Review : Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty

Summary (from Goodreads)  

Title : Lock & Mori (Lock & Mori #1)
Author : Heather W. Petty
Publication Date : September 15th 2015
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
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In modern-day London, two brilliant high school students, one Sherlock Holmes and a Miss James "Mori" Moriarty, meet. A murder will bring them together. The truth very well might drive them apart.

Before they were mortal enemies, they were much more.

FACT: Someone has been murdered in London's Regent's Park. The police have no leads.

FACT: Miss James "Mori"Moriarty and Sherlock "Lock" Holmes should be hitting the books on a school night. Instead, they are out crashing a crime scene.

FACT: Lock has challenged Mori to solve the case before he does. Challenge accepted.

FACT: Despite agreeing to Lock's one rule--they must share every clue with each other--Mori is keeping secrets.

OBSERVATION: Sometimes you can't trust the people closest to you with matters of the heart. And after this case, Mori may never trust Lock again.

Personal Thoughts

As a fan of the BBC series Sherlock, I'm always up for any retelling of Sherlock Holmes because he is such a quirky and intriguing character. When I found out that Heather W. Petty's Lock & Mori took a her own twist to Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty's characters, I was itching to read the book. As a debut, Lock & Mori was fantastic and if this book is any indication, then Heather W. Petty is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the YA world.

Let me start with the characters first. Lock himself was very much a replica of Sherlock Holmes in certain aspects of his personality - He was moody, highly intelligent, inquisitive, unemotional on the surface and antisocial, all of which made him as endearing as the original Sherlock Holmes. That being said, the author added a touch of her own to his character to make him stand out. Throughout the book, we get to see him open up more, revealing more about himself to Mori. Behind the reticent personality, was a nervous, slightly romantic boy who could be very passionate with certain people. Enjoying his character wasn't very hard to me and I found him to be loveable with all his quirks.

Mori, herself, was an interesting character, even more so than Lock, in my opinion. First off, she is based off a villain in Conan Doyle's works and I was curious to see how that would translate into a YA retelling. Mori was a strong and smart character at first. Having recently lost her mother, her family life was shaky with her father turning out to be abusive. Mori tried her best to protect her brothers from their father's wrath and frequently suffered through the abuse wordlessly. I hurt for Mori and reading about abuse is never easy. I was happy that she had some moments of joy when she was with Lock and had someone that was willing to look out for her without being asked to. Towards the end of the book though, Mori started to frustrate me with her poor decisions. It was clear that the obsession with the murderer was sucking her soul out and she wound up making baffling choices that put her and people around her at risk. By the end, her character had touches of darkness to her and though I'm curious to see how her character will be developed in the next two books, I'm also worried that I won't like the turn her character will take.

As a romance fan, I was entirely satisfied with Lock and Mori's relationship development. It wasn't slow to develop, which worked for me in the case of this book because the characters were truly perfect for each other. Their connection was instant and it was easy for me as a reader to see why they were inherently drawn to each other. It was a sweet relationship, especially because it awakened the more romantic and protective side of Lock. They had some seriously smoldering kissing scenes and I absolutely loved that they had so many kissing scenes (Where do I sign the petition for more swoony kissing in YA?). By the end though, their relationship had taken a different tone with the shift in Mori's personality. It was shaky and lacking of trust and I am nervous about how it will turn out, but can't say that I was unhappy with how the romance was portrayed overall in this first book.

You can't have Sherlock Holmes retelling without a murder mystery. The murder mystery in Lock & Mori consisted of a string of serial killings occurring in London's Regent Park with the police having no leads. The mystery itself wasn't unpredictable, which took away a little bit from the book for me because I liked to be shocked when it comes murder mystery books. It was well-paced but I think the mystery could have been a bit stronger. I did still enjoy the book very much, however, because Heather W. Petty's writing was addicting and as I said, the characters were all intriguing and I'm certainly looking forward to reading more about these two characters in the future.

If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, you'll want to check out this new YA retelling. It wasn't a perfect book by any means, but the characterizations, romance and writing makes Lock & Mori a book worth the read.

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5

**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**

  

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC of Lock & Mori.