The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club)

I really enjoyed this storyline. Blending so many of the characters we some way or another grew up with, and making it a wonderful story. I enjoyed Holmes eccentricity as well as the sarcastic humor throughout.

Total let down. I didn't even realize the book was over when I finished it. I turned the page to start the next chapter but there was no next chapter! I did not care for the writing style and I thought the story was pretty corny.

I read this in an e-book ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It could easily have been titled, or subtitled, The League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen, which applies even though all the women are not always gentle. Instead of focusing on the alchemist men of familiar stories, we get the perspective of the women in their lives. Mary Jekyll and Diana Hyde, half-sisters of an ambitious, reckless scientist; Catherine Moreau, a puma transformed into a human on a South Seas island by a vivisectionist made famous by H.G.Wells; Justine Frankenstein, hanged for a murder she did not commit, later reanimated as a bride for Victor's first creation; Beatrice Rappaccini, an Italian beauty cursed with a poisonous breath due to her father's botanical experiments (from a Nathaniel Hawthorne story). There are others tangential to the plot, but I expect we'll see more of them in a follow-up book, or at least I hope we do. Also on the case, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. One of the best books I've read this year. Full review on my site - templetongate DOT net slash alchemistsdaughter

This book - or fragment of a book - is well written and interesting but doesn't have an ending; only a beginning. Unfortunately you will need to purchase the rest of the series to find out what happens. I find that currently I am unwilling.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter is so high-concept it makes my teeth ache. Goss takes the heavy-hitters of 19th century literature - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Frankenstein - and then chucks in a lesser-known short story by Hawthorne and imagines what the female descendants of all those monstrous literary madmen might have been like if they'd crossed paths and then decided to hunt down Jack the Ripper with the assistance of Sherlock Holmes while the author makes sly narrative asides about her dissertation.

Seriously, the only way this novel could be more in my wheelhouse is if Goss had tunneled under the walls and written it inside - and maybe added a zombie.

Unfortunately for all of us - and I really do count this as one of the great literary tragedies of the last ten years - Goss has bitten off a bit more concept than she can narratively chew. Once she brings her merry band of misfits together, they've got virtually nothing to do other than be cliches of their types and wait for the villain to reveal himself while they regale us with flashbacks. Even then things might have been fine(ish), but Goss gets experimental with her style, having the characters chime in an interrupt the story with comments on the action, which only works when your characters have something witty or insightful to say, which hers distinctly do not.

Oh, and Sherlock Holmes falls in love. Which is something you really, really need to earn for me to believe.

On the face of it, Strange is everything I could ever want in a novel, but despite having all the right ingredients, Goss can't quite make the alchemy of her story work, and it remains sadly more lead than gold.

In The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss mixes together some popular literature of the 19th century (particularly science fiction and horror) with an emphasis on female characters.

The story opens with Mary Jekyll burying her mother. Her mother’s death has left her penniless, and she has no idea what course her life will now take. Then she discovers that her mother paid a monthly sum for the care of “Hyde.” Mary immediately remembers her father’s old associate, who still has a reward out on him for information leading to his capture. She takes the information to London’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his associate Dr. Watson, who are themselves investigating a series of gruesome murders. Mary quickly learns two things. Firstly, “Hyde” is not her father’s old associate but his young and troublesome daughter, Diana. Secondly, the mysteries of her heritage may be bound up in the current murder case.

Mary begins gathering around her fellow daughters of literature’s mad scientists. I wasn’t familiar with all of the literature Goss was using, but I knew of most. While I haven’t read the tales Mary Jenkell, Diana Hyde, Catherin Moreau and Justine Frankenstein originated from, pop culture osmosis has come in handy. Beatrice Rappaccini was the only one I was truly unfamiliar with. Turns out she’s from a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” It was quite a lot of fun to read about some well known characters running around London in the 1890’s. Classic Literature fanfic? Then again, so many books can be described that way!

The format of The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is a bit odd, but I liked it. The conceit’s that the book is being written by Catherine, who’s telling the tale of how all these women met. The other women have their own comments and opinions on the story Catherine’s telling, and she includes these in lieu of changing the manuscript to reflect their concerns. The meta-commentary could be delightful, and I think it went a good way towards building the characterization of the women in question. It really helps them come to life.

The format does mean that you know ahead of time that the central characters make it through the mystery alive. Indeed, one of them spills the beans with a comment that they solve the case. Of course, I assumed as much when I began the story, so it didn’t take away much from the narrative. Most of the tension comes from lingering questions regarding the women’s heritage, the connections between them, and how they create a new life together.

At heart, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is about something I love a lot: a group of extraordinary women coming together and creating a found family. I look forward to whatever Theodora Goss chooses to write next.

I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.

Was not impressed. If you've read the great stories these characters were built on, you'll likely be as disappointed too. Kudos to Ms. Goss for the effort, as writing a book is an accomplishment. The story just fails short and seems rushed.

Trite, poorly researched. Impossible to suspend disbelief. The writing is cheap, the characters ludicrous. The affectation of inserting dialogue of the characters is kind of cute, but does little to balance the many elements that makes this a trashy novel. Definitely not recommended, not even as light reading, which is what I was looking for in between more difficult reading.

Mary Jekyll has led a sheltered life, even for a woman in the late 1800's. Her father, Dr. Henry Jekyll, died over a decade ago, leaving his wealth mysteriously inaccessible to his family. Although appearances were maintained, the truth behind the facade is that Mary was forced to sell almost everything of value over the years in order to retain a few key members of the household staff and hire a nurse to help care for her mentally-ill mother. After her mother's death, Mary realizes she is quickly running out of funds. She begins to investigate her mother's legal papers in the hope of discovering a way to provide for herself and her faithful housekeeper. Mary is astounded to learn her mother had a secret bank account with a monthly withdrawal earmarked "for the care and keeping of Hyde". Could this be a reference to the notorious Mr. Hyde who is still wanted for the brutal murder of an elderly gentleman? And if that is the case, would the authorities still offer a reward for his whereabouts even though the crime was committed so long ago? Mary visits the famous detective Sherlock Holmes for advice, hoping this information might lead to some financial security. Instead, Mary finds that nothing in her mundane life is quite what it seems.

The cast of characters spring from some of literature's most well-known horror stories. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter features not only Dr. Jekyll's daughter, but also the daughters of doctors Frankenstein, Moreau, and Rappaccini. Each character is well-formed and has her own unique voice. Although introducing the offspring of iconic fictional figures is nothing new, author Theodora Goss offers an original plot and an engrossing mystery that keeps the story appealing and fresh.

Another unique feature of the book is an intriguing story within the story. The daughters are reading a written account of their exploits, much like Dr. Watson's documentation of Sherlock Holmes' adventures. Each chapter features conversations between the women, commenting on the authenticity of the writer's interpretations, giving more accurate and often amusing insights into their personalities. This commentary allows each of the daughters' fascinating backstories to blend seamlessly into the action. For instance, through this plot device it becomes obvious that the insults directed at the incorrigible Diana Hyde actually come from a place of love and indulgence.

Goss does an expert job of clearly exposing who the real monsters are, as well as exploring the idea that the bonds forged from friendship can be the strongest of all. Other strong themes included are those of sisterhood, loyalty and feminism. Goss left a few mysteries unsolved, and hopefully they will be addressed in her next book. Overall, her formula of monsters, mystery, and the macabre is highly entertaining and I definitely recommend The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter.

Following the death of her mother, Mary Jekyll is now alone and near penniless. Curious about the secrets surrounding her father's mysterious past and subsequent death, she begins a search for any information about the man who died when she was a small child. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father's friend and research partner, may be nearby. Hyde is wanted for murder and there is a reward for information that leads to his capture. Money that Mary knows could solve many of her immediate financial problems.

Mary's hunt however, leads her to Hyde's daughter, Diana. A troubled child, she has been abandoned by her father and orphaned by her mother, and is now left to be raised by nuns. Eager to leave the company of the nuns, Diana joins Mary in the search for Edward Hyde. The two women soon enlist the great Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and with their help find other women like them - women who seem to have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When the investigations point to a secret society of immoral and power hungry scientists, each young woman wonders if the past has finally caught up with her.

As a fan of novels set during the Victorian era, I will admit I was a bit cautious in my initial approach to The Strange Case... In the past I have learned that the writing in these kinds of books can be rather hit or miss. When the writer "hits the bulls eye" with their writing, they capture the feel of Victorian England and draw the reader in to the described realm completely. When the writer misses...sadly, they tend to miss completely.

For me, Goss has done an excellent job and while she doesn't completely hit the bulls-eye, she is not terribly far off either. In combing through the rich treasure trove of stories of the time, she has taken well known characters and combined them with new and unique ones. As these ladies are the daughters of numerous well known "mad scientists", their simple existence is completely plausible. That they all exist in the same world, while not probable, is equally plausible. Who is to say?

If there is one thing about the book that I don't particularly like, it would have to be the occasional "interruptions" from the characters as the story goes along. Having the characters interject with commentary - some before we have even met them - while not detracting from the story as a whole, was something I found distracting. At times it pulled me completely out of the story.

On the whole, The Strange Case... is a decent read. Readers who enjoy some of the more gothic classics, like myself, will likely enjoy this first book in the series. Personally, I will be keeping an eye out for the second book, and hopefully one day a third and a fourth.

It took me a little while to warm up to this one but once I got into it, wow, what a fun ride!

So, I’ll be honest, everyone kept telling me I would love this book and the only reason I was hesitating on picking it up is because it’s based on previous literary figures and new characters with connections to those characters and for some reason this feels like something that bothers me and I don’t know why. I’m weird, ok? I don’t get the aversion myself, but it’s there. And at first this still bothered me when I started into the book. HOWEVER. Somehow I was charmed by the characters and especially (in the most ironic twist of all time) Sherlock and Watson. I guess I don’t have an aversion to them. Huh.

Anywho. Back to the book.

Once I got into the story I found myself really enjoying things. It helped that I listened to this on audio and Kate Reading is such an excellent narrator (highly recommend anything she’s read) with the way she does all the various character’s voices. The characters in this were quite fun and definitely all have their own distinct personalities shining through. They’re all women (Holmes and Watson notwithstanding), but they’re all very different kinds of women and I loved that about them. Variety! In women characters! Yes! I love them all so much for different reasons, I don’t know if I could pick a favorite if I had to. Diana is hilarious and in that rebellious teenage stage (which is cute now but may not be as cute later). I love Mary’s quiet strength, as well as Catherine’s. The way some of them have been huge supports for each other, Catherine and Justine especially, was very touching.

One thing I will say is that I enjoyed their adventures once they were together rather than their backstories. Usually I’m all about backstories! But since those backstories so often tied into my former aversion, I suppose they just didn’t interest me quite as much. Except for Justine’s backstory which I found heartbreaking and touching.

The main plot was great fun. A murder mystery and a strange society to investigate! What do these things have to do with each other and how does it tie in with all of our characters? I really enjoyed all the sneaking about and investigative parts because I love mystery plots anyway. It’s an interesting thing here because as the reader should be familiar with certain existing characters we do know some things our main characters don’t, but other things the author has expanded on and that keeps us invested in following along to find out the answers.

The other thing I really loved about this book was the way in which it was written. I loved that the characters kept interrupting the story being told to point out when things were being embellished. I think this can be a hard thing to pull off, but it worked so well here!

Overall, really enjoyed this one. You guys were right! Looking forward to diving into the second book which is a huge tome and hopefully won’t take me too long to read. 4.5/5 stars.

Spectacular cases are usually simpler, and less interesting, than they initially appear.”
My love affair with this book began in 2014, when I stumbled upon it in the short story collection The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination. Though the anthology contains a number of truly excellent short stories, it was Theodora Goss’s “The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” that struck me, and I carried it with me in the years that followed. Much of my reading through 2015 and 2016 was inspired by Goss’s short story. Imagine my delight, then, when I saw that Goss was expanding on “The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” for The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter in 2017.
With eager hands and hungry eyes I tore into this book, ready to devour it at unmatched speed. But I couldn’t. For all its humor and all its fantastic premise, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is stunningly beautiful.
On the surface, this story brings together the daughters of literature’s most read (and most fearsome) mad scientists in a journey of self-discovery and salvation – beginning when Mary Jekyll discovers Diana, the daughter of Hyde. The story that unfolds is part science fiction, part action, part comedy; if that’s all The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter had been, I would have been satisfied. But it’s not. In expanding on her initial short story, Goss brought to it whole new dimensions.
The book is written along a few different narrative timelines. The main story of how these women came together (and saved themselves from numerous horrible plights) is wrapped in another narrative – as the women themselves sit together and heckle one of their number who is writing the story we’re reading. Somehow this story-within-a-story manages to be incredibly charming, and showcases dimensions of each of the characters involved in addition to both enhancing the dramatic tension and providing comedic relief.
Through and through this is a delightful read. One of its great strengths is the way Goss has married this action-packed modern tale with Victorian-era fantastical literature. Other pastiches of this kind (not that I’ve read many, I’ll admit) might be as evocative of the genre they’re emulating, but Goss’s work goes much farther: invoking that work directly to bring the power, the weight, the cultural relevance, and the mystery/horror of her referenced material into this new piece, which engages with its audience in a thoroughly modern way.
Similarly, Goss strikes a powerful balance between cultural sensibilities of the period and women’s liberation, creating an earnestly feminist piece that never stoops so low as to preach. Simply, the women in this book are complete, well-rounded, individual women, and their agency as full characters is empowering. Internally, they struggle with (and within) the confines of the role women are relegated to in Victorian England, doing what they can to survive in what is definitively a man’s world.
The “meta” quotient of this book is real high, and I was very concerned that things like the appearance of Sherlock and Watson would take this book into full “kitsch” territory, rendering it unreadable. Thankfully, Goss remains well aware of (and well away from) that fine line. Sherlock and Watson are invoked respectfully and to great effect. Beyond that, all the main characters are aware of their ignominious parentage, and the relationships each has with her father’s work and legacy lends fascinating depth to each character individually as well as to the world as a whole.
“That was the first meeting of the Athena Club. … Readers who remember their classical mythology will immediately realize its significance: Athena, born from the head of her father, Zeus. We do not claim the wisdom of Athena, but we identify with her dubious parentage.”
Each of this book’s main characters is Goss’s creation to some degree. As she explained on Goodreads.com,
“I’ve definitely changed the original stories, in part because in the originals, all the women die. My assumption is that they didn’t, so I have to explain how they survived, and how their “real” stories are different than you might read in the original books. As for the characters, Beatrice is pretty well characterized in Hawthorne’s short story, so I’m really reinterpreting her and adding details. But Catherine doesn’t really exist as Catherine in Wells’s story: she’s just an anonymous puma woman. Justine isn’t even created–Frankenstein decides not to animate her after all. And Mary and Diana, I added to Stevenson’s story. So it depends on the characters. I have, at a minimum, reinterpreted what is there in the originals. I kind of needed to, because the female characters weren’t the focus of any of these stories–even Beatrice’s story, which is named after her, is entirely from the perspective of Giovanni, the young man who falls in love with her. I figured, if she told it, the story would sound different …”
Of all Goss’s interpretations, her version of Justine’s story is far and away my favorite. I can’t say more without breaking my rule re: spoilers, but I think a small part of me is forever changed by reading Justine’s story and I’m grateful to Goss for that.

I loved the first version of this story, a short story appearing in The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, and love it even more now that it's been expanded into a thoroughly enthralling novel. Not only are the characters wonderfully fleshed out, each given their own distinct voices and personalities, but the way the women complement each other and grow into a family over the course of the book is wonderful. The historical setting is lushly written and detailed, and the interjections by the other women throughout the book, which is structured as if Catherine Moreau herself was writing it, add a liveliness to the story that reminds me wonderfully of Rashomon (or rather, The Rashomon Job from the tv series Leverage, which I find to be a delightfully comic take on the trope). I am very excited that there is a sequel, and will be purchasing it posthaste.

If this were to be on AO3, for the more fannishly inclined of us, hashtags as follows:

#Bechdel Test Pass, #Found Family, #Feels Overload, #Women Supporting Each Other

It also has very much of a Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves vibe, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A+ 10/10

This is one of the most entertaining books that I have ever read. I enjoyed every single page of it and am going to read the other novels in the series. The plot is extremely original: the daughters of some literary scientists meet and form a club, the Athena club. Actually, only some of the heroines are properly 'daughters', because some of them are rather creatures, but in a human form. So we meet Mary Jeckyll and Diana Hyde, who are also half-sisters, Beatrice Rappaccini, Katherine Moreau and Justine Frankestein. They are all, in a way or another, victims of their fathers/creators, who have had no scruples experimenting on them and then basically abandoning them to the mercy of a world that is not always kind to women. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are involved in the adventure, finding out about a mysterious and ancient club whose members are keen on experimenting on girls in order to create monsters and prove their more or less valid scientific theories. Oh, and let's not forget Reinfeld and Jack the Ripper... but no more about the plot, I don't want to spoil it.
The book is fantasy and very looses based on the crimes of Jack the Ripper (another kind of monster), but it still deals with some important serious issues, such as women's abuse, father-daughter relationships, the role of women in society, the lack of respect for Nature that we still see today. It's a book to enjoy just for the fun of it that I could not put down.

A historic fantasy featuring an ensemble of fascinating female characters--the "daughters" (in various senses) of various classics horror fiction protagonists. This is the sort of book that often leaps to the top of my to-be-read list. I liked it...but I didn’t love it, which always makes me sad. So first: why did I like it? The premise is full of promise. Mary Jeckyll (daughter of the late doctor) finds information after her mother’s death that results in her taking responsibility for a young woman named Diana Hyde, evidently the daughter of her late father’s assistant who disappeared after being charged with murder (the assistant, not the daughter). They stumble into participating in Sherlock Holmes' investigation of the gruesome murder of a prostitute, and soon clues are turning up to a mysterious “Society of Alchemists” that appears to tie all sorts of threads together, including several other rather unusual women whose fathers were similarly connected to the Society. For anyone familiar with weird literature of the 19th century, picking up on the hints and clues will be a large part of the fun of this story.

The writing is solidly competent and the characters of the various women are distinct and colorful. What didn’t work for me quite as well was the structure of the plot, which feels a great deal like working through the collective origin stories of a band of superheroes without quite getting to the adventure they tackle together. Each character narrates her history to the others which, while, it fills in essential information for the reader, results in a very slow build-up. The need to fit these expository chapters in where they don’t disrupt the flow of the action (which is quite dense and break-neck) can lead to some strange pacing, such as when Justine Frankenstein tells the others her story in the aftermath of the dramatic climax. To be sure, there is a climax and a natural conclusion to the book, as well as a clear opening for a sequel. But this book feels like the set-up for that sequel rather than a stand-alone story.

The other narrative technique that didn’t entirely work for me--and I feel like this is a bit petty--is the meta-fiction of the story’s structure. One of the women is writing up the adventure, deliberately in the style of a penny-dreadful and told from the points of view of the various participants. This narrative is interrupted at regular intervals by commentary among the women, criticizing the wording, their portrayals, and arguing with the choices of the writer. The meta-fiction is that the lot of them are, in essence, hanging over the shoulder of the writer as she works and having their interjections and comments recorded in real time. But the feel of it, to me, was more like an MST3K running commentary--more oral than written--which kept throwing me out of the meta-fictional context. (That is, I might not have been bothered if the side comments felt more like something set down originally in writing than transcribed from audio.) To be fair, it’s an imaginative technique and has the dual functions of turning what might otherwise be a somewhat flat narration into a more lively time-disrupted sequence, and of introducing us to the personalities of the entire group of women long before they enter the storyline, which in some cases comes fairly late in the game.

So, as I said, liked it but didn’t love it, primarily for structural reasons in the writing. But if you're intrigued by the female viewpoint on the consequences of classic horror stories, this will be right up your alley.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter is one of the best books I've read. Ever. And, I've read gazillions. I have never read Theodora Goss previously. And, now.. I cannot believe that I had not stumbled upon her works before. What a fantastic, imaginative, superbly well written story! The characters were so well written.. that one becomes a mouse in the corner watching all of the events as they go along. The pace is perfect. The characters are perfect. This will become a beloved series. One that I'm happy to have found from the start!

I love the concept.. of all of the various "daughters" of the 1890's well-known literary characters coming to life. Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, Moreau, Frankenstein, etc.. Toss in some other literary characters.. Sherlock and Dr. Watson, Renfield, Van Helsing and Jack the Ripper. Murders and mayhem. This story will suck you in.. and you WILL savor every delightful morsel!

I highly recommend reading this book. I look forward to other books in the series. (it was somewhat difficult to discern if the author intends upon this being a series... but, I do hope she does!) The language flows so easily. The mystery is slowly unraveled. The clues not so obvious. The characters become family within your mind.

There are some characters.. who's story was not written about.. I still need to know Renfield's involvement. And, of course.. what the heck becomes of .. Ohhhhhh.. You'll have to read this book to know whom I am speaking of.. hehe.

This book could be good, but for some unknown reason, the author chose to write the story with interruptions from the characters, who are reading the manuscript of this exact story as it's being written by another character. I have this book on Audible, and as you are listening and getting drawn into the story, suddenly you are jarred out of the story by the narrator listing names and what they have to say like Mary: 'That's not what I was thinking about while I was at the church at all!" Katherine: "Well, I can't expect readers to be interested in you thinking about your shoes, now can I?" Mrs. Whomever: "It's called 'dramatic effect, Mary.'" Ugh. It's awful. What may be worse is that I believe the author feels that it's a clever way to write a story, but it's Just. So. Annoying. It could be so good, and I am trying to continue listening to it, but sometimes the switching back and forth between idle character chit-chat and actual book are so frequent that I can't stand it.

For those fans of the classic monster tales, this story should delight readers of young and old. Mary Jekyll daughter of Dr. Jekyll, finds herself near destitute after her mother’s long illness. When tracking down a previous unknown bank account, she is directed to a women’s only home where she is unexpectedly entrusted the care of Mary Hyde,daughter of Mr. Hyde and her supposed sister. In the meantime she also becomes involved with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they investigate the Whitechapel murders. Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice it to say appearances are made by other females from monster classics including Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau and Rappiccini’s daughter. I really enjoyed both the story as well as the verbal sparring between the young women. The only reason for the 4 stars is it lagged a bit at the end, lacking any action and concentrating more on wrapping up their current and future situations. I look forward to reading the next book in this series that seems to involve Van Helsing.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if an author tried to create a feminist mix of Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Frankenstein, Jeckyll and Hyde, Rappuccini's Daughter, the Island of Doctor Moreau, Dracula, and just a smidgen of Dante and Beatrice? Well, wonder no more! Goss has made a metafictional monster mash-up of chaste YA with mostly older characters who interrupt the narrative to make comments (rather reminiscent of Alisdair Gray's Lanark).
In spite of how messy it sounds and how 2-dimensional the characters are, it's actually quite a good tale. Goss has great plotting and pacing skills, and she does not indulge in a frequent habit of authors: writing in unnecessary running around just to show off how much research was done.
Also, although this is clearly the start up book for a whole series, it does have a decent ending with a fair amount of resolution. I liked it well enough that I will probably read the sequel when it comes out.
The book is reasonably well-edited, although the author (and her copy editor) has a problem with the use of "who" and "whom" in three separate occasions.
There is a bit of a dilemma as to who the intended audience is. The book is very nearly sex-free, with mentions of birth control, prostitutes, and one character's former "relations" with a man, but the characters are much older (with 2 exceptions) than usual for YA. That could be overlooked, but the author assumes the reader has a good familiarity with Conan Doyle, Shelley, Stevenson, Hawthorne, Wells, Stoker, Dante, and, of course, the factual parts of the Whitechapel Murders. I've taught school for decades, and I can assure you that very few teens are that well-read. In fact, most adults aren't that well-read. So, then, is Goss' intended audience YA-loving women? If so, why does the book so carefully tip-toe around sex? (The main character, Mary, is vaguely crushing on both Holmes and Watson, as if she were ten, for she appears to have no hormones at all.)
Overall, however, it's a action-packed tale and not a bad read, even if the author rather buried herself by trying to work in too many threads.

If you’ve ever wondered what a mishmash retelling of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Rappaccini’s Daughter, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Frankenstein AND Sherlock Holmes would be like – this is the book for you. I don’t think you have to be familiar with any of the inspirations for this novel to enjoy it though. I’m only vaguely familiar with the last two I mentioned and still enjoyed it immensely.

What I loved most about this novel was the characters & the found family aspect. I am a sucker for found family stories, always. Make it a murder mystery solving monstrous girl gang and I am HERE. FOR. IT. The characterization is extremely well done. All of the girls are smart and tough in their own ways. They each have their own unique voice and brings their own talents (and issues) to the table. They are flawed, realistically written women who make it impossible not to root for them.

I have mixed feelings about the writing itself. While I loved the characters & the overall story, the execution left a lot to be desired. A lot of this had to do with the pacing which was fairly inconsistent. I also didn’t really love the method of telling the story after the fact in the format of Catherine writing a novel. I found a lot of the asides distracting as they pulled me out of the story I wanted to be reading about. It also removed any sense of fear or urgency for the main characters which I think is kind of necessary for a mystery.

If you enjoy history, murder, girl gangs and monsters than this book should definitely be on your TBR.

When I heard about The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter I must admit that my mind was totally blown. It just sounded so good!

Why did it sound good? Well you see, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter ties together quite a few classics. There is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein, Rappaccini's Daughter, and Sherlock Holmes as the main story tie ins. However, as you read through the story you will find even more! Theodora Goss is a genius! Putting all these stories together? Pure brilliance.

This story isn't about the main characters of those stories though. Aside from Sherlock Holmes and Watson being in The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, characters it revolves around are the daughters of the villains from the other mentioned stories.

In this story we start off with Mary. Mary is the daughter of Dr. Jekyll. She has just lost her mother and her father died when she was 7. She has little to no money left and doesn't quite know what to do. Then she remembers that years ago Mr. Hyde was wanted for a murder and never captured. She sets off to try to find Mr. Hyde so that she can claim the reward money so that she won't have to worry so much.

And from there the story goes! And it goes so well! It is so fun and exciting!

I must say that I don't really feel like Sherlock Holmes and Watson were really themselves, but Theodora Gloss is not their creator. She did give it an admirable shot though.

As far as for all the daughters? I liked them all well enough. I didn't like Diana all that much though. I personally felt like her character wasn't quite as well done as the rest of them. She was too predictable in her behaviors and responses. But then maybe that means she was really well done considering who her father is!

Also, this book is written kind of like we are reading it as it is being written. Ever so occasionally dialogue between the characters pops up between bits of the story. They are either squabbling, pointing out that something was missed/wrong, or stressing the point of something just told to us. Sometimes I found this to be pretty interesting and a really neat way to get to know the characters a little better while other times I found it confusing or annoying. It definitely was a different way to write it though.

All in all, I really enjoyed The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter and hope for more adventures!

I'm a big Theodora Goss fan so I was happy to get my hands on this. I think it's her first full-length novel. She writes so beautifully, I'd read her grocery lists.

This is very interesting. It's a novel in which the characters are self-aware - there are many sections where they break off the story to insert conversation between the characters. One character is the main author of this and the rest kibbutz.

Goss cleverly ties together many of the 19th century thrillers: we have not just the daughters of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but also a cat woman from the Island of Doctor Moreau and the Bride of Frankenstein - as real people this time, not just props for the guys. I'm not familiar with any story of an Italian Poisonous Beauty, but she's in there, too. And they work with Sherlock Holmes. (I guess that's why my library classifies this as a mystery.)

Goss draws this out, bit by bit filling us in. We start with Mary Jekyll in what appears to be a standard Gothic text. But these other voices start breaking into the narrative, voices who know her, but we, the readers, do not know them yet. As Goss spins out her tale, she brings in all these other voices in a literary polyphony.

Goss is also rather playful in this. When the characters suggest, at the end, that there might be a second book, I'm not sure whether to take that seriously or not. But I sure enjoyed this.

'The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter' follows, Mary Jekyll. Mary is Dr. Jekyll's daughter (of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). She decides to explore her father's mysterious past.
I found this concept totally enthralling. Taking the story of 'Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and expanding on it. It also added well-known literary characters along the way, such as the daughters of Dr. Moreau and Rappaccini.
Even though the characters were not original to the story, I loved the unique spin that Goss gave them. I kept wondering which charter would be introduced next. It also made me want to read the classic novels that 'TSCotAD' is based on.
I did like most of the characters. I didn't like the character of Sherlock homes in this book. I felt like he was just a catalyst to involve the girls in a murder investigation. Also, the whole thing with Justine's story seemed forced. Like the author was forcing an alternate story then what was originally written by Mary Shelley in 'Frankenstein'
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I loved the overall feeling of the story. Gothic and a bit dark without being too scary. Very Penny dreadful like.
I'm didn't really like the future dialogue that was interjected into the story-line. It felt like it was side tracking the story. I would find myself forgetting what happened before the dialogue began and would have to go back and reread to remember.
There was also a lot going on in this book. There was a lot of running around. A lot of characters. A lot of background stories. I felt some of this could have been paired down a bit to help the story flow a little better.
The story was funny and endearing and just an all together fun read. One that you don't need to have read the classics behind it to understand what is happening. Though different that what I expected. I did enjoy it.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it'd be "delightful." One of my favorite shows is Penny Dreadful, primarily because it mashes literary characters all together in one world, which is exactly what The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter does. Though I didn't recognize all the references made to other classics, I did pick up on a few such as Jekyll & Hide, Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, and so on.

This book wasn't what I expected at all. The story starts off much as you would expect, the classic narrative, then suddenly the characters are jumping in with commentary as the story's being told! At first, I wasn't sure what to think about it but it soon became a source of humor as the women jumped in to correct the "author" on what actually happened and provide snippets of additional info. Y'all know I love a snarky character and these women had it in spades.

But what sold it for me is that this book kept to the classics while also re-inventing them. I felt as though I was reading Frankenstein (one of my favorites) or one of the many adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Goss creates a world that remains true to the original works but then spins it by introducing the daughters of some of the literary greats. You first meet Mary Jekyll, daughter of the infamous doctor. Diana Hyde comes in later, as well as another creation of Dr. Frankenstein, and even the famous Holmes and Watson duo. Each draws on their respective inspirations while bringing together a fun cast of fictional daughters.

I did have issues with the pacing a bit, more so at the end where the story sped up in contrast to the rest of it. Some of the commentary, while amusing, was at very inopportune moments that broke the tension of a scene or slowed it down. Or both. Then again, though this starts as what could be a thriller of sorts, it's quickly turned on its head and proved more of a humorous mystery type of book. 

I'll say that I didn't really read this one for the plot. While intriguing, the characters and their classical tie-ins were of more interest and if you enjoy where they all came from, I think you'll like this story as well. The unique style and different take on a "re-telling" of sorts made it a stand-out in the genre for me. The spin on monsters only added to this effect. Definitely recommend, and look forward to more by this author!

A delight from start to finish. There's a lot literary history under this one, it's well-researched and hearkens to a number of classics while still being its own, independent story. Lots of intrigue, wonderfully drawn characters (Diana is my favorite!), and adventure, all set against the backdrop of Victorian England. I especially liked the way supernatural elements and Gothic horror are combined with the practical demands of everyday life. I can't wait for the next installment in this series.

Book Club Buddy D. and I had a tremendous amount of fun with The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss. It was a very imaginative story of the daughters of some of literature's most famous gothic characters coming together as a group to fight an evil secret society of power-mad scientists. A bit like a Victorian style Charlie's Angels mash-up!

The Athena Club, consisting of Mary Jekyll, Diana Hyde, Beatrice Rappacini, Catherine Montgomery and Justine Frankenstein get the help of no other than the one and only Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in this fun adventure. There is no romance.

D. and I thought it was a very entertaining and well written story and we're eagerly waiting for the promised sequel. We give it a full 5 stars and think you should really give it a go!

Picked up this books at the library on the recomendation of a friend. I was thinking I would find a cozy type mystery instead I found a book that was fast moving with many twists and turns. The format was different then I am use to and took some getting use to but once I adjusted to that, the rest of the book was an absolutely beautiful read.

I was never really sure who the killer was or what was going to happen next. It had a lot of fictional characters in it along with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The characters have depth and become real to the reader.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery and maybe a bit of the macabre.

I will for sure go looking for more books by this author.

I agree with the other 3-star reviews. It is a fabulous premise with a lot of promise for a great story. In the beginning, I liked the narrative style of writing. However, it became annoying halfway through. And, I do think if you are going to utilize Sherlock Holmes as a main character, you had better showcase his deduction skills. Ms. Goss didn't do that, in my opinion. I couldn't finish the book because by the 75% mark, it just became too unbelievable and farcical for me to invest any more time into it.

This fantasy novel imagines life for the daughters & creations of 19th Century scientists who experimented to evolve humanity (Frankenstein, Moreau, Jekyll/Hyde & Rappaccini), with Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson thrown in add deductive reasoning to support the storyline.
Their story is narrated by Cat Moreau but each woman tells her own individual tale. Frequent interruptions by the women to add comments or disagree with the details is confusing at first, but then funny and at times touching.

If you're a fan of fantasy and historical novels, this one is fun.

I quite enjoyed this. It's an excellent story with a huge but well-balanced cast. Objectively, it seems like it would be hard to make sure all the girls get enough screen time, but the author pulls it off with aplomb. The story also has a bunch of great callbacks to older fiction, like when characters take a chapter to tell us their story.

My absolute favorite part, though, is when the girls interject as the story is being told. It can take a little getting used to, but I found it delightful.

What's not to love about a whole book of monster women? It reads like a Victorian novel so you get the sense of being in that era, but the small conversation breaks in the novel make the characters more palatably modern (and lovable!) We get to hear how the characters speak and think without the "proper" sensors or formalization of the times and without taking you out of what feels like an authentic Victorian experience.

The cast of characters is really fun, believable, and distinct. Diana is my favorite. It's also really nice to see a cast so chock full of interesting, monster women.

This book is a nerdgasm of Victorian literature. The works that inspire the characters are lovingly referenced and adapted as a course correction for the female characters, taking characters previously pushed aside in the narrative or denied agency and placing them front and center. I heard someone call it The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but with women, and that's the best way of describing it (which also explains why I love it).

Another reason I love it is for its blend of Victorian and Neo-Victorian structure. It's a modern novel that celebrates the Victorian era and literature while reinventing it. The narrative interruptions by the character-authors have the feel of a Victorian novel (a time when authors were still figuring out what a novel would be and were playing with structure), but the narrative plows forward in a linear construction familiar to most modern readers. Because of this, it feels both Victorian and contemporary, and I am living for it.

The story hinges on the reimaging of these various Victorian monsters. I felt engaged with the characters from moment one and was eager as each new character was brought into the narrative. The asides from characters I hadn't yet met in the narrative proved intriguing rather than annoying as I learned bits and pieces of their personalities before they appeared in the narrative. It made for a very different reading experience and I have to say I enjoyed it!

By the novel's end there's a clear sense that this world continues and I hope it continues in a second novel because I would love to find out more about the Society of Alchemists and the Athena Club

I loved everything about this book, including the breaking-the-fourth-wall thing in which the characters interrupt the action with commentary and/ or complaints. This was unpopular with some reviewers, but I liked it. Very much looking forward to the next book in the series!

I had been wanting a book like this for a long time, since I first picked up Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." The Athena Club is a "League of Extraordinary Ladies." I loved every character, from the sensible Mary to the tomboyish Diana to the tough Catherine and the gentle Justine. I was particularly excited to see Beatrice Rappacini as her own person. Interesting to see such venerated characters as Sherlock and Watson in supporting roles. The plot/mystery is interesting (solving the Whitechapel Murders), but more interesting is the origin story of the Athena Club and its monstrous members. I am looking forward to reading more stories about these extraordinary women.

A promising start, and some clever meta-writing to introduce the characters and to shake up an origin story. THe plot of this book is a little bogged down by the inevitable "How we all met" narrative, but the author makes it well worth your time. fans of both the Victorian source material and Gail Carriger or Mark Hodder will appreciate Ms. goss's research, detail and setting. A team up of the daughters and subjects from the Victorian era weird fiction writers. I highly recommend a trip to Ms. Goss's London

Other reviews will be much more eloquent and literary, so if you’re looking for that kind of review, skip to the next one.

This book is a fun read. Period. Done. No need to waste time reading more.

Okay, so you’re hanging around. Fine - let’s continue.

Dr. Goss did her research and weaved it seamlessly into this story about women, a mystery, and monsters. It’s got Sherlock Holmes (and Watson). Quite good versions of them, and this alone would make it worth the read, but there’s so much more.

I don’t have much time to read anymore, so when I do get to ingest a story, I pray that it sits well and is a treat. This didn’t disappoint. The action, the suspense, the mystery, the characters - all good.

But there’s a reason I didn’t give it 5 stars. Two reasons.

1. There is no danger for the main characters - We know this because they make interjections as one of them “writes” the story. This approach was jarring, then interesting as it provided some comical moments, but in the end, it felt flat.

2. The first big action scene is oddly paced - This is mostly because of the point made above. Characters make comments and then we see “revisions” to the text or changes in point of view. Most of the time it works, but this time, it really pulled me out of the novel.

All things considered, I still highly recommend this book. It’s a great premise, a great setup, and the prose is pretty awesome. The characters are fun to get to know, and if I didn’t have parenting duties, I would have happily devoured this in one sitting.

Lastly, if you can't tell from the images, this is a gorgeous book. The cover is great and the typesetting/design of the interior are fantastic.

I really liked it, and enjoyed the characters talking to each other from the sidelines as they 'while the book.'

I do think the book could have ended 40 pages earlier and left some of the backdoor to the imagination, OR for the sequel.

It ends satisfactorily as a standalone book, with plenty of room for a #2 should the author and the reader wish to continue on.

I do hope for a sequel. This was fun!

Fantastic! League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has nothing on this. The author does a wonderful job sticking with the original tales while coming up with a unique and enjoyable story and new characters based on the monster classics of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Rappaccini's Daughter, and Dracula as well as the great Sherlock Holmes. I really hope there is a sequel.

Loved it. The daughters of Jekyll (Mary) and Hyde (Diana), Rappaccini (Beatrice), Moreau (Catherine) and Frankenstein (Justine) team up with Sherlock Holmes to solve some horrifying murders. This book began it's journey as a 2-part short story, Goss shared with us some years ago. So glad she fleshed it out into a full fledged story. Looking forward to book two. Write fast Dora.

Haven't enjoyed a novel this much since Fortier's Lost Sisterhood or Thorne's Angels at the Gate.

Starts out fun and witty but then speed downhill. The first four or 5 chapters were beguiling and fun. Then it became a preachy, feminist. proto scientific tome. The characters constantly speaking out to the audience directly was fun for a few chapters then very,. very annoying. The house keeper was the most obnoxious, busy body that clearly did not know her place in Victorian society. The feral girl is a 21st century teen who says, awesome and gross in 1890's London.

I think this is a great book read. I grew up with all the older movies of the so called monsters. I can't put the book down and am very happy I discovered it. I would recommend this to everyone to enjoy the past spooky movies you liked. Hope she does more of this in the future.

The author takes the trope of a flashback episode from sitcoms and has her characters interrupting the fictional author while she is writing. It took a little to get used to. The story is cool it would make an excellent TV show or episode of Doctor Who or Sherlock.

A great mystery read with ties to Jekyll and Hyde, Holmes and Watson, Frankenstein, Dr Moreau, and Jack the Ripper. An amazing book all in all. I wasn’t familiar with Theodora Goss and her works, but I will certainly look for them in the future. I’m also looking forward to the sequel to this story.

Put off reading this for a while as I wasn't sure how I felt about all the characters being related to other works of fiction, but I loved it.This book was done so well. Loved all the girls and their story and cannot wait to read more about this.

My husband handed me this book because of the beautiful cover. I bought it because the premise intrigued me. Now I'm writing a review because I fell in love with the story and the characters. It was a fun adventure. And the characters cutting in a talking throughout actually brought the story more alive for me. I liked it so much and I went out and bought the second book.

I LOVED this book. I love how the characters took turns telling the story and the others would add their thoughts. It was pretty funny!
I enjoyed everything about the book - the plot flowed, the characters were perfectly written to reflect their fathers.
I canNOT wait till the next one come out!!

I enjoyed discovering which literary monster would pop up in the book. With each new addition the becomes more intricate and fun to read. The ladies are bound together by their fathers but build genuine friendships over the course of their adventures

I absolutely loved this book! If you enjoy classic literature, Victorian England, Sherlock Holmes stories, the mystery of Jack the Ripper, old movie monsters, or really tough lead lady protagonists, this book has it all. It is a quick read and keeps you guessing until the end. I couldn't put it down!

I loved the premise and enjoyed the adventures. I did not care for the writing style of having conversations between the characters that were outside the story (if that makes sense). I hope that the author continues the series.

This book was like a dark, gothic Power Puff Girls. It is such a relief to read a book with multidimensional women who do more than fret about men as love-objects. Also, I love pastry descriptions in my novels. Always. I very much enjoyed this book and its sequel, European Travels for Monstrous Women (two pence at local train stations!).

If you liked Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Rappacini's Daughter, Dracula, and Sherlock Holmes, you'll find something to love in this spritely tale of 4 young women solving the Ripper murders. Even better, it's a series, with the next book coming out in 2018.

This was so fun! An alternate/female view of several familiar monster stories brought together into a fantastic joint world.
I can see how the style might not be for everyone, but I was delighted.

Oh, but I loved everything about The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. Intelligent and humorous, with a well-paced plot, well-developed characters, and a rich humanity, it's everything I want in a novel that's unputdownable.

One of the best books I have read. The author and her clever way of weaving together famous literary characters made this a complete page turner. I used this for my book club and everyone liked it too. Can't wait for the sequel!!

Overall the story was good and the writing was fine (with one significant issue). Unfortunately, the constant interjections just didn't work for me. Some may like the approach, but to me it just didn't add enough to the story to be worth the aggravation.

One of the three best books I read in 2017, this book was a complete delight that not only made a bad day into a wonderful one, but inspired me to go back a reread a number of the gothic classics it is based on. I am looking forward to the next volume in the series with eager anticipation.

This over will take you down a familiar literary path full of writers you have been perusing for decades as a reader. Sherlock Holmes, Shelly,Byron and more.This is told in a unique fashion with the author and characters interjecting. Murder, mayhem, intrigue and ghastlycircumstancestouch on so many topics of history and the roles and rights of women in the 19th century.

Totally enjoyed this reading experience. Loved the premise, the tone, the writing and the characters. Loved the literary allusions, some of which took me by surprise. Monsters indeed! Females with strange and disturbing fathers, for sure. Highly recommended