Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - The Sign of Four

Ok, wow, mixed bag on this one. On one hand, the mystery its self is very fun; locked room, treasure, a mysterious calling card, its all cool. On the other hand, good God is this one racist. Most of the ACD Sherlock stories I've read keep that good ole' English racism to a minimum, but The Sign of Four seems to have dialed it up to ten to make up for that. I don't think you can go two pages here without reading multiple paragraphs of Watson or some other character just using the rudest, most vile descriptions possible for Indian people. I can't say I didn't expect it, because I know just how horribly the English viewed Indian people at the time, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to read. I'm not kidding, though, the racism in this one is really really bad, especially because we don't get the usual Holmes thing of having the story at least somewhat go 'um, actually, the people society hates are actually just people and it is in fact the rich bastards who suck'. Just yikes.

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octagon's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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thechocolatefinger's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

It was a bad ending tbh the last chapter didn’t make sense there was too much speech

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naomiward's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

3.25

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reubelius's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I was not mentally prepared for the

cocaine

in the slightest. Not sure if I love or hate how vivid a mental image those first few paragraphs offered upon me, but regardless of biases the language is just as colorful as always.

My favorite part of this work consists of a single sentence;

"Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other, and then burst simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter

. It's such a small thing, but truly it made Sherlock and Watson both feel so incredibly human. It's what makes their companionship and friendship so believable and I relish in the moments I get to indulge in it. Reading about these two continues to be an utter delight.

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