Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

3 reviews

pedanther's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, War, Sexism, Body shaming, Drug use, Ableism, Death, Addiction, Classism, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Fatphobia

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Ok, wow, mixed bag on this one. On one hand, the mystery its self is very fun; locked room, treasure, a mysterious calling card, its all cool. On the other hand, good God is this one racist. Most of the ACD Sherlock stories I've read keep that good ole' English racism to a minimum, but The Sign of Four seems to have dialed it up to ten to make up for that. I don't think you can go two pages here without reading multiple paragraphs of Watson or some other character just using the rudest, most vile descriptions possible for Indian people. I can't say I didn't expect it, because I know just how horribly the English viewed Indian people at the time, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to read. I'm not kidding, though, the racism in this one is really really bad, especially because we don't get the usual Holmes thing of having the story at least somewhat go 'um, actually, the people society hates are actually just people and it is in fact the rich bastards who suck'. Just yikes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Medical content, Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, Sexism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Slavery

theresacharlotte's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Racism, and Drug use

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Islamophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood