A Study in Charlotte-Book Review
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
Publisher's Summary:
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 everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar. 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, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.
Personal Review: 4 coffee cups
A Study in Charlotte is one of those books that I've seen around the bookstores for a while now. It was kind of like the Cinder series by Marissa Meyer; it seemed to always be there, but I was just never much interested in it. I should have taken that as my first clue that I needed to read it, because I ended up loving the Cinder series. A Study in Charlotte was much the same.
This story is a modern-day Sherlock Holmes tale. The two main characters, Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes, are descendants of their famous relatives. When a student turns up dead at their boarding school, mimicking crimes in old Sherlock tales, Jamie and Charlotte are the prime suspects.
While I'm no Sherlock Holmes aficionado, I found this story to be a very compelling read. I read a few reviews that said this story was dull in comparison to some of the other Sherlock Holmes shows and such that are out there right now. In my opinion, I felt like this focused more on the intricate character development of these two individuals. Charlotte Holmes, at first, does not come across as the most lovable character. She seems cold and detached, almost robotic in a way when you first meet her. Jamie is her more approachable counterpart. As the story moves forward, you see why Charlotte can seem unapproachable and brash. She has a rather tortuous history of drug abuse (something about the original Sherlock I didn't know) and she was raped during one particular episode of oxy use. ***SPOILER WARNING TERRITORY*** Without giving away too much, there was one particular scene involving a questioning by a detective about this event that I found really profound when it comes to rape culture. When the detective asks Charlotte why she neglected to communicate the fact that she had a previous sexual encounter with the murder victim, Charlotte says, "Your real question should be whether the sexual act was consensual." It's a simple statement, but it carries so much weight.
I like how this story flips the script when it comes to these two characters. Charlotte accuses Jamie as being, "massively melodramatic" and Jamie learns that Charlotte's mother criticized her for being too sentimental at a young age. I loved that these characters weren't what you would normally expect.
This book also mentioned Charlotte's relationship with August Moriarty, which I know is where the 2nd book leads. I'm excited to read more about that, but nervous at the same time because I'm terrified of love triangles.
Favorite Quotes:
"When our eyes met, there was a kind of confused electricity there, like we'd broken up and simultaneously exchanged vows."
"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."
"I felt everything, and still everything bored me. I was like...like a radio playing five stations at once, all of them static."
