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lucyjunee's review against another edition
2.0
I love Sherlock Holmes. I grew up with “Basil the Great Mouse Detective” being my absolute favourite movie, so much I acted out scenes of it as if I were Olivia helping Basil solve the murder of Ratigan. I am utterly in love with the BBC adaptation of it (and consequently, Benedict Cumberbatch too!) I love the stories by the master, Conan Doyle himself and I am head over heels for “Murder most unladylike” by Robin Stevens. To say I was excited for this one is an understatement.
Andrew Lane's adaptation of the eccentric Sherlock Holmes fell flat for me. The iconic literary character is known to be extraordinary clever, insanely witty and incredibly interesting but the young Sherlock was none of these things. In fact, he lacked personality completely. He wasn’t much smarter than those around him, his intelligence is his defining feature and this was completely taken from him. His insatiable curiosity failed to shine through and he seemed rather plain.
The book had so much potential. So much. The writer had to continuously throw in wild action scenes as an endeavour to keep the reader engaged but is unsuccessful. I found them rather boring and I was counting down the pages to the end. This is such a shame, I was convinced this was going to be my new obsession. I was prepared to utterly fall in love this one. Shame.
In conclusion, I will definitely not be continuing with the series, not when the first instalment was that terrible.
Love, Lucy x
Andrew Lane's adaptation of the eccentric Sherlock Holmes fell flat for me. The iconic literary character is known to be extraordinary clever, insanely witty and incredibly interesting but the young Sherlock was none of these things. In fact, he lacked personality completely. He wasn’t much smarter than those around him, his intelligence is his defining feature and this was completely taken from him. His insatiable curiosity failed to shine through and he seemed rather plain.
The book had so much potential. So much. The writer had to continuously throw in wild action scenes as an endeavour to keep the reader engaged but is unsuccessful. I found them rather boring and I was counting down the pages to the end. This is such a shame, I was convinced this was going to be my new obsession. I was prepared to utterly fall in love this one. Shame.
In conclusion, I will definitely not be continuing with the series, not when the first instalment was that terrible.
Love, Lucy x
manarelkodes's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 stars ..
It was a decent book , i have fan reading it though , not like the second and the third .. but it was amazing in it's way ..
and yes i start reading the second then the third .. after that i decide to read the first ..
i will continue reading the whole book series ..
and now let's read the forth ..
It was a decent book , i have fan reading it though , not like the second and the third .. but it was amazing in it's way ..
and yes i start reading the second then the third .. after that i decide to read the first ..
i will continue reading the whole book series ..
and now let's read the forth ..
2kimi2furious's review against another edition
3.0
This felt profoundly "meh" to me. The author did his research, sure, and I very much appreciated the little details that came out because of it. But this book didn't really do anything for me. I got past the Sherlock Bieber on the cover so I could judge the story for itself, but I still didn't enjoy it.
For me, it just didn't feel like Sherlock Holmes. In my mind, growing up Holmes was probably just as weird and bratty as he is as an adult. I see him desperate for facts, not for friends. I see him as always being apathetic towards women and I also see him as so eager to prove himself that he'd end up in dangerous situations, all the while pretending like he's totally not in over his head. The author sort of went the opposite route with this book.
Andrew Lane made him lonely (which, alright, I'll admit, he probably had a lonely childhood, but I don't think he would have moped about it)and sort of bumbling. He keeps accidentally finding himself in situations, not getting into them on purpose, which I feel like is out of character. I also don't like that he made Sherlock learn to use deductive reasoning from his tutor when he very clearly would have gotten it from playing logic games with Mycroft as a child. I just feel like he would have already been using these skills at 14 rather than learning them for the first time.
And the budding romance. Ugh, I am so sick of this plotline used in fan interpretation of his relationship with women. Here is what I bet will happen in the next few books: he and Virginia fall for each other and then she'll die and he'll be like I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN BECAUSE I LOVED HER TOO MUCH AND MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT. I've seen it happen a million times and I'm sick of it. Please get more creative with your stories. Or rather, just make Holmes asexual or gay. Asexuals and homosexuals existed back then just as much as they existed today and Holmes was very clearly some form of queer considering he wasn't interested in women. Please incorporate this into your stories instead of going with the boring manpain-woman-in-the-refrigerator plotline thank you.
I am not sure I would finish this series, but I think boys would like it, considering it was more bumbling action that mystery.
For me, it just didn't feel like Sherlock Holmes. In my mind, growing up Holmes was probably just as weird and bratty as he is as an adult. I see him desperate for facts, not for friends. I see him as always being apathetic towards women and I also see him as so eager to prove himself that he'd end up in dangerous situations, all the while pretending like he's totally not in over his head. The author sort of went the opposite route with this book.
Andrew Lane made him lonely (which, alright, I'll admit, he probably had a lonely childhood, but I don't think he would have moped about it)and sort of bumbling. He keeps accidentally finding himself in situations, not getting into them on purpose, which I feel like is out of character. I also don't like that he made Sherlock learn to use deductive reasoning from his tutor when he very clearly would have gotten it from playing logic games with Mycroft as a child. I just feel like he would have already been using these skills at 14 rather than learning them for the first time.
And the budding romance. Ugh, I am so sick of this plotline used in fan interpretation of his relationship with women. Here is what I bet will happen in the next few books: he and Virginia fall for each other and then she'll die and he'll be like I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN BECAUSE I LOVED HER TOO MUCH AND MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT. I've seen it happen a million times and I'm sick of it. Please get more creative with your stories. Or rather, just make Holmes asexual or gay. Asexuals and homosexuals existed back then just as much as they existed today and Holmes was very clearly some form of queer considering he wasn't interested in women. Please incorporate this into your stories instead of going with the boring manpain-woman-in-the-refrigerator plotline thank you.
I am not sure I would finish this series, but I think boys would like it, considering it was more bumbling action that mystery.
mountie9's review against another edition
4.0
Jake's Review: This one was hard to read, but it was still a good exciting story. There are a lot of words I had to have mom explain to me so it took me a long time to read it. I also think it was a little old for me as there was some really scary stuff in it. I did like that Sherlock Holmes was a teenager and got to solve mysteries and help people. He was really smart at figuring out things and got to do a lot of stuff on his own. I felt bad for him at times because he was sort of all on his own with no Mom or Dad to help him out. T
Jake's Rating: 7/10
Mom's Review: After reading this I realized it might have been a wee bit too old for Jake. Some of the language was difficult for a 10 yr old boy and it dealt with some rather violent scenes (Nothing too graphic though). Now I personally found it delightful, dark, witty and exciting and would recommend it more for teens with more sophisticated tastes. It did drag a wee bit in spots for me and I was frustrated with some of the repetition, but you have to remember it is not written for moms. The author obviously has researched Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and the London of the 1860's as it rings very true. Fans of the original Holmes will see that the young Sherlock in this series could very well develop into Doyle's Holmes. He has his mannerisms, his intellect and you can see his passions for detective work developing. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Mom's Rating: 8/10
We received the book from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
Jake's Rating: 7/10
Mom's Review: After reading this I realized it might have been a wee bit too old for Jake. Some of the language was difficult for a 10 yr old boy and it dealt with some rather violent scenes (Nothing too graphic though). Now I personally found it delightful, dark, witty and exciting and would recommend it more for teens with more sophisticated tastes. It did drag a wee bit in spots for me and I was frustrated with some of the repetition, but you have to remember it is not written for moms. The author obviously has researched Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and the London of the 1860's as it rings very true. Fans of the original Holmes will see that the young Sherlock in this series could very well develop into Doyle's Holmes. He has his mannerisms, his intellect and you can see his passions for detective work developing. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Mom's Rating: 8/10
We received the book from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
nerfherder86's review against another edition
4.0
A great start to a series about the life of Sherlock Holmes when he was a teenager. In this one, he is staying at the manor home of relatives when he gets involved in the murders of two local men; he has the help of his American tutor, a local boy, and also the independent fiesty daughter of the tutor. He misses his father and his brother Mycroft, feels abandoned, and yet curious about everything. It's a good look into the mindset of the future adult Holmes. I'm interested to read more in the series, as it was a good mystery and fun adventure too; would also like to compare it with the other series, THE Boy Sherlock Holmes, by Shane Peacock.
ashmurphybroom's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
nouanni's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jeannemurray3gmailcom's review against another edition
3.0
Ok for YA. I will recommend it, as there are not many YA with male lead characters. The lead character is supposed to be a teen age Sherlock Holmes. I did not find him to have the same personality that I would think Sherlock Holmes would have at the age of 14.