3.5/5
This is a very nice and very short novella from a fabulous steampunk series which I can't help but recommend to anyone I know. If you haven't read Tarnished or Gilded yet, you must do it!

There are couple of reasons why my rating is lower than 9 out of 10 - which is what I rate this series in general.

First of all, I dislike the nature of novella itself as it's short enough to prevent any good plot development or character depth, so my ratings of novellas are generally not higher than ratings of the same author's full books.

The second reason is specific to The Mysterious Case of Mr. Strangeway. The chosen narration is particularly awkward, because it reads like something told from Cherry's memories and with a lot of hindsight. The reader gets distracted by "if only I knew" and "after this job I learnt to", and for me specifically this didn't work at all.

Otherwise it's a pleasant story of a 15-year old Cherry trying to make her first collection, her many silly mistakes and her propensity to get into more trouble than she can deal with. Delightful!



For fans of Hawke (RAWR!): you have to read this, because it shows how they met for the first time, and I absolutely loved his derision for the snooty girl and his unexpected acknowledge of what she managed to accomplish in the end :) Recommended with slight reservations. ( )

Cherry St. Croix narrates this steampunk novella that serves as a prequel to the St. Croix Chronicles. Having had a quite unusual childhood, at fifteen she decides to become a “collector,” a bounty hunter of sorts. However, her first “collection” doesn’t go quite as planned. Cherry is a very likable character, and I definitely find myself wanting to read about more of her adventures. I will definitely be adding the St. Croix Chronicles to my “to-read” list. ( )

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha:
*eARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Yeah... the lady can write!! I have loved everything Karina Cooper has turned out, & hail the day that I discovered her books. Her Dark Mission series was a captivating thrill ride from book one to its amazing finale, and The St. Croix Chronicles were my first foray into Steampunk. They instantly added a heroine to my list of top favorites, and reminded me why I adore the Victorian era Horror Classics so very much.

A foray into Cherry's life is always an eagerly awaited adventure, so The Mysterious Case of Mr. Strangeway was a fabulous surprise in my not-so-patient wait for Corroded; and what a surprise it was! As I started with, Karina can write - she has a gift - but this book was SO beautifully written I found myself whispering a "wow" to myself on more than one occasion and highlighting several passages. It was like dark poetry - fluid, sinuous, and wonderfully tenebrous.

Being a fan of the series, it was awesome to read Cherry's recounting of how everything came to be; how she became a collector at the age of 15, how her debut take went down, how she first met the enigmatic Micajah Hawke, how her odd turns of fate would eventually lend to her extremely high rate of success (as twisted as the facts may be), and more -including some more tidbits into her childhood before she was sent to London proper in the care of Fanny and the Booths. There is an absolutely beautiful passage from the book that I have to quote here, as it was the perfect phrase to denote the catalyst for Cherry's character throuout the series: "This point, the lowest I can recall clearly enough to remember it as something other than a dream, became the match that would light the sick of my aspirations. For this was the moment in which a deliberate disregard for the expectations of others overwhelmed the inner voice of the young girl who sobbed for help." [You want to know what brought on that thought don't you!!? Well you're just going to have to read it to find out! ;)]

Outside of all of that, the story itself was wonderful. Like all of the St. Croix Chronicles installments, Karina took something from history and twined it into the story, it was chock full of intrigue, there was plenty of action, and the dynamic characters and vivid world building absolutely sucked you in.

The Mysterious Case of Mr Strangeway is a solid 5 Skull read and I would highly recommend it! I, personally, would not recommend reading it as a standalone, however, and even though it's classified as a Prequel due to the timeline of the story, it works best exactly where it was released, and should be slotted in after Gilded.

An absolutely wonderful tide-over until Corroded. A big thanks to Karina for sharing her beautiful mind with us all, and a portion of her sales with kids who have big dreams (kinda like Cherry)*!
*A portion of the sales of The Mysterious Case of Mr Stragneway are going to the Make A Wish Foundation.
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