sherlock holmes – Home | The Blind Scribe

Happy Friday bookish people! It’s a bit miserable where I am this morning but luckily I get to spend the next three days reading for a readathon challenge – hosted by MegWithBooks on YouTube, so I’ll be happy.

Today I’ll be doing the Rip it or Ship it challenge, I’ve seen a lot of people do it on YouTube and I thought why not try and do it on my blog. So I wrote down the names of two or three characters from each book I’ve read that I thought would work, put them all in a bowl and picked out two each time until there were none left…. I ended up with 40 pairs. Now, that’s quite a few so I’m only putting fifteen up today and maybe if you all enjoy it I’ll put up some more rounds later.

Onto the pairings!

1. Kellen (Spellslinger series) and Sameth (Lirael)

I would have to Rip this pairing (just imagine I’m tearing up the names..) because they are both quite similar characters, both find themselves in the middle of nowhere, in danger, with an animal sidekick who’s there to help but doesn’t do much helping.

2. Nathanial (Sorcery of Thorns) and Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone)

I have chosen to ship this couple. Because Nathanial can be quite snarky especially when you’re first getting to know him and Aline would be having none of that which I think he’d like, plus both of them technically have a form of magic which I think would be nice for their pairing.

3. Jaren (The Prison Healer) and Mary Jekyll (The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Duaghter)

Definitely not. This wouldn’t work at all. Mary Jekyll, although she does many unladylike things, sees herself as a Victorian lady and considering her opinions in the books Jaren would not be gentlemanly enough for her, she’d probably end up slapping him and goodness knows she wouldn’t be found in a prison – which is the only way they’d meet because that’s where he is..

4. Cardan Greenbriar (The Cruel Prince) and Cecelia Bassingthwaite (The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels)

This is an interesting one. I think I’m leaning more towards shipping it because their personalities probably would work well together, he would definitely be surprised by her and the fact that she goes wherever her mind takes her.

5. Nesta Archeron (A Court of Thorns and Roses series) and Thomas Cresswell (Stalking Jack the Ripper)

Yes! I ship this. Nesta could well be a bit much for him to handle but they both have very fierce personalities and their wits would battle well I think.

6. Emilia (Kingdom of the Wicked) and Blue Sergeant (The Raven Boys)

Absolutely not. Rip it. Emilia has gone through a lot so far (and I think she’s got a lot more hardship coming her way too) and I don’t think that her and Blue would mesh together, their opinions on things would be too different.

7.Julain Santos (Caraval) and Sherlock Holmes (The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter)

Hmm….. I love Julian but he is very mischievous and kind of lies a lot which I don’t think would go down well with Sherlock Holmes so rip it.

8. Eli Ever (Vicious) and The Darkling (Shadow and Bone)

I have to ship this simply because can you imagine these two together? They’d destroy the world.

9. Scarlett Dragna (Caraval) and Dorian (The Starless Sea)

If I didn’t ship Dorian with the person in the Starless Sea that is perfect for him I would probably ship him with Scarlett, she can be fiery and I think he could calm her when needed.

10. Lirael (Lirael) and Mal (Shadow and Bone)

Okay, ignoring the age difference here for a minute I think their personalities would go well together and they have a similar upbringing in that they don’t know their parents and they’ve been brought up in communities that have shaped them into the people they are.

11. Irene (The Invisible Library) and Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows)

Yes, I ship this. A librarian spy and a sharpshooter? Of course I’m going to ship this.

12. Cath (Fangirl) and Zachary (The Starless Sea)

I could see this working. They both really like books and are both quite introverted.

13. Kai (The Invisible Library) and Wrath (Kingdom of the Wicked)

I love a bit of chaos, I’d ship this. A dragon and a demon – what could go wrong…

14. Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows) and Reid Diggory (Serpent and Dove)

I think this would work. He would want to try and be over protective of her but I can’t see her liking that but I can see them working it out. If she doesn’t just stab him first.

15. Feyre Archeron (A Court of Thorns and Roses) and Jude Duarte (The Cruel Prince)

I could see these two being friends, and being a bit of a force if they worked together, they are quite similar.

That’s it for this challenge, I hope you all enjoyed it!

A Case of Royal Blackmail Plot:

This book was interesting to me because I’m a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes novels and I wondered how this one would compare. While I was intrigued by the case in this novel, that was to do with the Prince of Wales later King Edward VII, and I really wanted to know how the end was going to be figured out I didn’t enjoy it as much as I have Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The mystery itself was one that I enjoyed, it had various threads of other mysteries interweaved in the narrative. I also loved the appearance of Oscar Wilde, being an English student this really appealed to me.

A Case of Royal Blackmail Characters:

This for me was where the book was slightly disappointing, the story itself was good but because Sherlock Holmes is such a beloved character and he is known for being with Dr Watson I felt the gap where that other character should have been and it threw me off a little bit. I also felt that it was strange that it was supposedly Sherlock himself writing about one of his cases. However, it did feel authentically like Sherlock Holmes and it did keep the Victorian era setting and language very well.

A Case of Royal Blackmail Overall:

I gave this book three stars overall because as a book, distancing it from previous Sherlock Holmes works, it was very well written and filled with tension and mystery. However, I’m not able to forget about Conan Doyle’s original stories and it didn’t quite live up to my expectation in that way.

Blurb/Synopsis:

In Oscar Wilde’s Amethyst Tie-Pin, the 24-year-old Sherlock Holmes recounts how he untangled the web of blackmail and deceit surrounding the ‘complex romantic endeavours’ of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, those of Lillie Langtry and her various suitors and the morass of ‘scandal sheets’ and libel cases surrounding the Prince’s court of the time, while at the same time solving the mystery of Oscar Wilde’s missing amethyst tie-pin.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Tag: sherlock holmes

Rip It or Ship It!