Book Review

The Devious Dr. Jekyll by Viola Carr

SW: This review is from Lara, who so loved The Diabolical Miss Hyde, she couldn’t wait to read the sequel. Because she discovered the series here (yay!) she asked to guest review The Devious Dr. Jekyll for us. Welcome, Lara!

After reading Elyse’s review of the first book in Viola Carr’s Electric Empire series, I broke my no-impulse-buying rule and bought The Diabolical Miss Hyde. I loved it. LOVED IT! I soon began a countdown to the release of the second novel in the series. The day after it was released, I bought it. This was all a tactical error on my part. As the first book receded in my memory, I forgot about the little snags and frustrations that even the very best book has, and I focused only on the heady rush of immersing myself in Ms Carr’s world. It was thus with a feeling of slight disappointment that I read The Devious Dr Jekyll. I very much doubt this is the fault of the author, but rather my selective/shaky memory and high expectations.

The Diabolical Miss Hyde
A | BN | K | AB
As with the first book in the series, the role of protagonist is shared by Eliza Jekyll and her other self: Lizzie Hyde. The book opens with a financially-troubled Eliza Jekyll battling to make ends meet. Her relationship with the police remains fraught, despite her clear and plentiful skills in forensic science. (Thank you, patriarchy. You’re a peach.)

The main plot arc is revealed to be the hunt for the Pentacle Killer – a new sociopath on the loose – but there are countless subplots, including Eliza and Remy’s relationship, the tension between Eliza and Lizzie, the appearance of a fraudulent/evil alchemical apothecary, the murder of one of Lizzie’s sort-of friends, Eliza’s fear of being captured by the Royal (the head bitches in charge of London), and many others. As a mystery, sometimes I’d get a little confused about which clues were part of which plotline. Of habit, I’m a quick reader, but this book needed me to slow down so I caught all the small bits and pieces.

Another thing to bear in mind in terms of plot is that this book is very much part of a series. Before diving into book 2, make sure you have refreshed your memory on the events in book 1. My somewhat patchy memory meant that I was a little befuddled for a bit. (This is, of course, an excellent excuse to reread the first book – it delivers, every time.)

When reading The Devious Dr Jekyll, I would quickly disappear into it. Carr’s world is immersive and comprehensive – something that a steampunk newbie such as myself really appreciates. There would, however, be moments when I would want to punch Eliza’s lights out. She would be stubborn and vain, and then be faced with a clusterfuck of consequences only to indulge in self-pity.

The real problem here is that I picked a favourite from the get-go: Lizzie Hyde. She is the more fully human of the two with her indefatigable survival instinct and heart of gold. She yearns to kill and, at times, gives free reign to her unfettered impulses. She believes in a brutal kind of justice influenced by an R-rated version of the Robin Hood School of Justice. Despite (because of?) this intensity of emotion, Lizzie can also be a vulnerable, richly human friend to those around her. Eliza never quite manages that warmth although her household (and Remy) are devoted to her.

Eliza is all about control and self-sufficiency. Eliza tries to be all that is acceptable in the world of the Philosopher and the Mad Queen (the head of the aforementioned Royal and his lackey, respectively), and while the social restraints chafe, Eliza allows fear to guide her in so many ways. One of the reasons Eliza and her actions frustrated me so much was that I fear I am the same as her. Too often, I allow fear to guide my choices. For a romance/mystery novel, this book had me doing some serious introspection.

An area where Eliza and I definitely differ is her OBSESSION with Malachi Todd – a formerly imprisoned serial killer – which wore very thin after a while. Seriously, how exciting can it be to be almost-killed a million times by someone who wants to love you/bathe in your blood?

Another source of frustration was that so much of the drama between Lizzie and Eliza is totally unnecessary. They have these moments of insight and you think they’ve found a way to work together – BUT NO. They then try to destroy each other, again. After a while, this pattern gets tiresome. Together they are so much stronger, but they don’t seem to realise this.

Duality is a big deal in this novel. It has a presence in every character, both major and minor. Let’s talk about Remy for a sec. Real Talk. I want to marry this man. Because like Eliza, I’m stubborn and vain and indulge in self-pity, but would still very much like to be loved. I want to be independent no matter the cost, and I would love to find a man who not only accepts this, but loves me for it. Remy is a goddamn saint.

Show Spoiler
A saint who is also a werewolf… (dun dun DUN)

Despite his kindness and super hotness, there are moments when I want Remy to have a little more self-respect. If he and Eliza swopped roles, I’d throw my book out of the window in frustration. Remy is so in love with Eliza that he allows himself – at times – to be treated with disrespect and unkindness. Eliza realises her errors, and apologises, and is forgiven, but then she makes similar mistakes again.

When I started writing this review, I filled three pages with the things that really irritated me about the book. Rereading those moaning groans, I realised that so much of that was because I really cared about the characters. I became emotionally invested in Eliza and Lizzie and Remy and I desperately wanted things to work out for them. They have a HFN, but considering how the characters love to repeat a past mistake… more tears lie ahead.

I decided to give this book a B+, because any book that can make me feel so emotionally invested in the characters is obviously doing a good job. I wanted to scream at the characters, but I kept reading because Carr had her hooks in my heart and I needed to know how things would work out. The world she creates is a rich one, but one that you’re able to pick up and understand as you read without having to have any of those tiresome ‘context/background’ passages. The mystery in the story, the crimes, the motives, were all so engaging and the denouement is a stabbing, plot-twist knife to the heart, but with a neat, satisfying bow around the knife’s handle.

I do not for a second regret reading this novel and I am happy to recommend it to other people, but I wish I had read it with lower expectations as that slight tinge of disappointment takes away from what is otherwise a very good book.

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The Devious Dr. Jekyll by Viola Carr

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  1. Julversia says:

    I read the Diabolical Miss Hyde (recommended from this site) and enjoyed it a lot. it took me a little while to get into it, but once I did, it was good fun. I liked Lizzie a lot more than Eliza, but I could sympathize with the “straight” girl.

    I like Remy much more with Lizzie than Eliza.

    Thanks for the review! I’m going to see if my library has this to download.

  2. DonnaMarie says:

    “Despite his kindness and super hotness, there are moments when I want Remy to have a little more self-respect.”

    How often have we seen some variation of this sentence in reference to the female protagonist in a book?

    I, too, enjoyed the first book A LOT, even though I found the title a bit misleading. Lizzie Hyde is the least diabolical character in the book. She is wide open and up front about everything while Eliza is all secrets and false fronts. That woman has ISSUES!

    I didn’t realize this was out so thanks for both the review and the heads up.

  3. RebeccaA says:

    I can highly recommend The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter
    by Theodora Goss, which I think was recommended here. With the caveat that it is YA & girl power not romance. It has Hyde’s daughter and Jekyll’s daughter, which is why I mention it here.

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