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David McK (3755 KP) rated Young Sherlock in TV

Apr 4, 2026 (Updated Apr 4, 2026)  
Young Sherlock
Young Sherlock
2026 |
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Sticking closer to the 'original' Sherlock Holmes story, setting wise, than the 2010 Benedict Cumberbatch-starring BBC show, this is set - as the name implies! - before the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle; before he becomes a 'consulting detective' in late Victorian England.

This also gets a lot of mileage out of the bromance between Sherlock and James Moriarty who, here, have yet to become rivals and are instead the best of friends as they investigate a mystery surrounding the Holmes family and - in particular - Sherlock's father and younger sister Beatrice.

Enjoyable.
  
Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World
Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World
Caitlin Davies | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An independent woman in a time where it was frowned upon
This is a lovely story of a female swimmer in Victorian times: Daisy Belle. A child, and later a woman, who very much knows what she wants: to be in the water, swimming and competing. I honestly got the impression that she would stay in the water if she could. We see some of the constraints of the time: women were ruled by their fathers and husbands, but we also see that women were starting to assert their independence wherever they could. And for Daisy, this was in the water.
I believe a lot of the research for this story was set around some very well known Victorian female swimmers. These women were performers, performing feats of daring and endurance, something that men thought them incapable of. Daisy proves this theory wrong.
There was a point in the story where I thought all was lost for Daisy, but it all comes good in the end, much to my relief. I really liked her. Some of the men, apart from her brother, were not particularly nice people.
In all, a really good read - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This was read on The Pigeonhole in August/ September 2018.
  
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners
Therese Oneill | 2016 | Art, Photography & Fashion, Gender Studies, Humor & Comedy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The author's writing style, history, information, frivolity. It isn't dry. (0 more)
It doesn't delve as deeply as I like. (0 more)
Such glorious fun!
I love this author's writing style. It isn't a recitation of dry facts as some historical nonfiction books can be. She really takes you into the daily rituals associated with fashion, hygiene, sex, marriage, and manners by immersing you in the culture as a virtual time traveler visiting the Victorian era. It brushes away the romance of the time period and gets you into the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty history but in a fun and frivolous way as she takes you into her confidence and shares the secrets of the past. It's a delightful romp written with light sarcasm that brought tears from laughter into my eyes. I highly recommend this book and this author. She has written another book on the history of child-rearing called Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent's Guide to Raising Flawless Children (Hardcover), which will be available April 16, 2019. Though I don't have children, I'm tempted to buy this book because the other was so much fun.


Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
  
Victorian Psycho
Victorian Psycho
Virginia Feito | 2025 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Humor & Comedy, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Unhinged. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of Victorian Psycho. I mean she is. A psycho, that is.

Is it nature or nurture? Macabre, blood thirsty thoughts go through her mind, and to begin with I wasn’t sure if she was “thinking” or “doing”. Comedy horror, except dark, dark comedy, this book made me laugh as well as cringe. Victorian repression let loose with homicidal mania. To be perfectly honest, these people deserve it. Uptight snobs who treat servants terribly, and the servants let them because they need the job. Not the Nanny. She’s taking none of their nonsense.

The question running through my mind as I was reading wasn’t: “Will she murder someone horrifically?”. It was more: When and how will she murder someone, and who will she start with? It’s going to be horrific!” And it’s not who you’d think.

A dark, dark read with a touch of Dickensian social commentary. The Nanny is an antihero who I ended up backing, of course. Please don’t judge me - I don’t condone murder of the rich though! 🫢

Great writing and well worth a read. Just close your eyes during the most blood-thirsty parts *nods sagely*.