Reviews

Mystery of the Ivory Charm by Carolyn Keene

jolitimbre's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

imzadirose's review against another edition

2.0

I don't like this one. Amazing how books used to be. It was just ok that Nancy took a boy away from where he was living. Unhappy or not, it couldn't be done. Then she stole papers. Roll Eyes. So cheesy.

slferg's review against another edition

4.0

Nancy and her friends attend a wild-animal show on behalf of her father. He has gotten a call from a friend who owned the show and wanted him to check on some goings-on. He will be out of town, so Nancy is going to find out from the owner just what he is worried about. Before the show starts, they are walking around the wild animal cages, when an elephant escapes and a young Indian boy catches the elephant and calms it down. The elephant trainer is extremely rude and angry about the event. He starts to strike the boy and Nancy stops him. When they get home, they discover that the boy has hidden away in her trunk (which was not completely closed) to escape from the trainer. He has an ivory elephant charm which he gives her for luck and she tries to help him learn English, etc. until they can learn what has happened to the trainer, who disappeared. She also promises to try to help him find his real father. The trainer's wife had told him a word to speak to his father when he found him and the name of the city where his father was. But someone, or several someones, don't want this to happen.

sophia_she1's review against another edition

3.0

the subtext was kinda icky as you can see from the cover

sassy_spoon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

0.5

granny_weatherwax's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

3.0

This book definitely shows its age. The references to India are outdated and some of the action/dialogue sit wrong with a modern reader.

stofkochic's review against another edition

1.0

I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea what the fuck was all going on in this book.

lberestecki's review against another edition

3.0

A lot of the times the older Nancy Drew books can be borderline politically incorrect, but usually the edited yellow-bound versions aren't too bad. This one however was pretty awful in how the Indian characters were portrayed, which made it more difficult to enjoy the story.

invisibleninjacat's review against another edition

3.0

The reread continues! The mystery here was pretty good, but racism wasn't great. There were also some unnecessarily sexist descriptions in the beginning. They also sort of awkwardly handwaved over the fact that Nancy and her friends did technically kidnap Rishi, even if he went with them willingly. Nancy also definitely got out of some trouble with the police purely on the weight of her father's name, which doesn't bode well for the justice system here.

Wow, that was more issues than I realized. But the mystery was pretty good?

atraumatizedwriter's review

adventurous challenging funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5