Reviews

The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene, Mildred Benson

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dgrachel's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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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.