Before which was disappointing. 

Finally, I really really wish this book had more female characters. Charlotte is the only one really and there's always this "she's not like other girls" thing going on which I HATEEE. Like, she doesn't shop like the other girls, she doesn't gossip and she isn't silly and all that? it's kinda vague but it's also There?? I didn't like it?? I was waiting for SOMONE else to be a girl, like one of the Moriarty's (August!!) or anyone but .. nope. I think pitching this as a new take on Sherlock and then only making one (1) character a girl was kinda .. a wasted oppurtunity. There's also pretty much no diversity which Sucks. 


  “I wanted the two of us to be complicated together, to be difficult and engrossing and blindingly brilliant.”



  potential


Despite some bumps in the first book I think this series has POTENTIAL. The characters are set up in a way where I can see them as both individuals and a pair going through lots of character development. Also, the outside characters introduced like Charlotte's brother Milo and the Moriarty brothers have LOTS of potential. I like the direction this is going in. The sequel looks like it'll be less insulated and focus on a much larger mystery which is already getting me hype.

Overall .. I liked this book. It didn't blow me away or have me madly racing to finish it or buying up the next books immediately but it was fun and enjoyable to read. I really hope the potential I sense here pays off because if it does I can see myself loving the remainder of this series. 

tw: rape, murder, poisoning, violence, drug use, drug addiction,

Cindy McKee

I wanted to like this book. And I appreciate the love the author has for the original. But the story could have done without the teenage love story she kept pushing. There was much more potential in the characters meeting finally and forging a friendship than Jamie pining over Charlotte. That slogged it down and I had to push myself to finish. ☹️

Connor 

THIS BOOK, as previously mentioned, IS AN UTTER DELIGHT.

Imagine, if you will, your favorite crime solving/fighting dynamic duo. It could be Sherlock and Holmes, as we have here in a different light; it could be Mulder and Scully, or early-seasons-Booth and Bones; Batman and Robin, perhaps; Carter and Jarvis, or maybe Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Whichever they are, Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson are sure to join your list of favorites.

This book doesn't just subvert various Holmes/Watson tropes; it finagles its way around them, over them, through them. There are mysteries, subplots, intrigue, secretive chemistry experiments, a Stradivarius--and, of course, the sort of friendship that can only belong to a Holmes and a Watson. 

If you're worried this won't live up to your expectations of a teenage Sherlock Holmes: you've got the wrong book. This isn't a book about Sherlock Holmes. It's a book related to Sherlock Holmes. It's about legacy and character, history and the modern age, true friendship and loyalty in an age of loneliness--and it shines.

Oh, it shines.

(I will admit that it is not perfect. I will admit that there were moments where I winced. But I will also admit, wholeheartedly, that this book was more than I had hoped, and I am decidedly looking forward to the next installment of the trilogy.)

Nicole Dykeman

This was tropey—beware insta-friendship/love, plus villainous monologues and other Sherlock-Holmes-inspired tropes. Nevertheless, it was entertaining to listen to on audio, and I’ll probably continue the trilogy at some point!

Haley

I give this book 2 1/2 stars. It was okay. I really looked forward to reading this book but didn’t have particularly high expectations for it and now I’m glad I didn’t. The storyline was interesting enough but there was something about it that just seemed... bland. It’s a relatively small book at 321 pages but it took me 5 days to read it. Even though some new development is happening pretty frequently, the whole book just seemed slow paced. This book was overall not a bad read, and I can for sure see how other people love this book but for me, it just wasn't right for me. 
SPOILER REVIEW: Some parts of the story seem a little bit problematic to me. How come when a character is a female and she has a run in with a guy, she seems to always be molested or raped? *SPOILERS* In the beginning of the story, we meet a character named Dobson who is a nasty, sexist, creepy kid. His main target is Charlotte and she reveals later that he had actually gone so far as to have raped her while she was on drugs. Personally, I'm tired of a main female characters downfall or 'baggage' being that she was raped without the author challenging it. In this story It was not challenged at all and the only purpose it served was dramatic effect, and attempting to make Charlotte seem more vulnerable. She is such a strong willed character so Why couldn't her 'motive for murder' she have stood up for herself against Dobson? Caused a scene in front of a bunch of other students? Surely that would produce the same impact the writer was going for. Not only that, but the HANDLING of her rape was done poorly. It was rarely talked about. Also, why does every strong female characters downfall have to be falling in love or trying to be strong and not let anyone in? It's just so old. I wish the author had handled rape and drug use better. I wish she hadn't even written that Charlotte had been raped at all because if she can't write about it well and challenge the idea, then don't put it in at all. 
Overall, the story wasn't too bad. Besides the obvious issues stated above, I've read worse books.

A study in Charlotte a Charlotte Holmes novel

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