The Daemoniac by Kat Ross Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!!!

The Daemoniac by Kat Ross
(A Dominion Mystery, #1)
Publication date: October 12th 2016
Genres: Historical, Mystery, Young Adult

It’s August of 1888, just three weeks before Jack the Ripper will begin his grisly spree in the London slum of Whitechapel, and another serial murderer is stalking the gas-lit streets of New York. With taunting messages in backwards Latin left at the crime scenes and even more inexplicable clues like the fingerprints that appear to have been burned into one victim’s throat, his handiwork bears all the hallmarks of a demonic possession.

But consulting detective Harrison Fearing Pell is convinced her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. Encouraged by her uncle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.

From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry and her best friend, John Weston, follow the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York’s richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead them closer to home than they ever imagined?

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About the author:

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.

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REVIEW

Well, Kat Ross has done it again! A switch of genres and she's won my undying love! I simply couldn't put this one down! I was supposed to read another of her books first (blog tour commitments) but the moment I started reading this one I was captivated & enthralled and I only stopped reading when I had to leave for work!

A wonderful mix of murder mystery with paranormal strikes and a very fresh retelling/reimagining of Sherlock & Watson!

I loved having a female reimagining of Sherlock, a male Watson and a female version of Mycroft too! It was quite intriguing to see our Sherlock trying to prove herself and her abilities away from the shadow of her older sister. I loved that the mystery was complex and had some clear paranormal & supernatural undertones, although for part of the book we aren't exactly sure if those paranormal bits are legit or just a sort of smoke curtain to hide the real line of investigation.

This is a real page turner, and not only because of the mystery of the murders to be solved but also because it is done in a bit of a time crunch, given how our Harry wants/needs to solve it before her sister returns to town! And of course, the murderer is on the loose and it's getting close to Harry the closer she gets to solve the case! So much tension!

I'm usually a bit of a romancephobe in books, I tend to cringe from romance that feels like it's added to the book for the sake of adding romance, but that is not an issue here! There are some hints of romance and of a shippity ship that I totally ship, but our Harry's brain is much better to discover clues for murder than to see what might be right in front of her! I must confess to be looking forward to see the development of said ship in upcoming books!

I simply cannot wait for more in this series, and the sequel won't arrive soon enough for me! Very much deserved 5 stars!

GIVEAWAY

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Mark These Book(s) Monday: When The Moon Was Ours & A Study In Scarlet Women!!!

Hello there guys!!

Yep, I'm well aware that the blog has been pretty silent for the most part, despite a few blog tours post here and there. Seems like blog tours have been the only way to motivate me to blog as of late...

I'm hoping that a bit more blogging that I have up for this week will continue, even if it might be just three days a week for the most part.

Today I have two mini reviews for Mark These Book(s) Monday and both were highly coveted eARCs that I was approved for via Netgalley and sent a widget by the publisher for NG too. I am beyond happy that they allowed me to read these books in advance!

As Netgalley eARCs I'm also counting these two as part of my NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge!

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What an absolutely gorgeous book! The writing, the characters, the little bits of magic here and there, the relationships between characters... it all fills me with a sense of wonder!

I have only read one or two magical realism books before reading WTMWO but I had not liked those previous books much, hadn't got into any of them and the fantasy elements seemed too random in relation with the story somehow, but even with those previous experiences, I went into reading this book with an open mind and I'm so very glad I did!!

The writing, Anna-Marie has a gloriously gorgeous writing style and a way with words that simply ensnared me from the very first page and line! I was not sure where the story was going, but I knew I was going to love my reading journey!

Miel and Sam, Honey and Moon, are both fantastic and complex characters, with a lot of magic in their story in very small and big ways but they felt so right and so part of the story, even if they never felt like we're in a fantasy world, but in a world very much like our own, just with a magic we might not see.

I absolutely loved the journey of growth and self acceptance and discovery that both Miel and Sam have to go through, and it's a beautiful story about Sam finally making his own decision between being Samir or Samira and how he wants to continue his life, and it was quite fantastic to see support for him in his family and Miel. And Miel also had a lot to learn and accept about herself and her past and to find a way to move on and be true to herself.

If you've ever wondered about reading magical realism, and you want to read a wonderfully diverse book, with a trans boy, Latina/o characters and amazing writing, When The Moon Was Ours is your book!

Very much deserved 5 stars!



A Study In Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm not usually a big fan of retellings, but if there is a kind of retelling I seem to adore, it's Sherlock Holmes retellings/reimaginings! The moment I found out about a gender swapped retelling of Sherlock done by Sherry Thomas, I knew I needed it badly, and I was extremely lucky to be allowed to read it early!

Charlotte (I was so tickled about the choice of name for our lady Sherlock!) is an uncommon woman, for her time and society and even for her closest family. We met her after she's made quite what it seems a rather unreasonable choice that will mark her life forever, but soon enough we see she is quite resourceful, despite the low position she has to overcome.

It's a while till we are involved in the main case for the book but I was so captivated by the character interactions and figuring out who would be who in this retelling, I adored how we get our Mrs Hudson and Watson all in one and with a wonderful past to boot! I love how much support & solidarity between can be found in this book, even with how very accurate to the time period everything is kept.

This gender swaped Sherlock Holmes captivated me from the very first page and had me in its thrall until I turned the last page! That characters were amazing, there is quite a shippity ship and the mystery was intriguing enough to have me guessing and still quite surprise me by the end!

I just need many many books to come in this series and I will devour them all as avidly as I've done with this one! Bravo, Sherry Thomas! So very well deserved 5 stars to this one!


View all my reviews