POV: Third Person Limited

Nothing makes me happier than reading (and yapping about) a book with a promising premise that actually delivers on the premise and keeps me up at night and has me pacing around while internally screaming.

Poetic and mysterious to its core, Strange Beasts is a sapphic feminist murder mystery that is a perfect cross between Enola Holmes (or the story's more familiar counterpart, Sherlock Holmes) and Impossible Creatures (the beautifully written mythical creature fantasy by Katherine Rundell). 

It pulls you into an atmospheric gothic world from the very first page and leaves you guessing, guessing and putting pieces of a puzzle together only to steal half the puzzle pieces away just when you were almost done. The red herrings? Susan J. Morris you are a genius for writing this I will forever be in AWE.

I could've never seen the plot twists coming, I was screaming and screeching and glued to the pages throughout, so engrossed and so in love with the way the mystery was woven. The writing style is magnificent as is the theatre scene in 1900s Paris, and and and I see the potential for a sequel okay??? 

The characters? So beautifully written and their interactions are so raw and real? I NEED to see more of both the MCs families and I need to read more about Hel and Sam solving mysteries together AND I need more of the mythical creatures.

PS: This is a fanclub for Heathcliff the rat. If Hel and Sam don't raise him together and give him a cheese wheel—

Also can we talk about that magnificent cover? And the way it is an elegant nod to the Paris catacombs and the theatre/opera. Genius.

PPS: To anyone picking this book for the queer rep, know that it is a very very subtle slow burn.

(Thank you Netgalley, Bindery Books & Inky Phoenix Press for the e-ARC!)