I happened upon the Enola Holmes series last year when one of my girls needed me to pre-read it for them.
I LOVED the first one, and while she is happily reading other things, I decided to try the second one for three reasons:
1) to find out if the second one is as good as the first (IT IS!)
2) I needed a January cozy mystery
3) I love Sherlock Holmes to begin with
Enola is the (much) younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock. She (and her mother) are "missing" and it is driving Sherlock crazy. Enola's mind is every bit as fascinating, intriguing, and intelligent as the famed Sherlock - maybe a bit more so?
Each chapter seems to unlock a new disguise, a new layer in her approach to solving mysteries and in short it is utterly fascinating. I could smell the smokiness of the air, feel the heaviness of fog, and almost taste the sooty tanginess that must have danced in the very particles wafting before your nose scrambling about London trying to solve mysteries and find missing things (or stay hidden so you cannot be found if the case calls for it). Nancy Springer is a great writer! Genius with words.
I forgot, as I did with the first one, that I was reading a book designed for someone much younger than myself. That is not to say it was inappropriate for someone much younger than I am, it is just that well written; it spans a wide variety of age groups (I would caution handing this over to someone much younger than twelve - fourteen though).
Come join Enola in searching for those that are lost...and might she just discover herself in the process?!?
Favorite things:
First of all - I love when Enola utters "Oh my stars and garters!" 😊
Second - I jotted down several words that I was unfamiliar with: perditorian, peripatetic, assiduously, & effrontery
Third - my favorite quote: "Here, midnight's chill was made of chimney soot, coal fumes, wood smoke, and dank disease wafting up from the Thames; it was as if one swam in fog colder than ice yet never frozen, forever soaking through one's clothing and into one's bones." pg. 34
I am also working my way through The Pilgrim's Progress. I divided the book into half - Pilgrim's story this week, Christiana's next. I will blog about it when I am done. I am SO sad that I have waited this long to read this - it is amazing. 💖
The Enola Holmes series sounds great! I love an author who is good with words. Pilgrim's Progress is so good! I have read it several times. When my kids were teenagers they were fortunate to act is a play/musical based on PP. It was an experience they will never forget.
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