Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

42 reviews

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Medical content, Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, Sexism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Slavery

houseratss's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

londonsetterby's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.0

Incredibly racist.
Also tedious and goofy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, and Classism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, and Racial slurs

pvbobrien'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Drug use, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Colonisation and Murder

Minor: War, Cannibalism, and Violence

jrobincox's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

stories's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

This tale has not aged well, but is certainly twisty. I do enjoy the vivid characters that Conan Doyle sketches. 

Not to mention the impact that Love At First Sight has on narrator reliability. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, and Death

Minor: Racial slurs, War, Cannibalism, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Murder

tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

mrej's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

While I love Arthur Conan Doyle and his work on Sherlock Holmes, this is my least favourite of his works I've read so far. It is still well written and an interesting mystery with the classic twists and turns. 

However, my main problems with this story is firstly the blatant racism that was so prevalent in the story. I understand that these view are typical for a work published in 1890 but part of the case being solved by figuring out what race a person was by their footprint was not just appalling but also highly unlikely. 

Additionally, this felt like a short story that belongs in a collection drawn out into a novella. It was so long when it did not need to be and I could tell that Doyle was attempting to make it longer with John's romance which was actually very sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

the_literary_cat's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This was an enjoyable read, but it didn't grip me the way A Study in Scarlet did years ago. The mystery wasn't as suspenseful as I thought it would be, and the long winded story about the 'villain' in the end was a bit dull. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

aritag's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs