Reviews

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

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d0nkatsu's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

5.0

mirrorofneptune's review

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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

3.0

Not some of your best work Arthur but sequels can be tough. The plot here is more convoluted and

hinges on some weird racial shit

so we could’ve done better in that regard. However, it has that famous quote about eliminating the impossible and also features

Holmes being pissed off Watson is getting married, because it means he won’t have as much time to be super impressed by Holmes’ sleuthing

, which is hilarious, so it’s not the worst.

3.5 // I ACTUALLY READ "THE GREAT INTERPRETER" but goodreads doesn't have it as an option to mark as read so here we are. If I ever read the "Sign of Four" I will just review it under this one and mark it as so.

kaynan1314's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

kthedestroyer's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Well, this was one of the better books that I had to read for class in the past two years. Don’t get me wrong, I love Shakespeare because the writing is funny as hell but this is one of the only times I actually got invested into the story itself.

My favorite thing about the book was definitely the dynamic between Sherlock and Watson. They are so funny and gay I love it (well, technically Watson gets himself a girlfriend in this book but that’s not relevant because I’m talking about pure vibes here). Sherlock as a character is probably the main reason for the way this dynamic works. He’s really quirky and seems like a crazy man at times. I mean, he’s on cocaine so I guess that explains a lot. Not to mention the way he just has fun while someone died… I mean, he literally impersonates someone just so he could get a laugh out of Watson and Jones getting annoyed with him.

Okay but speaking of Watson’s so called girlfriend… that scene of him confessing to her was so stupid. I felt second-hand embarrassment for this man because it was just so random. Dude, you spoke to her like 3 times and now you’re in love with her? You just like her because she’s pretty. Grow up.

Overall, a pretty good book but it definitely wasn’t perfect. It has some things holding it back and I’m generally not a fan of this plot that is connected to British colonialism but it’s okay. I’m giving this 4 stars but I’m genuinely considering picking up other Sherlock books. Well, only the future will tell.