The Strangest Forms

what day is it? release day!! don't forget to check out the short story “The Adventure of the First Day” included in yesterday's newsletter if you haven't already. happy reading, my fellow bibliosapiens!



giddy. giddy and delirious. because once again, i am putty in GA's hands.

a breathtaking five-star stunner of an intro to his new series, and ode to the Holmes universe in his interpretation of a modern-day descendant of Sherlock Holmes attending a school for troubled teens, complete with complex interfamilial layers waiting to be peeled back.

GA brings about his specialty of Cute Hot Messes with Trauma™ in a 19-course meal fit for royalty. this story is a charming goldilocks balance of one-liners meant to be voiced while strutting in shades against the backdrop of a wild explosion, interactions more tender than any meat consumed in the history of mankind, delicious tension that had me aching down to my toes, snarky & teasing fun inciting brays of laughter, shows of protectiveness taking me to orbit, bucketsful of hardship and delusions for that added kick, and to top it all off, the impulsive foolishness replicated in the dna of all amateur sleuths.

if any collection of my favorite stylistic inclusions (i'm talking dynamics, tropes, utterances) were ever to exist, this might be one of the closest ones i've found yet. i might as well have highlighted the entire book with how many golden lines there were. i loved the father-son dynamics and even the single pov, both a sweet homage to the originals as well as throwback to old school “The Sophistries of June”/”Hollow Folk” GA for multiple reasons. now if only Jack Moreno & Holloway Holmes happened to find themselves in an arranged marriage... unsubtly emits signals GA's way