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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Type of read: Weekend/Lunch time read.
What made me pick it up: Here's the deal, sometimes you just need an easy read for lunchtime or appointment waiting or those little moments where you can sneak in a few pages, Nancy Drew is just that. As a child of the 90s, I grew up on Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. These were the books that taught me how to read and adventure through pages. It's been fun revising the Nancy Drew series.
Overall rating: As I reread through the Nancy Drew series, I'm not going to rate them significantly or provide a detailed review. I'm simply reading these because it makes me happy and makes me think of simpler times. I will always recommend books like Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Box Car Children, Babysitters Club, Goosebumps, Animorphs, and so on as those are the books that drew me into reading and kept me excited to continue turning pages.
What made me pick it up: Here's the deal, sometimes you just need an easy read for lunchtime or appointment waiting or those little moments where you can sneak in a few pages, Nancy Drew is just that. As a child of the 90s, I grew up on Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. These were the books that taught me how to read and adventure through pages. It's been fun revising the Nancy Drew series.
Overall rating: As I reread through the Nancy Drew series, I'm not going to rate them significantly or provide a detailed review. I'm simply reading these because it makes me happy and makes me think of simpler times. I will always recommend books like Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Box Car Children, Babysitters Club, Goosebumps, Animorphs, and so on as those are the books that drew me into reading and kept me excited to continue turning pages.
My mom used to read these books to me when I was little, and I figured I’d give it a go. And man, oh man, can you tell this was written in the 30’s! I find the story charming, but it wasn’t quite as good as I remembered it to be. A lot of memories came back to me, though, and as I was reading, I ate a handful of Flying Saucers
The fifth series book has Nancy and her cousins solving the mystery of a ghost horse that continues to visit the ranch of their aunt. Along the way, Nancy finds herself again solving three mysteries as her friend Alice’s long lost father has been missing for some time. A painting at a local shop leads Alice to believe he is still alive and somewhere in the area.
But it wouldn’t be a true mystery without the third adventure of a missing treasure and the map and clues are hidden within the ranch somewhere.
Along the way, Nancy finds herself befriending a man who started out hateful and soon grew on her. It was nice reading about Nancy having a possible boyfriend, considering so many of her friends are getting married or dating.
But it wouldn’t be a true mystery without the third adventure of a missing treasure and the map and clues are hidden within the ranch somewhere.
Along the way, Nancy finds herself befriending a man who started out hateful and soon grew on her. It was nice reading about Nancy having a possible boyfriend, considering so many of her friends are getting married or dating.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Okay, so, the A-plot mystery could have totally stood alone without the additional B-plot mystery. Actually could have added some more elements to the A-plot (which the Nancy Drew game of the same title does). On that part, that's my only complaint, so knock off half a star. And I knocked off another star and a half for the cringey casually racist language and cultural appropriation (which, yes, yes, I know it was common for the time the book was written but no thank you).
slow-paced
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
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.
Most importantly, this is the first book featuring Bess and George. They are exactly as fun as I remembered.