Reviews

The Secret at Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene, Russell H. Tandy, Mildred Benson

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starligh_314's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.25

planet_taffy's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted 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

5.0

The Secret of Shadow Ranch is an all-around solid installment in the series, as long as you overlook the continuity error with the sweater: the gimmick of the ghost horse is fun and well utilized; the cast of villains and red herrings are easy to keep up with; and Keene manages to give all of the characters their own charm. This book makes me really wish it was public which authors ghostwrote what, because I'd love to focus on reading the Nancy Drew Mysteries by this particular iteration of Carolyn Keene.

Most importantly, this is the first book featuring Bess and George. They are exactly as fun as I remembered.

alesehunter's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

dgrachel's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.75

Nancy Drew is not aging well. The casual racism, cultural appropriation, and misogyny are breathtaking, and not in a good way. It’s also filled with stereotypes, exclamation points, and ridiculously frequent life threatening peril.

crabbyabbe's review

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adventurous funny 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

3.5

Maybe because I'm a native Phoenician, I liked this one the least so far. Too many stereotypical devices to count. We don't say “hombre“ or “sandstorm“ (it's a dust storm or haboob)--nor do we say “squaw“, which crudely refers to female genitalia. Dude ranches existed primarily around Wickenburg (The Dude Capital of the West in the 1950s), which is an hour NW of Phoenix. It was hard for me to take this story seriously.