my first five star read this year and probably a personal classic in the making. what can i say, this book is just perfect! i dived into it without expectations, had to pause it to read another book to fit the season, and then went back and got absolutely surprised at how good it is. i love it down to the protagonists, writing style, lore and the way the book walks you into uncovering the secrets of the doyles. at first, i thought it would be a gothic parody since it references its precursors in the genre, but one chapter totally flipped my expectations! it totally put me on edge until the very last page! i found myself wincing, biting my fingers, and squealing at letters and punctuations! it has been so long since a book has made me feel this way, playing so well with my imagination! there are also feminist themes and social commentary which i'll ponder on after i write this post, it truly had a story to tell and i LOVED every single bit of it. the symbolism as well, but i'll need quite a while to process them since i'm pretty slow. i also love the romance subplot that i never expected would be here as well. i LOVE this book so much! i would recommend this, but i also want to note there are potential triggers that i suggest looking up before reading the book.