The Clockwork Scarab is the first book in The Stoker and Holmes series by Colleen Gleason. It features Mina Holmes, niece to Sherlock Holmes, and Evaline Stoker, sister to Bram Stoker. Both girls are called to investigate two murders and a disappearance of high society young girls in Victorian London. Why are they called? Because Miss Holmes follows in the footsteps of her uncle and Miss Stoker is a vampire hunter; together, they form a balanced team between cunning and physical power.
Sounds interesting? Definitely. However, it would have been a more enjoyable book if not for three factors: the narrators, the confusing details and the fact that this reads more like a middle grade book even though it features issues that are too mature for middle grade readers.
The book alternates between Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker’s narration. However, the narration is not balanced; there are more chapters from Miss Holmes than from Miss Stoker. Miss Holmes receives the attention of two men, she’s the one who puts the pieces together, makes the observations and all around runs the show. Miss Stoker is just there. She adds very little to the story except when there’s physical confrontation, because Miss Holmes is not endowed with supernatural powers as Miss Stoker is. Miss Holmes seems to have all the brain power while Miss Stoker is just reduced to her physical abilities. Even Miss Stoker’s parts in the story are not as interesting as Miss Holmes. I often wondered if there was more to Miss Stoker, but at least in this installment, she doesn’t do as much as Miss Holmes.
This leads to the crux with the narrators: Miss Holmes is unlikable as they come, and it seems like she’s not meant to be. Early on, she mentions her superb powers of observation, her relation to Sherlock Holmes and her ability to do all these brilliant things; and then wastes no time in reminding the reader again and again of how amazing she is and how many abilities she has. She refers to herself and her skills so frequently, I was on the verge of putting the book down many times. She has a high opinion of herself, which is part of the point; however, there are instances in the book where the reader is supposed to relate to her, like when she sees herself in comparison to other women. But it’s the way in which she turns the observations on other women back to herself (because everything always comes back to her) coupled with the numerous times where she repeats that she has amazing deductive powers that deterred me from connecting with her. There’s a fine line between being an unlikable but relatable character and being a truly unlikable character; for me, Miss Holmes fell into the latter.
As for Miss Stoker, there isn’t much to say. She is fearless in that she’ll confront any human being, but she’s also shallow. She and Miss Holmes attend a ball to investigate, and she’s concerned about men vying for her attention instead of being concerned about actually investigating. She doesn’t seem focused on the task she is supposed to be doing, and she hardly ever knows how to figure things out because that’s Miss Holmes’ job. She only knows how to fight, mind her appearance and defend herself, nothing more.
Part of the issue with the narrators had to do with the confusing details. It wasn’t until I was several pages in that I figured out the book was set in steampunk London. There were vague mentions of lifts to different levels in London and mentions of gadgets, but as they were not described or explained, I was left wondering about what they were. It wasn’t until steam-powered doors were mentioned that I figured out the setting.
This confusion is also extended to some of Miss Holmes’ deductions; her deductions were set in stone, but as a reader, there were other possibilities to some of them. As it turns out, she was usually correct, but in some of these instances, the author’s hand came into view a little too much.
The Clockwork Scarab reads more like a middle grade book than a young adult one. It quickly introduces you to the characters and then delves right into the plot without looking too much into character growth, which is something YA books feature. It seems like the type of book that would interest the average middle grade reader except that it deals with murders, corpses, women held hostage by men and other situations that are not apt for a middle grade read. I didn’t know how exactly I should read this book.
The book has elements that may draw other readers, however. Aside from Miss Holmes’ repetition of her skills and Miss Stoker’s presence for only fights, they’re both ladies who want to break out of the confines of women in Victorian London. They want to be acknowledged as something more than just a member of the “weaker sex.” The steampunk Victorian London in which they live in is also interesting, aside from the confusing details; once one gets used to it, one can imagine what the gadgets are and how they function. Lastly, the storyline is also interesting; it features time travel, Ancient Egyptian lore that may or may not be magical and a world ruled by the ways in which Victorian London operated. I would have enjoyed this book more if the narrators had been a little more polished.
2 out of 5 stars
Mara Delgado Sanchez, the Young Adult Reviewer at Girls in Capes, is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in fiction. She draws inspiration from writers such as Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf and is an avid reader of young adult novels, science fiction, and fantasy.
