Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

15 reviews

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

I think that Sherlock Holmes' adventures are much better suited in the short story format, but I am glad that there were the two novels to establish the characters first (though there was some changes as the characters developed). I would have liked to have more stories where Sherlock and Watson are roommates, rather than having Watson immediately marry Mary. There were a few like this, but I wish there were more. My favorite of the collection was the one I had already read beforehand: The Speckled Band.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Racism, Addiction, and Confinement

Minor: Racial slurs, Drug use, and Drug abuse

meganpbennett's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

 I had the opportunity to take part in Letters from Watson, where the short stories of Sherlock Holmes were emailed out in (more or less) chronological order. Having read about half of them, this was a wonderful chance to revisit the stories. This set of short stories is a very good introduction to the character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Misogyny, Sexism, Gun violence, Death, Murder, and Animal death

seforana's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, and Physical abuse

tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Racism

Moderate: Animal cruelty

nubecato's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, and Confinement

Minor: Drug use, Sexism, and Alcoholism

katievh's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Animal death, Confinement, and Racial slurs

blueberry_bean's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Animal death

Moderate: Drug abuse and Addiction

maren_hemsath's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Blood, Racism, Racial slurs, and Drug abuse

Minor: War, Sexism, Medical content, and Animal death

emory's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

I started listening to this on audiobook probably 2 years ago and only really recollect the last 3 or 4 stories I listened to today, but classics are classics for a reason. Even the kind of bummer stories are kept intriguing by the writing. Entertaining and worth it to know why every Sherlock adaptation is so stuck on Irene Adler.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

chalkletters's review against another edition

mysterious fast-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

2.25

After getting angry at period-typical misogyny and racism in the first two Sherlock Holmes novels, Nickie suggested that I might find the short stories to be more palatable, so I was curious to find out whether that would be true for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Though I’ve read (or listened to) all twelve stories before, it’s been a long time, so my tastes might definitely have matured out of them. 

There was only one instance, in A Case of Identity, in which I felt that Arthur Conan Doyle really mistreated one of his female characters: Holmes works out exactly how his client, Miss Sutherland, was manipulated and deceived but declares that she won’t believe him if he tells her, so just leaves her to get on with her unhappy life! Clearly, it’s the solving of the puzzle that matters to Sherlock (and Dr Watson), and not the actual result of his actions. That would be okay, except that I increasingly feel as though the same is true of Arthur Conan Doyle, and what’s forgivable in a flawed character is less so in a real person.

For the most part, the beginnings of the stories were a little tediously repetitive: Watson notes that Sherlock solves cases for the nobility, but says that these are sometimes less interesting and shows off Sherlock’s skills less well than whichever case he’s introducing. There’s nothing wrong with a formula that works, I suppose, but I might recommend not reading these stories back to back to back.

The problems and their solutions are clever, and anyone reading these for the first time would likely be carried along by that alone. (Except in the case of The Five Orange Pips, which is sadly incredibly obvious to a modern reader. I can only assume that the Klu Klux Klan was less familiar to British readers in 1892 than it would be today.) Remembering the endings of ten out of twelve stories definitely put me in a position to notice more of the flaws!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail