I enjoyed this book, but I did not find it as engaging as the first two works in the series. The character development is strong and consistent, but the pacing of the plot seems to drag a little bit. For avid fans of the first two books: you'll enjoy the ending!
2.5 stars

Mary and the Athena Club end up on quite the adventure trying to save Alice, who has been kidnapped. As with the previous 2 stories, it is well written and commentary and banter between the characters is done perfectly. It brings out a chuckle from me with Diana's characters quirks. I enjoy the interwoven story of all the classic character names (Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein, Sherlock & Holmes, Dracula, etc). I truly hope for there to be more to this series.

A perfect and clever escapist delight.

The third book in Goss’s delightful series about the debatably monstrous daughters of famous literary monsters is just as much of a treat to read as its two predecessors.

After the first two books in the series, I worried about whether the schtick would get old, so I was relieved to find that the third book still felt fresh and clever.

By shifting the focus on which daughter(s) are the focal point of the story, Goss manages to keep the concept exciting while still providing the reader with plenty of page real estate for each character, whether it’s their turn in the spotlight or not.

I see no reason why this series can’t continue from here as well. Eagerly awaiting the next installment.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is another solid installment in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club. This series never fails to make me smile. The cast of characters, while seemingly pulled from other works of fiction, is done so very well. The characters play off each other to become a delightful family -- the Athena Club. In this volume, in particular, it was fun to see the group take on the task of rescuing Sherlock Holmes. Goss convincingly turns the tables on the established conventions and I really enjoy it.

The “league of extraordinary gentlewomen” (aka, The Athena Club) continues as, fresh from their last adventure, our stalwart heroines must thwart a dastardly plot to mesmerize the world and place an imposter on Queen Victoria’s throne. Mary Jekyll (yes, that daughter), Diana Hyde (her sister), Beatrice Rappaccini (“The Poisonous Girl”), Catherine Moreau (panther-turned-human), and Justine Frankenstein (who, despite her enormous size, is a gentle vegetarian philosopher) are hot on the chase to rescue not only the entire British Empire, but their friend, Sherlock Holmes. With occasional homage references to H. Rider Haggard, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mary Shelley. Hugely entertaining, especially the digressions in which the various characters kibbutz about Catherine’s writing narrative.

Why is this only a trilogy? This concluding volume brings back characters from the first and second books, and continues using the formula that made the first two volumes of the Athena Club such a delight. Though there's less time devoted to getting to know the characters, and more time given to pulse-pounding action and harrowing escapes, that's to be expected at this point.

In this volume, Alice the kitchen maid has disappeared, and so has Mary's potential love interest, Sherlock Holmes. These crucial players must be found and recovered, while countering new foes' heretofore unseen abilities used in a plot to replace the queen of England! It's great stuff. In this large cast of characters, each one maintains a distinct voice, and each voice will be missed if Goss truly decides not to expand this series.

Sherlock Holmes is missing and Moriarty has formed a new group of super villains. It is a group that has kidnapped Alice, the maid, and she finds herself down the rabbit hole. It is up to the other women (girls?) of the Athena Club to help her figure out what is going on.
Bringing in another character to a series that already has many can be good or bad. I don't know that it was well executed in this book. There were a LOT of people that had to be brought back and then that many more people breaking into the story and that many more lines to include. It was a good story with a good ending but slow build with so many people to sort of shoehorn in.

Three stars
This book came out October 1st
ARC kindly provided by Saga Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Athena Club returns for one last adventure in Theodora Goss’s The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl, the final installment of her trilogy of quirky, women-fronted metafictional Victorian pastiches.

The members of the household have returned to London after first rescuing Lucinda van Helsing from her father’s experiments, then going on to confront the Société des Alchimistes, the clandestine group behind such irresponsible and unethical “research.” After all their experiences on the Continent, they are all looking forward to a little quiet, though they find upon their return that home feels both comfortable and strange; their travels have changed their perspectives (well, except for Diana). But when they learn that both their domestic servant Alice and the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes have gone missing, they are thrown back into the fray.

In their previous case, recounted in European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, the members of the Athena Club learned that their maid Alice appeared to have occult, mesmeric powers. The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl follows both Alice in the wake of her abduction, and the exertions of the Athena Club members as they endeavor to get her back. During her captivity, Alice finally learns of her parentage, a fact long shrouded in mystery; her origins are characterized by something between active neglect and outright abuse, and in her avaricious parentage, she’s closer to the members of the Athena Club than mere employment.

The sins of fathers who view paternity as something much worse than ownership has been a major theme of the series so far. The members of the Athena Club are all ancillary characters from Gothic fictions: the sisters, daughters, wives, and servants whose stories were subsumed under a man’s scientific inquiry or dubious pursuits. Catherine Moreau—the ostensible author of the novel we’re reading—is also a puma vivisected into a human form by the mad scientist whose name she bears. Justine Moritz, the servant framed for murder in Shelly’s fable, finds new life as Justine Frankenstein, having escaped destruction at the hands of her creator. Diana Hyde and Mary Jekyll are the dialectical daughters of the man who split his personality into good and evil, ego and id. Every member of the Athena Club is the daughter of unscrupulous scientists, who were themselves all members of the Alchemical Society.

Though the Athena Club was somewhat successful in forcing a modicum of accountability and ethical restraint on the Société des Alchimistes in the second book of the trilogy, there are still splinter groups and off-book projects out there in the world.

One of these is the Order of the Golden Dawn, whose members are made up of characters culled from the works of Bram Stoker: Dracula, and the lesser-known The Jewel of the Seven Stars. (Related aside: the characters from the latter have the last name Trelawny, which explains where J.K. Rowling got the name of Hogwarts’ resident clairvoyant.) The Order wants Alice for her mesmeric powers, a lynchpin in their dastardly plot to kidnap Queen Victoria in furtherance of their unscrupulous goals.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is the most smoothly written of the Athena Club novels—the first of which, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, was nominated for the Nebula Award—though the interruption of the narrative for knowing character asides continues to frustrate the pacing. The decision to include Alice’s perspective from within her captivity by the Order of the Golden Dawn gives the reader a nuanced portrait of the villains of the piece. The members of the Order have profoundly different reasons for participation in their treasonous plot, some of which are not wholly bad, and many that are in conflict with one another. Heretofore, the machinations of Goss’s antagonists was largely inferred; good portraiture of bad dudes is much snappier. It makes for a satisfying and fitting end to an enjoyable series.

Simply one of the best books I've ever read.

Loved how our family came together to once more take down the evil forces trying to bring them down. The growth was on point, the characters were on point, and the plot was interesting even in the moments where it lagged a little. It's making me really sad that this is to be the conclusion to the series.

I need more of the Athena Club because of their strength as individuals and their strength together as women and family. It's been a really delicate balance taking on so many characters but I think Theodora Goss killed it just like she did every book before it. Really looking forward to anything and everything that this author has to give!

I loved the first book in Theodora Goss's trilogy about the Athena Club. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter was original and fun as Goss introduced the reader to a unique view of literary characters like Mary Jekyll and Diana Hyde (evidently Dr. Jekyll had offspring), Beatrice Rappacini, Justine Frankenstein, and Catherine Moreau (the puma woman for Dr. Moreau's island) and connects them to Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and the Baker Street Boys.

The second book European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, however, was too long and often slow, but there were some great moments here, too.

I liked The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl better than the second book. The same flaws have persisted throughout the series plus an influx of characters who appeared in European Travel, but I did enjoy this one.

This trilogy doesn't work as well without all of the background in the first book. If you like a good mash-up and literary characters who take on lives of their own, try the first book and get a fresh view of some literary classics. :)

NetGalley/Saga Press
Suspense/Fantasy. Oct. 1, 2019. Print length: 448 pages.

I enjoyed the third installment in this charmingly written and evocative historical / paranormal / literary mystery series. Fun and engaging.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, since I don't have all that much to say and because I ultimately had to DNF this third installment in a respectable and capable series. The voice is consistent with Goss' previous installments, so I believe readers who already like the series will enjoy this one too. The pacing is just slow enough and the style fragmented enough by epistolary sections that read more like a transcript of a contemporary college road trip than the usual period piece to leave me on the outside looking in. It evokes a kind of languid luxury, peppered with cheery dialogue and literary Easter eggs. It didn't find me at the right moment, but I may revisit this one on a rainy day and feel rather different.

The charming characters are back in this third installment, with new recognizable characters from literature and history. This book is a refreshing change from the previous volume which was overwritten and much too long. That said, the author seems to have trouble keeping all of her balls in the air and moving people to where they need to be in plausible ways. I will recommend this book to people who enjoy stories about Victorian women having adventures.

This is another adventurous outing for the Athena Club. This book picks up immediately after the events in European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, so our intrepid monstrous gentlewomen are split up and spread out across England and Europe - and even so, it's up to the Athena Club to find the missing member of their group.

It's somewhat hard to review this book without including spoilers for this book or the previous books. The plot is engaging, the characters are lovely and continue their development, and the book-specific mystery as well as the greater-universe mysteries evolve in pleasing ways. As always, I love watching these characters continue to make a family with each other - including the bickering in the margins of the book. (Seeing each new voice join the bickering is a lovely way of watching new members of the "family" join in - I love that touch.)

If you like the first two books, you'll like this one. I definitely recommend it.

I received a copy of this title from the publisher for an honest review. The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is the third and final book in a trilogy featuring members of the Athena Club. Featuring the daughters/creations of famous literary characters such as Dr. Jekyll/Mister Hyde, Dr. Morneau, and Frankenstein, the action picks up where the previous book leaves off. I recommend reading the first three titles to get the most out of this book as it references previous books throughout the story. The writing style of this and the other books is unusual and differs from other books I've read in it is being written by Catherine, but the other characters intermix comments throughout the story. One of the things I like most about the series is getting to see all of the characters gain confidence in themselves and what they are capable of.

After receiving word that the young kitchen maid in Mary Jekyll's home has disappeared and was likely kidnapped, Mary, Diana, and Justine rush home to attempt to locate her while Catherine, Beatrice, and Lucinda remain on the continent (either to finish their engagement with the circus or in Lucinda's case to learn more about how to be a vampire). When the three girls get home, they discover that not only is Alice missing, but also Sherlock Holmes (Mary's employer). The girls enlist the aid of the Baker Street Irregulars and Dr. Watson to attempt to locate the two not realizing that there may be a connection. Soon caught up in adventures beyond their wildest dreams including a 2000 year old queen bent on world domination, the girls must draw on their special skills/resources and work together to not only rescue Alice and Holmes, but find a way to protect the world. I'll miss the characters, but they go out on a high note with a fantastic tale that wraps everything up in a satisfying manner.

"Mary Jekyll and the Athena Club race to save Alice - and foil a plot to unseat the Queen, in the electrifying conclusion to the trilogy that began with the Nebula Award finalist and Locus Award-winner The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter.

Life’s always an adventure for the Athena Club...especially when one of their own has been kidnapped! After their thrilling European escapades rescuing Lucina van Helsing, Mary Jekyll and her friends return home to discover that their friend and kitchen maid Alice has vanished - and so has Mary's employer Sherlock Holmes!

As they race to find Alice and bring her home safely, they discover that Alice and Sherlock’s kidnapping are only one small part of a plot that threatens Queen Victoria, and the very future of the British Empire. Can Mary, Diana, Beatrice, Catherine, and Justine save their friends - and save England? Find out in the final installment of the fantastic and memorable Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series."

Wait, what, it's over!?! I mean, yes, I like series that have a beginning a middle and an end, but still... more!

Unfortunately, this series got progressively worse for me as it went on. While I enjoyed the author’s writing style, the story started to feel very repetitive and predictable. There were particular lines that the characters would consistently repeat (“We are the Athena Club, aren’t we?” and Catherine’s attempted sales promotion of the previous volumes in the series, just to name a few) that I found myself cringing at the dialogue frequently. This took me out of the story and made it hard to care about the outcome. These characters, who started out interesting, became very caricaturey and predictable. The most interesting parts of the story for me were the throwbacks to the original gothic novels/stories from which the author got her inspiration.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy that took readers into the mysterious world of of the Athena Club. I love following the adventures of Mary Jekyll and friends. I adored this book and gobbled it up in nearly one sitting. If you have any interest in exploring Victorian Europe with legendary horror creatures you'll love this one too.

I adored The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter and was excited to continue with the series! I quickly checked European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman out at the library but unfortunately it fell short for me. While I devoured book one, book two felt like a chore because it lacked some serious editing.

That said, I was still looking forward to the conclusion of The Athena Club series which picks up immediately after European Travel with the group searching for Mary's kidnapped maid Alice. They also find it alarming that Sherlock Holmes still hasn't returned from a mysterious errand and now Dr. Watson cannot be located either.

While searching for their friends, The Athena Club uncovers a plot against the Queen that is connected to the kidnappings. Can they save their friends and the British Empire before it's too late?

I'm very disappointed to say this was not the exciting finale I hoped for. Instead, I began skimming before I even reached the half way point in the story. The snappy dialogue/banter in the middle of the narrative was charming in book one, tedious in book two, and completely unnecessary in book three.
The pace is inconsistent and the plot is weighed down in unnecessary details (which was also my major issue with book two) that make the adventure greatly lag.
I adored the introduction to the extensive cast of characters in book one but there has been little to no character growth over the course of the series, causing some to go from charming to annoying. This trilogy takes place over the course of a few short months but the action is always saved for the very end to tie up loose ends quickly.

I'd definitely advise readers who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy and retellings to give the first book a try but I hesitate to recommend the final two in the series.

Thanks to Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl is scheduled for release on October 1, 2019.

What I like best about this series is that it introduces me to previously unknown characters and stories from classic Gothic literature.

That aside, I thought this final volume of the series did a good job of tying up loose ends and left enough of an opening that if the author wanted to continue at a later date, she could.