The Last of August

I bought this fabulous book for my daughter and she loved it so much that she finished it in a day. She said that she liked how Brittany Cavallaro continued the same characters as Arthur Conan Doyle did in his Holmes and Watson books - Holmes, Watson and Moriarty. She absolutely adores this book and won’t stop until she has recommended this series to all of her friends.

THE LAST OF AUGUST (Charlotte Holmes #2) • • • ⭐️:4,8/5 • • 💬: Jaime and Charlotte want to spend a relaxing winter break after almost getting themselves killed. They go to her family’s Sussex estate and Jaime realize that the Holmes family is not relaxed at all. The intense atmosphere around them becomes even more suffocating while both of them try to understand where they stand with each other, feelings are in the air but Charlotte needs to deal with her traumas first. They are distracted soon enough when her uncle, Leander goes missing from the estate after being secretive about his assignment in a german art forgery ring. Unfortunately, in Jaime’s opinion, they will have to deal with August Moriarty. They will learn alone about their families, themselves and each other. I can't believe I’m going to say what I’m going to say but: I cried a LOT because of an e-mail (the epilogue). I don’t know how to describe the feelings I was having during certain scenes of this story...Charlotte and Jaime were just painfully tragic and awesome at the same time (and as always). Their banter sometimes made me angry with Charlotte because she sometimes can be really insensitive with Jaime, and we see how hurt he keeps getting. But then...the author decides to give us some pages of Charlotte’s PO and that made me have a more deep understanding of how she acts, I know she is there to act like Sherlock Holmes but damn, she is so different! I love the twists and similarities that these characters have with Sherlock and John. I know that I said last time that I love Milo but I’m SUPER MAD WITH HIM NOW. I was so disappointed with him, especially because of the last pages of this book; and the Holmes are so CRAZY. Like, at this point I just want to hug Charlotte and make her go away forever from them. And although the mystery of this book is not that impressively developed, I loved how the case brought some discussions between C and J, how they got to know more about their families and how they got to understand each other better. Also, I love how the author tricked me a lot in this book.

Ich muss es gestehen: Alles, was ich über Sherlock Holmes und Watson weiß, habe ich aus dem Fernsehen... ABER für einen Film - Sherlock Holmes - Fan kann ich sagen, dass ich die Charlotte Holmes Reihe nur wärmstens empfehlen kann. Es ist in beiden Büchern eine gute Geschichte mit spannenden Fällen und einer speziellen Dynamik zwischen Watson und Holmes die zu Sir Doyles Zeiten weder denkbar noch möglich ist. Ich kann nur sagen, dass ich auf den dritten und letzten Teil schon sehr gespannt bin. Das, was mich gestört hat, war, dass ich das Ende am Anfang nicht ganz verstanden habe...hat ein bisschen gedauert. Ansonsten fand ich es wirklich gut. Aber wie gesagt - habe nie die Originalen Holmes Werke gelesen (werde ich noch!) deshalb sicher auch so wenig Kritik. Ein richtiger Sherlock Fan würde die Reihe vielleicht mit einem Schnauben abtun und nicht mehr zur Hand nehmen, aber jemand wie mich, der gerade einen kleinen Zeh ins Wasser gesteckt hat, wird sicher damit zufrieden sein.

I was incredibly luck to find an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book in advance of my pre-ordered copy arriving. This review is of that copy which, for clarification, I lucked into and did not receive from the publisher. I do own a copy of this book and will be editing this review when I re-read it. The Last of August cemented for me that this series is one of my favorites in recent memory. Ms. Cavallaro perfectly balances light-hearted humor, strong emotions, mystery, and drama. There are certainly wonderful things about these books apart from the characters; Cavallaro is a poet and her phrasing at points is perfectly efficient and utterly beautiful, the mystery in this book is stronger than in the first and keeps you on your toes as a reader, the greater Holmes family - introduced in this book - are a puzzle unto themselves, but ultimately your opinion on this book will live or die on what you think of Charlotte and Jamie. Jamie Watson is a marshmallow and I love him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is full of emotion and cares deeply, even when he doesn't want to. I love that Jamie fills a role that is often given to female characters and that it doesn't detract from his masculinity or desirability. Poor, poor Jamie does not know what hit him when he's around the methodical calculating Holmeses and this book certainly shows that, but it also addresses the ways Jamie is good for Charlotte and it deepens his relationship with his father, who also knows the perplexities of a Watson-Holmes relationship. Charlotte Holmes - how I do love Charlotte and her obsessive need for control. Charlotte wants desperately to be in control, she wants desperately to be the most capable person in the room, but she also needs to be softened, to be tempered. Charlotte burns brightly but without friends she threatens to burn out. Charlotte needs people who respect her enough to push her to do and be better, but she's also deeply afraid that she is too broken to be happy. Oh, Charlotte, you are a panther, a leopard, a lynx; Fierce and smart and capable. This review has already devolved a bit into my rambling, so I'll end it with this: - if you liked [ASIN:0062398903 A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes Novel)] you will like this even more. It's everything good from book 1 but stronger and deeper and more. - if you were less enthusiastic about book 1 you might still like this, it depends on what you did or didn't like about book 1 - if you need someone to gush about James Watson, Jr. or Charlotte Holmes with you ever, you know who to talk to. Upon finishing this book I immediately wanted to have the third book and was dismayed that I couldn't pre-order it already, a year or so in advance. That's how much I loved this book.

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