Book 47 to 49 - Are Hormones Contagious?

Books: The Every Series - 1) Every Breathe, 2) Every Word, 3) Every Move

Author: Ellie Marney Genre: Australian Sherlockian YA

Let me tell you, I am nearly sick to death of all the goddamn Sherlock reimaginings. The whole use of the Watson-esque character to explore the eccentric (and usually attractive) Sherlockian bad-boy is sooooo playyyyed ouuuut.

But.

Ellie Marney somehow makes it work. Her writing absolutely entraps the reader. Damn. Her protagonist's voice is effortlessly realistic and energetic, and instead of leaning on Mycroft and Watts' namesakes to drive the characters and story, she uses Doyle's world as more of a framework and fills in all the juicy details herself.

And my, they are JUICY.

Book 1 - Every Breath

Of the three books, this is by far the best. And the STEAMIEST. Oh my motherloving stars. When I first started drafting a review for this novel, it was all "the romance is secondary to the story/mystery, and it's so great" - but by about halfway through I was HUNGRY for Mycroft and Watts to get - it - ON.

I know, I know, it's kinda wrong because they're not even 18, but all I want is for those darn crazy kids to finally have the chance to take off their clothes and get to KNOW each other. JAYSUS. Mycroft is an absolute daydream hottie, tall and eccentric and bruised up, all electric blue eyes and curly dark hair and cheekbones "like slashes". Watts isn't just his pining sidekick, either; she's strong, vulnerable, smart, and has her own family shit going on. They start out as friends, and their relationship develops over the course of the book as they delve into a fairly creepy mystery. I know, I know, it sounds pretty basic - but I found that this book hit all the marks that A Study in Charlotte missed.

One other thing I want to applaud about this book - the diversity. Although the main couple is a) white and b) hetero, they are surrounded by diversity. Watts' best friends, besides Mycroft, are an interracial couple with their own issues. We also get to see a lesbian couple, and an indigenous man. As a white female in, as far as I can gather from her autobio, a hetero relationship, Marney wrote her mains as they are because that's what she knows - but she also created a universe that reflects some real-world diversity, which is something a lot of authors don't even try to do.

Book 2 - Every Word

Second instalment! By this point, I (and most readers with a pulse)100% have a massive crush/downright lust for our friend Mycroft, in all his lanky, curly-haired, ocean-eyed glory.

This book is a helluva lot more serious in the series is a big more serious. Watts follows Mycroft from Australia to London, where it appears that he isn't processing the death of his parents quite as well as he thought he was - which, of course, Watts knew already, and has to put their budding relationship on hold to deal with him. Oh, Mycroft. You idiot.

Anyhoo, there's some very real torture that dispels the illusion of this being a fun story about some untouchable, Scooby-Doo-esque teen sleuths. This isn't jinkees-we're-caught-in-a-lion-pen, this is oh-fuck-my-goddamn-fingers. Despite Mycroft sort of having to come to the rescue, Watts is never cast as the damsel in distress. She's strong, and not afraid to tell Mycroft - and terrifying baddies - to fuck right off. And I love her for it.

Book 3 - Every Move

Definitely the weakest of the three novels, Every Move takes the characters back to Australia and lets Watts shine in her natural element - the great Outback!

I never truly knew how slang-y Australia could get until reading this book. I know there are some Canadian words that are strange to the rest of the world (toque, hoodie, 2-6, double double, mickey...there are others, I'm sure), but my GOODNESS, every second sentence in the book had me scratching my head a bit. Not that it at all distracts from the book; it just added to the charm, especially when Marney introduces Harris, a friend Watts' life in the country.

The book had the feeling of a final chapters, which it was. I wished for the Mycroft-Watts honeymoon phase but, like real life, when those butterflies start to fade, the real stuff is left and it's even better.

Right?