ARC Review: The Dastardly Miss Lizzie by Viola Carr

“Viola Carr has put her very own steampunk twist on the old story and brought it fresh life. ”
~ Under the Covers

Once again there is a murderer terrorising and sensationalising London all at once and Dr Eliza Jekyll is on the case. But, there may be more going on than their first appears. As the mystery slowly unravels, it seems that so is Eliza’s mind. Lizzie Hyde, her alter ego is becoming more powerful, able to effect the outside world and Eliza’s sanity even when she is not in control.

I love this rendition of the Jekyll and Hyde, Viola Carr has put her very own steampunk twist on the old story and brought it fresh life. The Dastardly Miss Lizzie really starts to bring things to a head as Lizzie and Eliza’s mutual dislike and jealousy bring disastrous consequences as the ever present tension between them explodes.

I had mixed feelings about this book, some of the reasons I enjoy this book, also became some of the points that made it a slow and not always enjoyable process to read. The main aspect of this is Carr’s writing style. It’s almost 18th century in style, matching the time period in which she has set it in. It’s high descriptive, with every word and sentence stylised. Which makes it very vivid, but at the same time I feel like I am fighting through each paragraph and each chapter and ultimately the whole book to try and get to the exciting parts. It took me a long time to read this book and it wasn’t because I wasn’t interested in the story and the characters, but just because the prospect of reading a book with so many adjectives being thrown at me was exhausting.

One of the things I did like though, was the way in which you can clearly discern whether it was Lizzie or Eliza who held the reins of the narrative, just by the way it was written. The contrast between Eliza’s logical mind and Lizzie’s more earthy personality are immediately apparent. I also liked the story, I am a massive fan of the whodunit and this one was a doozy! Although it seemed to take forever to get to the point, and it fell into that trap of revealing everything right in the last few chapters rather than a slow build, it was worth it when you get the whole picture.

If you are a fan of steampunk and urban fantasy then you need to give this a try, it’s full of adventure, romance and some highly imaginative gadgets and gizmos. If you are looking for something quick and easy with lots of romance though, you might want to give this one a miss.

[about-author author=”Viola Carr”]

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