I read this for my Lit Foundations class, and while it wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t good either. It was a bit dense, and seemed to be more of a mystery/crime story rather than one exploring the extent of Victorian era morals, as my teacher led me to believe. At least it was a quick read; I didn’t suffer *too* much. It’s an interesting concept, but not great execution. If someone were to write a modern retelling focused on Jekyll and Hyde rather than Jekyll’s acquaintances, I think I’d enjoy that. But this one, as it exists, isn’t my cup of tea.

Also, it jumped around a lot?? It’s about 125 pages, and spans from October one year to March the next, and if you aren’t careful you’ll miss the rather abrupt transitions. “A week later, around a fortnight passed, on January 8,” etc. It also confused me why, whenever the date was fully mentioned, it was written: [month] [day], 18—. Just tell us what year your story takes place in, Bob!

This book did teach me one thing – Harry is a nickname for Henry. Prior to reading, I’d never heard of that, and for the first half of the story I was so confused because Dr. Jekyll was referred to as both Harry and Henry. SINCE WHEN IS THIS A THING? (Apparently since the Victorian era. Mind = blown.)

Lastly, I felt that the last two chapters dragged a bit. Together they’re only 30 pages, so not long (unless you’re being forced to read a book haha), but they seemed kind of unnecessary. At the very least, they could’ve been shorter.

And pro tip: don’t include what’s supposed to be the major twist in the synopsis on the back cover. I’m sure most people know the gist of the Jekyll and Hyde story, but for those who don’t, it’s entirely too easy to accidentally spoil yourself.