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buzzcutduck's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I enjoyed the plot however it is incredibly racist which I know is inherent to the time it was written however it so racist I felt most uncomfortable reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: War
nathanjhunt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
My 9th book finished in 2022.
This book hasn't aged well. This is my very first dive into a Sherlock Holmes novel, and I must admit, I wasn't expecting so much racism from it.
It's a snapshot into the British colonial minds and attitudes of the late 1800s. Imperialism was reaching its peak, and that forms the backbone of the plot. The whole basis of the treasure was that it was stolen in the first place. I can't sympathise with any of the characters because they're hunting for colonial gains. It really does leave a sour taste in the mouth.
The casualness of drug use at the beginning of the novel was baffling! They call this era 'The Great Binge' for a reason! If anything, this is an interesting case study into middle-class society of the time.
Casting the plot aside, I did enjoy seeing how Holmes' mind works, and having it from Watson's POV worked very well. There was a lot of monologue and explaining along the way. Every character seems to speak in the same manner and the same words. I feel like Conan Doyle was very comfortable writing as a middle-class man, but had no idea how to write characters from poorer and different backgrounds, and it's full of stereotypes. The cast, I suppose, is diverse, but it's written badly.
I left feeling unsatisfied by the story - why demonise one character, but act like the other was right with what they did? It just doesn't make any sense. And ultimately, Holmes did hardly anything in this novel, if was the characters around him mostly.
I enjoyed it somewhat, and am curious to read other Sherlock Holmes novels, but perhaps this wasn't the best one to start on.
This book hasn't aged well. This is my very first dive into a Sherlock Holmes novel, and I must admit, I wasn't expecting so much racism from it.
It's a snapshot into the British colonial minds and attitudes of the late 1800s. Imperialism was reaching its peak, and that forms the backbone of the plot. The whole basis of the treasure was that it was stolen in the first place. I can't sympathise with any of the characters because they're hunting for colonial gains. It really does leave a sour taste in the mouth.
The casualness of drug use at the beginning of the novel was baffling! They call this era 'The Great Binge' for a reason! If anything, this is an interesting case study into middle-class society of the time.
Casting the plot aside, I did enjoy seeing how Holmes' mind works, and having it from Watson's POV worked very well. There was a lot of monologue and explaining along the way. Every character seems to speak in the same manner and the same words. I feel like Conan Doyle was very comfortable writing as a middle-class man, but had no idea how to write characters from poorer and different backgrounds, and it's full of stereotypes. The cast, I suppose, is diverse, but it's written badly.
I left feeling unsatisfied by the story - why demonise one character, but act like the other was right with what they did? It just doesn't make any sense. And ultimately, Holmes did hardly anything in this novel, if was the characters around him mostly.
I enjoyed it somewhat, and am curious to read other Sherlock Holmes novels, but perhaps this wasn't the best one to start on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
Minor: Cannibalism and Alcohol
crowdenks's review against another edition
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
danny_fox's review
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Okay, so, I'm finally done with this book, took me a while.
My honest rating for this book would be around 4.5, again, maybe a bit more? Since I liked this book more than the previous one, and that one I also said it's 4.5.... 4.7 maybe?
Like for my previous review on A Study In Scarlet, I will mention 3 things I liked about this book and 3 I didn't. I will also be comparing it a lot to A Study In Scarlet.
What I liked:
- We got waaaaaaay more John and Sherlock content than in the previous one. I love their relationship, so seeing that the whole book focused on them (unlike the first one) that made me quite happy. The book had a bunch of great moments and wholesome scenes between the two.
- As I mentioned before, there were a lot more fun scenes and interesting quotes. I almost gave up on the first book, but with this one, I didn't have trouble finishing it.
- We learned more about Sherlock, which I found really cool. I feel like this book gave us some more information on him, we learned some of his flaws and opinions, which makes him feel more like a real person. Characters are the most important thing to me in the stories, so I was glad they got more development.
Bonus: The last few lines in the book were so intereeeeeesting. It felt cool, but sad, but interesting. The last line really made me feel like :O.
What I didn't like:
- The mystery was eh. I found the plot from the first book (aka A Study In Scarlet) to be more interesting. The whole mystery in this book just wasn't as interesting and felt a bit slow. I was also not the fan of the whole treasure thing. The mystery from the previous book just felt more intriguing to me, but that's just my opinion, as is this whole review. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- The villain was just... kinda disappointing?? Again, I am gonna compare this to the first book, and say that the "villain" from that one is way more interesting. The murderer felt more morally gray, and when I was done reading the book, I was sort of thinking to myself "okay, sure, he killed someone, but I don't really hate him for it?" I felt more sympathy towards him.
With this dude, I just felt nothing. So I found him to be more boring.
- Again, there were some lines and things characters would say that would now be seen as offensive. It's an old book, so it goes without saying that there will be some parts that felt iffy. I would suggest looking into this topic before reading the book.
Final thoughts:
Despite it all, I think A Sign Of Four is definitely an improvement from A Study In Scarlet. Even tho the plot was not really my thing, I still enjoyed the story a lot. Seeing Sherlock and John just solve the mystery together was super fun. Looking forward to the next story in the series. :D
My honest rating for this book would be around 4.5, again, maybe a bit more? Since I liked this book more than the previous one, and that one I also said it's 4.5.... 4.7 maybe?
Like for my previous review on A Study In Scarlet, I will mention 3 things I liked about this book and 3 I didn't. I will also be comparing it a lot to A Study In Scarlet.
What I liked:
- We got waaaaaaay more John and Sherlock content than in the previous one. I love their relationship, so seeing that the whole book focused on them (unlike the first one) that made me quite happy. The book had a bunch of great moments and wholesome scenes between the two.
- As I mentioned before, there were a lot more fun scenes and interesting quotes. I almost gave up on the first book, but with this one, I didn't have trouble finishing it.
- We learned more about Sherlock, which I found really cool. I feel like this book gave us some more information on him, we learned some of his flaws and opinions, which makes him feel more like a real person. Characters are the most important thing to me in the stories, so I was glad they got more development.
Bonus: The last few lines in the book were so intereeeeeesting. It felt cool, but sad, but interesting. The last line really made me feel like :O.
What I didn't like:
- The mystery was eh. I found the plot from the first book (aka A Study In Scarlet) to be more interesting. The whole mystery in this book just wasn't as interesting and felt a bit slow. I was also not the fan of the whole treasure thing. The mystery from the previous book just felt more intriguing to me, but that's just my opinion, as is this whole review. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- The villain was just... kinda disappointing?? Again, I am gonna compare this to the first book, and say that the "villain" from that one is way more interesting. The murderer felt more morally gray, and when I was done reading the book, I was sort of thinking to myself "okay, sure, he killed someone, but I don't really hate him for it?" I felt more sympathy towards him.
With this dude, I just felt nothing. So I found him to be more boring.
- Again, there were some lines and things characters would say that would now be seen as offensive. It's an old book, so it goes without saying that there will be some parts that felt iffy. I would suggest looking into this topic before reading the book.
Final thoughts:
Despite it all, I think A Sign Of Four is definitely an improvement from A Study In Scarlet. Even tho the plot was not really my thing, I still enjoyed the story a lot. Seeing Sherlock and John just solve the mystery together was super fun. Looking forward to the next story in the series. :D
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Racism, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Gun violence and Cannibalism
texassizedreads's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
gabspina's review against another edition
adventurous
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Colonisation
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Misogyny
holono's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
oliviasbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is the second installment of Sherlock Holmes and honestly I wasn't impressed. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading but not at an enthusiastic pace. What really put me off this book was the horrendous racism throughout. I was disgusted with the offensive language used. I am aware that they were accepted views of the time but I think Doyle's racism went beyond the average Joe Bob's racism. Just when you think it can't get much worse he starts to describe a character in the most inhumane way. I may give The hounds a try as I am reading them as part of a readalong but if the racism persists I 'm not sure I will be comfortable reading more. These books should not be promoted in our culture, we have no time for racists, no matter what time they lived in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry