Book Review – A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

So. Okay. Hi! I’m back with a review, but I have something slightly upsetting to share first. Back in 2016, I wrote a review of this book for Fangirlish, an awesome site that I loved writing for but just didn’t have time to contribute to anymore (hello, I just took an 8 month hiatus from MY OWN BLOG)… and they have since deleted the post. So I’m starting again and writing reviews for every book in the Charlotte Holmes series, because they’re my favorites and I want to just fangirl over them a little bit more. So here we are, at the very beginning.

In A Study in Charlotte, Jamie Watson is a new student at Sherringford School, a boarding school in Connecticut, not far from where his estranged father lives. He is the descendant of the infamous John Watson, and it isn’t long before he meets another student at Sherringford – Charlotte Holmes, the descendant of Sherlock Holmes. He had always dreamed that they would be friends, but Charlotte had other plans… in that she hadn’t really thought about Jamie at all. But then Jamie punches one of his rugby teammates to defend Charlotte’s honor, and then that player turns up dead, and suddenly, a mystery is afoot.

3 Things I Loved

1. Charlotte and Jamie’s friendship. It’s flawed. Sometimes it’s a little toxic. But they are always there for each other, and they always have each other’s best interests at heart. There is so much I want to say, but I’m trying to be spoiler-free over here!
2. The writing. Brittany Cavallaro’s writing is exquisite. She has such a way with words. This is one of my favorite quotes for any book, ever: “I wanted the two of use to be complicated together, to be difficult and engrossing and blindingly brilliant.” That’s from this book. I don’t care what people say – YA is literature, y’all. And this is one of many books that proves it.
3. Jamie. I feel such a connection to Jamie. Sometimes Charlotte takes advantage of him, and sometimes he feels like he isn’t appreciated and isn’t loved in the same way that he gives love. And I feel that on a very deep level. I’ve been going through some shit, and re-reading this book was what got me back into reading regularly. I need Jamie, because I am Jamie. And I need Charlotte just like he does, too.

Dislikes/Problematic Content

So here’s where I’m going to have issues reviewing these books – I’m too close to them. I’ve read A Study in Charlotte three times in four years. I know this book inside and out and I never stop loving it. So I don’t have anything to say here, but if you’ve read this book and have some issues, please let me know. I fell in love with the writing and the characters and am too close to see any potential problems – I can’t help it!

Rating

A reminder of the rating scale:

• Red = DNF, I hated everything
• Orange = Ugh, no thank you
• Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
• Green = This was good! 
• Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
• Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!

You have to know what I’m going to say here, having JUST TOLD YOU that I’ve read this book three times in four years. The binding is totally going to fall apart. And I DON’T EVEN CARE. A Study in Charlotte gets a PURPLE rating from me, always and forever. ❤

I’m going to be reviewing the rest of the series over the next few weeks, scattered among the other scheduled reviews I have on my calendar. From this point forward in the series, there’s going to be spoilers for the earlier books. I’ll warn you again at the beginning of each review, but I wanted to say it here first! Read the books! They’re so lovely.

I’m thrilled to be back!

Happy reading!