Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

42 reviews

owlish1's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Note: the handling of Sikh characters from India uses language which is expected of 1890, so go in expecting that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

hjb_128's review

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, War, and Colonisation

pedanther's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, War, Sexism, Body shaming, Drug use, Ableism, Death, Addiction, Classism, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Fatphobia

hellonovahere'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

so incredibly racist and sexist but what can you expect from an Englishman from the 1800s. 

overall, a pretty bland read; not anything to write home about and not something i'd recommend, really. a bit long-winded in the very last chapter, but that's just a personal opinion. it's saving grace was the humour, some of which still holds up pretty well.

ymmv with this book, but my opinion of it was severely soured by the overt racism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Cannibalism

juliatsang's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs

Reduced the rating due to some heavy-handed racism. I didn’t remember this from when I was a kid. I still love Sherlock Holmes, but question whether that would be true if it weren’t for nostalgia.

pengintoppa's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Drug use, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cannibalism, War, and Slavery

softiejace's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, War, Racism, Slavery, and Murder

Minor: Addiction and Cannibalism

cae's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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? No

3.25

I liked the structure of this book better than the first one; there was a better balance between the criminal’s story vs the actual solving of the crime, following Sherlock and Watson (leaning heavily towards following the narrative of the latter). However, the sheer amount of racist content in this book really decreased my enjoyment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Cannibalism

filipacmiranda's review against another edition

3.0

 The story narrated by Conan Doyle in The Sign of the Four proved to be more interesting than its predecessor. Reading A Study in Scarlet felt like the ending came too fast. In this case, it felt the exact opposite. In some situations, such as the suspect’s pursuit, having access only to Dr Watson’s perspective made it dull. 

The mystery was appealing, even if the criminal’s motivations weren’t clear to me. Additionally, the fact that the author used retrospectives to reveal details from the crime seemed better in the text this time. 

Lastly, even as background to all the adventures and mysteries that go on, the personal stories of Sherlock and Watson started to gain shape. On the one hand, we have access to Sherlock’s addictions and mental health problems. On the other, Watson’s future wife makes her first appearance in this novel. When it comes to this love story, all I can say is there’s something special about how less than 24 hours and a few glances were enough to fall in love…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug use, and Racism