Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

35 reviews

mxmorganic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

A bit slow in parts, especially early on. As well, the book is riddled with unchallenged ideas about the merits of colonialism and various racial “facts” - e.g. being able to identify and define various groups of people by the contours of their skulls - that are extraordinarily uncomfortable to read today.

However, the core mystery of the novel is quite compelling, and most of all Arthur Conan Doyle has a way with words that really struck me at multiple points in the text - when finally the eponymous Hound of the Baskervilles rears its head, ACD describes it with some of my favorite language I’ve read this year, and the surrounding chapter too was a tremendous climax to the novel.

Finally, the introduction/afterword to my edition of the novel was a highlight of this printing, leaving me with much-appreciated food for thought as I think back over the novel now. So, with the caveats that it’s not always as thrilling as one might expect, and that it’s very of its time, I do certainly recommend the Hound of the Baskervilles for Doyle’s rich renderings of the English language, if for nothing else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Colonisation

dantemkunc's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal death

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

tarahroh's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Reading this does make me question all adaptations of the story. Why do they vary so much? There is something about each character and their background that I loved exploring. They left me with questions and an egarness to learn about their lives independent from sherlock. I think this is part of the beauty of his stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Thanks to the Audrey app and winning another one of their StoryGraph giveaways, I got to finally read a Sherlock Holmes story! I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would and it was a bit fast when Sherlock explains things but I also listen at 1.5 speed, so I will have to go through the notes from the guide which help a lot. Same guide as The Picture Of Dorian Gray which I would not have fully understood without their guidance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Racism, and Stalking

Minor: Emotional abuse and Classism

paloverdepages's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I read this book for The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024 prompt 2. A historical fiction novel set before 1900. 

Even knowing some version of the story (thanks BBC Sherlock), this was still fun to read! I might be a fan of mystery/detective stories now

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Murder

isaaah's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Colonisation

readingelli's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence

atuin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

3.5

It's easy to see why Sherlock Holmes was and is so popular, as his detective work had me hooked through the book. The villain was also a pleasant surprise, as they were very well done in how clever and cruel they were. I will say much of the book has Watson on his own, which I wasn't a big fan of. Maybe if this wasn't my first Sherlock book I would've appreciated the new dynamic, but I loved them bouncing off each other and wanted to see more of that. It would also be irresponsible of me to not point out that, as this book was written in the 1800's, there are a lot of antiquated and racist ideas about skull shapes and the criminal look. Even so, I loved the parts aside from that, and I'm looking forward to more Sherlock. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Racism

asen123's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s not my favorite Sherlock Holmes novellas. I preferred the valley of fear, the study of scarlet, and the collections. It was still an amazing book. I love the atmosphere and how immersive the story was. I loved that it was mainly dr watson in the story. The way the story was summed up was great too. It was all really good. I’d say that it can get a bit gory and dark. More than the other stories, so keep that in mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Body horror and Gore

Minor: Domestic abuse