A STUDY IN SILKS by Emma Jane Holloway

Rating: F
Synopsis:
Evelina Cooper, the niece of the great Sherlock Holmes, is poised to enjoy her first Season in London’s high society. But there’s a murderer to deal with—not to mention missing automatons, a sorcerer, and a talking mouse.
  
In a Victorian era ruled by a council of ruthless steam barons, mechanical power is the real monarch, and sorcery the demon enemy of the empire. Nevertheless, the most coveted weapon is magic that can run machines—something Evelina has secretly mastered. But rather than making her fortune, her special talents could mean death or an eternity as a guest of Her Majesty’s secret laboratories. What’s a polite young lady to do but mind her manners and pray she’s never found out?
 
But then there’s that murder. As Sherlock’s niece, Evelina should be able to find the answers, but she has a lot to learn. And the first decision she has to make is whether to trust the handsome, clever rake who makes her breath come faster, or the dashing trick rider who would dare anything for her if she would only just ask.

My thoughts on the book:
A Study in Silks has to be one of the most boring and slowly paced books that I've ever read. The characters bored me, the plot bored me, the mystery was easy to figure out, and the pacing was slow as molasses. I had to stop and start this book several times because I kept dozing off every time I read a few paragraphs. The writing is horridly dull. I normally love steampunk, and the cover is gorgeous, but I just could not make myself get into this book. It was a chore to finish it.

Evelina is a well-developed character, but she's so dull that I didn't care what happened to her. One would think that Sherlock Holmes' niece would be the slightest bit interesting, but she really wasn't. I did like how Holloway made flawed characters because that made them seem more realistic. Still, none of them stood out, and most of them just fell extremely flat for me. 

The pacing was so slow. I have never read a book that moved so slowly. Holloway is also a fan of over-description. I hated the fact that she described every single thing that may have ever thought about crossing Evelina's path in excruciating detail. The descriptions themselves made the book painful to read. It also slowed down the already slow pacing. The mystery wasn't that mysterious. I had everything figured out pretty quickly. The ending didn't stand out to me. It tied things up okay, but left room for a sequel, which I won't be reading.

I know a lot of people liked this book, but I absolutely hated it. I wish I could say nicer things about it, but it just wasn't for me. I cannot stand slowly paced books and over-description. If you do give this one a try, I say check it out from the library. It may work for you, and I hope it does. However, it didn't work for me.