surrendersouls's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I feel like the stories degraded in quality as they went along and were generally not as enjoyable as in the previous collection. Some stories don’t even seem like Holmes is solving a mystery at all, just getting the information in the end. Like in the Gloria Scott, what did he do there? He showed up. We love him for that

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jenny_librarian's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I love Sherlock Holmes. He’s so extra.

Like all anthologies, this has its good and bad stories. I absolutely loved The Yellow Face (despite its racist title and plot points), but I found The Gloria Scott quite boring. Silver BlazeThe Resident Patient and The Naval Treaty were fine. The Final Problem was… disappointingly short and lacking details.

Also I discovered that Conan Doyle isn’t as clever as he wants us to believe. The whole reasoning behind The Musgrave Rituals doesn’t hold for a mystery that is supposedly 200 years old. A tree would have grown plenty in that time. And referring to the length of a shadow from the sun would require you to calculate which day the clue was written, and to figure out when the sun would be in that exact position.

I did really like this version of Mycroft. If Sherlock is coded autistic, his brother is the very definition of the word, and it was a pleasure to read.

Despite the ups and downs, I am still a big fan of the original stories, which are (in my opinion) much better than any adaptation could ever hope.

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I had the opportunity to take part in Letters from Watson, where the short stories of Sherlock Holmes were emailed out in (more or less) chronological order. Having read about half of them, this was a wonderful chance to revisit the stories. This collection contains "The Final Problem," which has proven a problematic story for every adaptation since. 

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katievh's review against another edition

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adventurous
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25


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houseratss's review against another edition

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4.0


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spacxxoddity's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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anniereads221's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0


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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

After the story "The Yellow Face" which is about a secret biracial child I just could not with this book. Not here for racist stories.

CWs: Abandonment, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, death, murder, racial slurs, racism, violence. 

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