A well composed story with an interesting plot. The characters were instantly like-able and had a dry sense of humor which I appreciated. However, I am just the type of person who does not really enjoy whodunnits as much as I enjoy mystery/thrillers. I thought the fantasy aspect would sway a little more in my favour but unfortunately not.

Additionally, I was slightly irked that the different sects of angels (i.e. nameless and fallen) were not well explained? I remained confused why these were introduced and what was the story behind them?

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for the opportunity to receive this arc in exchange of an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Caleb Carr so this was right up my alley - clever dialogue, mystery, history, and fantasy! Loved it!

I received this free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a sincere review.

Addison stated in her acknowledgements that this book started as a Sherlock wingfic, a subgenre of fanfiction in which one or more characters gets wings.

As I read through The Angel of the Crows, I realized it was, indeed, fanfiction. That caught me completely by surprise, as there wasn't any indication that this was going to be not only a reimagining of Doyle's Sherlock, but pretty much the original material with only the protagonists' names modified and some urban fantasy elements thrown over everything.

It IS a great read, when the original elements shine on their own or when Doyle's now obsolete customs get questioned in ways that don't clash with the time period in regards to gender, sexuality and identity, and Addison's prose is more than just 'good enough', her words seem carefully chosen to make this read a enjoyable one.

That being said, I wish this reimagining had gone beyond, had done more. And I would have also liked to know beforehand what was I getting into, as it seems that the publishing house wants to hide the fact that this is, indeed, a Sherlock fanfiction.

All in all, it made me feel nostalgic for the years I burrowed myself in not only reading but also writing my own fics, I miss those days, maybe this book is what's going to bring me back to old habits.

I have not read "The Goblin Emperor" but heard enough praise for it to pick up "The Angel of the Crows" with pretty big expectations. Unfortunately, despite the author's obvious talent with the language (the writing is superb), I was ultimately disappointed by the novel.

I think it can be best summed up by the author's admission at the end - this was originally a Sherlock Holmes fanfic, with an angel-twist. And it shows - not in the writing, but in the storytelling. Or should I say RETELLING.

The author spends the vast majority of the book simply retelling Sherlock Holmes' most famous adventures. The only change is the setting - this England is filled with angels, vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and other paranormal beings (some of them confusing, as they are just named, but their specific nature not explained). To make things more confusing, about 1/3rd into the book a steam punk element is introduced, and feels very out-of-place.

Sherlock-equivalent himself is an angel named Crow and a wasted opportunity. I was hoping for an angel-equivalent of Cumberbatch's Sherlock (complicated, infuriating, mesmerizing), instead I got a pretty bland detective. The Watson equivalent named Doyle is the most interesting part of the story, but not interesting enough to carry me through the very familiar adventures and mysteries. The author uses the search for Jack the Ripper as the framing device, but even that story has been done to death and brings nothing captivating to the plot.

I regret to say that the only part of this novel I enjoyed is the author's handling of the language itself. Beautiful prose. But I found myself wishing that she had written a more original novel.

This is far more a book for hardcore Sherlock fans than it is for readers of fantasy. Although there are a lot of interesting fantasy elements - werewolves, angels, clairvoyants - none of them really felt utilised to their full potential, and the story revolved around rewriting canon Sherlock cases, which was utterly mind-numbing to someone with no interest in Sherlock or in that particular style of mystery. Really disappointed, especially given the 'this is not the story you think it is' featured in the blurb - that had me thinking I was wrong about the fanatical adherence to all things Sherlock, and that the 'real' story would emerge if I just stuck with it long enough. I'd definitely recommend leaning on the Sherlock angle in future marketing, since I'm not sure non-Sherlock fans are going to get a lot out of this one.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Tor Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Angel of the Crows is a blend of a story retelling of the enigmatic killing spree of Jack the Ripper, at the same time, its a fanfiction of infamous cases solved by Sherlock Holmes. Admittedly, I was drawn to the blurb about Jack the Ripper, it’s an unsolved mystery that I loved to think on time and time again. Being a fan of the classic cases of Sherlock Holmes, the story is mostly on a supernatural take of London during the 1880s with the added bonus of creatures such as werewolves, vampires, and hell-hounds. I am actually familiar with “wingfic” fanfictions, however, it’s a first for me to read a Sherlock Holmes inspired wingfic. On a whole, The Angel of the Crows begins on the uncanny friendship between Doctor J.H. Doyle, and the Angel of London, Mr. Crow.

Similarly to the dynamics of Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson, the duo of the story goes around London solving different mysteries while living together in Baker Street. As a whole, I love the world that Ms. Katherine made, the concept of the Angels, the Fallen, and the Nameless is certainly unique in the story. Humans live with an intricate balance with other supernatural beings in the story. Ideally, I like how the story still tackled on the world-building, even though I wished the laws on the Angels were expounded a bit more. Through the book, I questioned as well on Mr. Crow’s peculiar situation where he isn’t really a Fallen and is not a Nameless either.

I particularly like the character Doctor Doyle in this book. The doctor just returned to London after an incident in Afghanistan. On his return, Doctor Doyle wanted to find a flatmate which later revealed to be an Angel named Mr. Crow. While Mr. Crow did capture my interest, I enjoyed the story through Doctor Doyle’s eyes, while the doctor did have a fair share of secrets. There were plenty of things to Mr. Crow as well than meets the eye.

Being familiar with the cases of Sherlock Holmes, the book felt both new and story retelling. I felt that if the reader knows their way around the cases of Holmes, the story is just a reread but with a slight twist. Personally, I wished there was an element of adding a new case in order to really engage readers in the story. I am also aware of the mysterious killings of Jack The Ripper, so it’s a book that literally took me down memory lane. Through the several storylines, there were good plot-twists and nicely timed humor.

One thing that I particularly noticed with the writing in the story is that there were several parts in the book that did come out as dragging. There were moments I wanted to simply skip because it really caused the flow to waver. Then with the side of the Ripper case, where I wished that Mr. Crow could’ve offered more detailed deductions on the findings, theories could’ve been expounded. It is one of the reasons I couldn’t rate this solid five stars. Most of Mr. Crow’s cases didn’t produce a well-crafted deduction and pieces of evidence that leads to the answer to the case. Of course, Doctor Doyle’s medical findings did shed light on a few cases. I wished, with the case of the Ripper Killings, Mr. Crow had his own insights. I think that for those who are first-timers might enjoy this book. As mentioned in the Author’s notes, this is a fanfiction, while it is also a retelling. In general, I found the story a good 4 out of 5 stars.

I enjoyed the familiarity of the cases in London and walking through Baker Street in the fantasy aspect. While Jack the Ripper case is also fairly mentioned throughout the book, I still felt that that wow factor fell a bit short. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this for those into Supernatural mystery, and wanting a first taste on classic cases as well.

The Angel of the Crows charmed me so quickly with it’s ‘wings AU’ take on Sherlock and Jack the Ripper. The world building Addison did with the various creatures of London was delightful, but I especially loved the relationship between angels and their domains—landmark buildings. I could use a whole series about the other angels in this world, the angelic Consensus of other cities. The way Addison used Victorian society, supernatural creatures, and science to pick apart and highlight gender, race, and colonization makes it worth the read alone.

As charmed as I was halfway through, especially with Doyle and Crow’s building relationship, the ending felt not quite as satisfying. The closure of the main mystery of the book was closed in one rushed chapter and I couldn’t help but wish for Doyle, Crow, Moriarty, and even Jack the Ripper for have more time for resolution. However the strings left dangling about Moriarty and Doyle leave me hopeful for a sequel I’d love to read.

As the author herself admits, The Angel of the Crows is a Sherlock Holmes fanfiction (and a very well-written one). It was quite imaginative and catapulted the reader into a Victorian England filled with angels, vampires, werewolves and other paranormal creatures.

I'd be lying if I said that I did not enjoy it at all... It was an interesting reading. Really. However, I felt as if this book was missing something.
The author spent most of the book retelling several Sherlock Holmes' cases, spicing them up with a paranormal twist, with the result that to the unfolding of each adventure was devoted only a few chapter span. And doing so, she sacrificed depth both in the worldbuilding and characters' development.
I felt as if it lacked a centre of gravity, a scope... While I was reading, I spent most of my time asking myself "Why did the author decide to write it this way?" (e.g. Why presenting so many cases without exploring or reinventing any of them in a more significant way? Why glossing over the Holmes and Watson - here Crow and Dr Doyle - motives and secrets?)

The book description promised an alternate Victorian London where angels rule and everyone lives in a constant fear of one of them falling, which would be like “a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds”. Seldom has a description been so off. What it is, is a Sherlock Holmes retelling. I don’t like retellings and Sherlock Holmes retellings are the most tired of them all. If I’d known it was one, I probably would’ve skipped this, no matter how much I like the author.

This is basically a collection of Holmes’ most famous cases bound together with a superficial plot about Jack the Ripper—a case Holmes famously never tackled. There were some minor changes, but none of them made the stories truly fresh. The newness, therefore, rests solely on the world-building.

It’s an alternate Victorian London with everything. There are both steampunk elements, like airships and automatons, and all manner of supernatural creatures from vampires and werewolves to ghosts and hellhounds. And angels. There are three kinds of angels: those bound to a building and thus worthy of a name, the Nameless who wander about without a mind and purpose of their own, and the Fallen who are vicious creatures who kill and inflict supernatural diseases. We actually never meet the latter.

Holmes is an angel called Crow. He is different from other angels because he is not bound to a building, but isn’t a Nameless or a Fallen either—a fact that the author didn’t fully explain until about midway to the book, which left me constantly baffled with people’s reactions to him. He likes to solve crimes, and he is very good at deductive reasoning. Unlike Holmes, he doesn’t have any vices—he doesn’t even eat—or irritating habits, and he is actually very endearing in his constant awe of humanity.

Dr Watson is Dr Doyle who has survived an attack by a Fallen in Afghanistan and is suffering from the consequences, which will lead to a metamorphosis. Since the actual flavour of the change is kept as a secret for a while, I won't reveal it here. It plays some role in solving the cases; perhaps the only worthwhile alteration the author has made to the stories. The good doctor has another secret too, even more tightly guarded. Considering the importance given to it, I would’ve wished it actually had some sort of impact—it definitely would’ve opened the story to a whole new level—but it was glossed over and life went on like it didn’t even exist.

Considering the interesting world the author has created, it seems criminal that she’s wasted it on Sherlock Holmes. The angels had a fascinating society that could’ve formed a basis to a completely unique plot, and Crow had such an interesting backstory that he could’ve carried a book on that alone. The alterations don’t even really influence the original stories. It wasn’t until midway to the book that they started to have any effect on the cases, and the suspects remained ordinary humans in pretty much all of them.

This being said, I found the book interesting enough to keep reading. I even gave it four stars. The author has recreated the atmosphere of Conan-Doyle’s originals well, the narrative style works and never wavers, and I liked both Crow and Dr Doyle. If there’s ever a follow-up, I hope the author goes to town with the world and gives the two a proper plot and a unique story.

I was not expecting 'Sherlock Holmes meets Jack the Ripper' with the added twist of Holmes being an angel and Watson being a hell-hound, but that wasn't an unwelcome surprise – there's clear love and warmth in the pastiche, and there are plenty of clever twists on well-known tales. I did feel, though, that the book was over-long, and not as original or compelling as I wanted it to be, as someone who does love Holmes in all his iterations.

Three words... oh my god!!! I absolutely love this book! A great blend of fantasy and mystery! An interesting take on the well loved characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson! Angel's, vampires, hell hounds, werewolves, interesting cases and Jack the Ripper, all jam packed into an excellent read! I definitely recommend!

Thank you for the arc of this book.
Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book at all, some of the time I found myself confused and thought I had missed a page where something was explained, but not the case.
I enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes, but this just don't hit the mark for me.

This was a charming Sherlockian romp with enough twists and unusual moments to keep me up far past my bedtime. Addison's world-building is A+, with just enough details revealed over the course of the story to keep you nodding and saying "ohhhh got it!" out loud, but not so many that you feel like you're wading through an infodump. She takes the heart of the Sherlock stories and molds them into something utterly different and engaging. I also appreciated that the parts of the Sherlock stories that are my least favorite were dealt with summarily and with a kindness to the original work but without needing to dwell on their excision from this new world.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. The Angel of the Crows sounded like an interesting read, unfortunately it follows its inspiration a little too closely. Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories, Angel of the Crows looked to transform those classic stories into something more. Unfortunately for me, that transformation did not take place. Essentially following the original storylines from Doyle's classics like Hounds of the Baskervilles and adding in fantasy elements like angels and vampires, I think that this would be a good read for fans of the original Sherlock Holmes stories or for readers who have never read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories and don't know the answer to the mysteries.

First of all I want to thanks Netgallery for giving me the opportunity to read this book before its release.

I started The Angel of the Crows with high expectations, thanks to an amazing plot and an interesting setting. Unfortunatelly for me, it wasn't my cup of tea at all. I couldn't relate with the characters, nor with Crow and neither Doyle, and the more I read the more I found them flat. Maybe it just me, but I couldn't empathize with them, nor I was interested in their lives and what happened to them.
Talking about the plot, I have to say that reading this book for me was like reading a novel by Sir Conan Doyle all over again and that was not what I was looking for. What I was looking for was something original, something who simply made this book remarkable and interesting. I think that Katherine Addison didn't try hard enough to make this book hers, to create something new with two amazing characters like Sherlock and Watson. Such a pity.

That said, I think that if you never read anything by Sir Conan Doyle you should give this book a try anyway. I really think that you will appreciated this book so much more than I did, because the plot will be way more interesting and unexpected.

Written in the true spirit of Sherlock Holmes with a delightful foray into the fantasy genre. This is a refreshing update to the Holmes canon. Featuring a cast of vaguely familiar characters is new and not so new situations. I appreciate Crow as the detective and the worldbuilding of the Angels is magnificent. The author’s voice shines through when describing the small details, which is perfect for a detective story. I’m not surprised this started as a fan fiction. It’s my opinion that this contributes to why it’s so good. Fan fiction writes are some of the best in business and it’s a treasure to get a chance to read what they have written. If you like detective stories this is for you. If you like Sherlock Holmes this is for you. If you like found family stories then this is for you.

Thanks to Netgalley for the Arc and the opportunity!

I decided to apply to review this book because the synopsis intrigued me right away.
I've never read anything about this author, but the cover has done its fair share, so here I am talking about the novel.
The Angel of Crows is a sort of retelling of Sherlock Holmes, a character we know from Arthur Conan Doyle's books and yes, also thanks to the films.
The novel is set in the Victorian era where our protagonist, Dr. Doyle meets Crow. The two of them move in together to 221b Baker St.
The story takes place in the wake of murders, and our protagonists have to solve them.
Yes, they are reminiscent of the wonderful duo Watson and Holmes.
Perhaps it was precisely this that didn't convince me at all about this book, because the story recalls too much the original.
I mean, what's different about it? The supernatural?
Another thing that didn't excite me was the characterization of the characters.
I found them rather anonymous, nothing to do with what Holmes is with his deduction and nothing to do with Watson his companion.
In itself the book reads quickly, too bad though, I expected something more.
I am curious, however, to read other books by this author.

Vote: 3.7

As a huge fan of Katherine Addison's earlier book The Goblin Emperor, I was eager to read anything she's written, and The Angel of the Crows did NOT disappoint!
Set in an alternate universe version of Sherlock Holmes, neither Holmes nor Watson's names are used. It's obvious though, from the first chapter set in Afghanistan, that this is Watson retelling their account of war and injury. Ending up in London, desperate for affordable lodgings, fate takes a hand when he is introduced to a strange figure at St Barholomew's...
This is a world where the supernatural is taken as read; there are angels and demons, ghosts and fetch's and ghouls abroad, yet deductive logic supplies the detective with answers.
Fans of Holmes will enjoy tremendously the fresh take on favourites like The Speckled Band, The Sign of Four and of course The Hound of the Baskervilles. The detective and assistant characters have likewise been given an invigorating and unexpected twist.
Devoured it, loved it, strongly recommend it!

This book was such a delight to read. It is a Sherlock Holmes retelling with a fantastical twist- London is full of supernatural creatures. Our Sherlock is an angel named Crow with a very peculiar set of circumstances, and our John is an army doctor named Doyle who, after nearly dying after an encounter with a Fallen angel in Afghanistan, ends up moving in with Crow. The pair work together to investigate crimes all over the city and surrounding areas while Jack the Ripper stalks London at night.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The thing that stuck out to me the most were the characters. I absolutely fell in love with Doyle and Crow, as both of them were so well developed and loveable. I sympathized with their struggles and felt as though, despite the fantasy elements of the novel, that they were real people who I could relate to quite deeply. Their dynamic was equal parts hilarious, heartwarming, and endearing, and their interactions were always so enjoyable to read. Aside from our two main characters, there was quite the cast of side characters making appearances throughout. They made the book so much more enjoyable, although I did sometimes have trouble keeping who's who straight in my head, as we do meet many characters through all of the mysteries that Crow and Doyle investigate.

The world featured in this book was extremely intriguing to me, and I loved learning about it while reading. All kinds of supernatural beings are present, including (but not limited to!) angels, demons, vampires, hellhounds, macrophages, and witches. The way in which they all interacted was very interesting and gave the setting a layer of depth that keep me engaged throughout. I loved the details that were peppered in, especially hearing about the legal practices involving these beings and the more intricate details about angel society. I really hope to see more works set in this world from the author in the future, as there are still so many facets to be explored that one could not fit it all into one 400 page book.

Something that I found very interesting about the book was the way that the plot was set out. While the "main" storyline focused on Crow and Doyle's search for Jack the Ripper, there were many other smaller mysteries solved along the way in little side quests of sorts. This was perfect for me, as I'm the sort of reader who loves an action packed story, and even when there were lulls in the main case, they were easily filled in by shorter adventures. This stopped the book from dragging along at any point and made it feel much more realistic, as the pair did not put their entire lives on hold for one difficult case, but instead mulled it over while continuing on with their regular day-to-day life of helping clients with their cases as well.

I would highly recommend this not only to fantasy lovers, but also to anyone who enjoys a good mystery or buddy-cop type of story featuring a strong partnership and classic cases with a fantasy spin..

It's probably first important to point out: The Angel of the Crows first started as a Sherlock wingfic. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, wingfic is a fairly common sub-genre in the fanfiction community for stories where the characters are given wings. How/why they have wings is unspecified. They can be angels/devils/some other supernatural creature, humanity as a whole has evolutionarily evolved to have wings, they were the result of human experimentation, etc. In this world, there exists a society of angels, and our Sherlock character is one of them.

I point this out for two reasons. Firstly, because this only gets mentioned in the Author Notes after finishing the book, it helped me reframe and clarify some of the perceptions I already had. And secondly, because it amplified the disappointments I already had with the book.

I'll start with the first point. I've read my share of Sherlock Holmes retellings over the years, but The Angel of the Crows easily comes closest to the original material. Set in 1880s Victorian England, our Watson character (Dr. Doyle) comes back wounded from Afghanistan, complains to his friend that he won't find a flatmate, then meets the Sherlock character (Crow) later that afternoon and within a week they move into 221b Baker St. Sound familiar so far?

They work their way through A Study in Scarlet, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Hounds of Baskervilles, and then The Speckled Band, in that order. In the backdrop, the Jack the Ripper murders are taking place and Crow (Sherlock) is getting increasingly frustrated at being unable to solve them. Also, there's a whole slew of supernatural societies (a flock of angels residing throughout London, werewolf packs, a powerful vampire den run by a Moriarty) place throughout this version of London.

The problem is, none of the added elements seem to matter. While a detail might turn to the supernatural (the victim's a vampire! what if the hound is actually a werewolf?), the overarching story remains painfully the same. The day-to-day behavior of character groups may be affected because, surprise Moriarty's a vampire or there's an angel blocking my way, in the long run there's no real effect on the outcome. There's no real effect that these elements contribute. Yeah, it's kinda cute that Crow emotes through his wings instead of his face (because he can't blush, we are reminded over and over again), but I wanted to know more about the impact angels have on England society, details into how the Vampire covens operate, or insight into the formation of werewolf packs.

Even before knowing that this started as Sherlock fanfic, I had my guesses. Dr. Doyle and Crow are written so closely to the original characters, they may as well have been the original characters with different names. For the first 40%, it was genuinely hard for me to differentiate the two. Crow did eventually manage to evolve into his own character (somewhat), but Doyle remained static. Between that and the lack of original plot, reading that this was original fanfic hit me with big "ohhhhhhhh".

Moving onto the second point, one of my biggest disappointments when reading this was that Crow and Doyle never establish a more 'fixed' relationship. They start as amicable flatmates, go on detective-y adventures, each undergo emotional trauma that the other helps them deal with, and end up... amicable flatmates. There's hints, I guess, that the two of them view each other as something more, but to my great disappointment, it never really gets explored.

Of course, knowing that this was fanfic just makes that disappointment so much worse. Those familiar with the Sherlock fandom will know the extreme to which John and Sherlock get shipped. For anybody unfamiliar with the term 'Johnlock', Google it. I dare you. I've read romance novels where the main pairing has less chemistry with each other than these two did. So that fact that the two did not end up together, or even have some level of discussion about it? Disappointing.

Fanfiction-related complaints aside, I did have issues with other components. For one, the pacing. The Angel of the Crows is written in a Victorian-esque style, which already forces me to read slower. But there were just certain arcs, particularly the Baskerville arc, that just dragged. I read enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories because I find the character of Sherlock Holmes fascinating. So when Doyle ditches Sherlock to have his own adventures, when Doyle ditches Sherlock for nearly a fifth of the book, I'm not very happy. Especially when Doyle is the least interesting character of the cast.

The overarching Jack of the Ripper arc also felt both unnecessarily stretched out and anticlimactic. Keeping with the mystery of the real Jack the Ripper murders, Crow offers no deductions than what is known about the real murders. And the real murders left behind very little. Which leaves Crow and Doyle doing absolutely nothing to actually help solve the murders and Crow just angrily telling the police they're wrong about whatever theory they cook up. In the end, when Jack is finally 'caught', the whole even happens in about twenty pages with very little fanfare and left me thinking, I endured the Baskerville arc for this?

I finish with a more minor complaint. For a book about deductions, there's very little deducing. My favorite part about Sherlock Holmes stories is the deductions Sherlock makes from even the smallest amount of overlooked evidence. Emphasis on evidence. Beyond the initial deductions in the Study in Scarlet arc and the ones about Doyle's pocket watch (both from the original material), Crow doesn't really deduce things. He often makes conjectures that happen to be right, but he rarely seems to actually present evidence to back up his claims. Purely by power of the protagonist is he right and the police wrong.

Overall, I rate this book a 3.5/5. Despite how much I rag on it in this review, I found the writing and Crow to be quite interesting. However, the pacing and the lack of depth on the supernatural aspects really hurt my enjoyment of the overall story.

Review to be posted: 5 June 2020