A review by oliviasbooks
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This is the second installment of Sherlock Holmes and honestly I wasn't impressed. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading but not at an enthusiastic pace. What really put me off this book was the horrendous racism throughout. I was disgusted with the offensive language used. I am aware that they were accepted views of the time but I think Doyle's racism went beyond the average Joe Bob's racism. Just when you think it can't get much worse he starts to describe a character in the most inhumane way. I may give The hounds a try as I am reading them as part of a readalong but if the racism persists I 'm not sure I will be comfortable reading more. These books should not be promoted in our culture, we have no time for racists, no matter what time they lived in. 
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