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annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
These books are so perfect to read at the end of the day, when I'm a little tired and just want something entertaining and not too heavy. On top of that the books are not too big so in about two hours I can easily finish one. The English however is not too easy, there are some really old fashioned words and descriptions, but as they say, that's good for improving my own English! I've been reading English for about two or three years now and it feels more and more natural!
And with every Enola Holmes installment I fall more and more in love with these characters. Enola is such an amazing character! Of course, she's stuck in the wrong time, a time where she's not appreciated for who she is and can't be who she wants to be, but that makes reading about her all the more interesting. On top of that we got to see more of Sherlock in this book and although he's clearly a product of his time it was really nice to see that he and Enola are forming more of a connection and that he's slowly starting to see his sister as her own person.
In this story we are also reunited with a character from the previous books, a character I already really liked in that story and therefore it was quite amazing to see her back. It also made the stakes higher. I really cared about this girl and I really wanted both Sherlock and Enola to help her. And Enola clearly learned from all her previous adventures, which not only lead to some quite clever solutions, but also to a few really funny situations!
I also love how those cases really show the issues and problems of Sherlock's time. Those times are quite often romanticized in books, but for women it was far from pleasant. In the first book we already saw what Enola needed to do to escape some reform school that had to turn her into a proper lady ready for marriage. In the second book we were introduced to the lives if rich young ladies and in this book we returned to that life. And the idea that forced marriages were really done and that everyone looked away...
I can't wait to read the last two installments! Especially because I hope Sherlock and Enola will really find each other in their shared passion for solving riddles!
And with every Enola Holmes installment I fall more and more in love with these characters. Enola is such an amazing character! Of course, she's stuck in the wrong time, a time where she's not appreciated for who she is and can't be who she wants to be, but that makes reading about her all the more interesting. On top of that we got to see more of Sherlock in this book and although he's clearly a product of his time it was really nice to see that he and Enola are forming more of a connection and that he's slowly starting to see his sister as her own person.
In this story we are also reunited with a character from the previous books, a character I already really liked in that story and therefore it was quite amazing to see her back. It also made the stakes higher. I really cared about this girl and I really wanted both Sherlock and Enola to help her. And Enola clearly learned from all her previous adventures, which not only lead to some quite clever solutions, but also to a few really funny situations!
I also love how those cases really show the issues and problems of Sherlock's time. Those times are quite often romanticized in books, but for women it was far from pleasant. In the first book we already saw what Enola needed to do to escape some reform school that had to turn her into a proper lady ready for marriage. In the second book we were introduced to the lives if rich young ladies and in this book we returned to that life. And the idea that forced marriages were really done and that everyone looked away...
I can't wait to read the last two installments! Especially because I hope Sherlock and Enola will really find each other in their shared passion for solving riddles!
luckylikesreading's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
rlisaacs's review against another edition
5.0
This is my favorite book of the series thus far! Enola is still her excellent, resilient, good-hearted self. Her scenes with Sherlock in this book left me heart warmed as well as melancholy and sad right along with her.
Enola might be able to do just well on her own, as her mother always told her. But I don’t think she’s meant to always be alone. I’d like to see her finally find a friend she can keep, or even find a situation with Sherlock in which he continues to let her grow and become the wonderful person she’s meant to be!
And Sherlock! (Because you guys know by now, I love Sherlock too.). At the beginning of the book, I was mad. I thought they were taking away my hope for him being someone who could understand Enola and want her to be happy her way. I thought I would come into this review and have to say, “Well, I take it back. Sherlock is an oaf of a man in this series.” But no! I still have hope for him, and even more so in this book then the last. I loved where he ended up at in the end of the book. Whose side he’s on.
And I love Enola. I think her poor kind heart is being given too much ache for someone so young. But I love her all the more for it and how she comes to terms with everything, always.
She still has a lot to learn. But she is still also always getting better and better. Even better than Sherlock in some respects!
Five solid stars. And onto the next one!
Enola might be able to do just well on her own, as her mother always told her. But I don’t think she’s meant to always be alone. I’d like to see her finally find a friend she can keep, or even find a situation with Sherlock in which he continues to let her grow and become the wonderful person she’s meant to be!
And Sherlock! (Because you guys know by now, I love Sherlock too.). At the beginning of the book, I was mad. I thought they were taking away my hope for him being someone who could understand Enola and want her to be happy her way. I thought I would come into this review and have to say, “Well, I take it back. Sherlock is an oaf of a man in this series.” But no! I still have hope for him, and even more so in this book then the last. I loved where he ended up at in the end of the book. Whose side he’s on.
And I love Enola. I think her poor kind heart is being given too much ache for someone so young. But I love her all the more for it and how she comes to terms with everything, always.
She still has a lot to learn. But she is still also always getting better and better. Even better than Sherlock in some respects!
Five solid stars. And onto the next one!
kberry513's review against another edition
5.0
I love the interactions that Enola had with her brothers in this one, especially the way she gets away from Mycroft twice and how Sherlock is finally seeing her intelligence and spirit - although even he is still annoyingly insistent that she will want to be a normal grown up woman (eg married) some day, even after being exposed to her abilities and feeling kinship with her. The very end made me hope maybe he's getting past it even if Mycroft for sure is not.
I also love that her landlady is becoming a mother figure. Also, hypothesis - she and lady Cecily end up together.
I also love that her landlady is becoming a mother figure. Also, hypothesis - she and lady Cecily end up together.
crochetchrisie's review against another edition
4.0
Another really good mystery for Enola. I really like the fact that these books are written for children but aren't dumbed-down.
the_jesus_fandom's review against another edition
3.0
Some of you may be wondering: why am I still reading these books when they annoy me so? Well, first of all, the premise is actually really fun. It's making my imagination machine work overtime. Second of all, the tension is actually really good. Third of all, I refuse to read any of those sub-par teen versions of Sherlock Holmes. This is the best option.
But, anyway, despite absolutely hating the premise, this book was enjoyable to me! I've decided to accept that this version of Sherlock is just a lot less intelligent. I'd rather he was, but the whole series would crumble if Sherlock knew how to actually solve stuff. And it's gonna make for an adorable scene (his bumbliness) so I'm just chalking this up to character interpretation.
Likes
1) In the prologue, Mycroft brings up an excellent point: 'It is the girl's future that is at stake, not her immediate survival. What is to become of her in a few years?' Of course, he and Sherlock are still mostly interested in getting Enola a husband, but he still has a point. Enola is 14. She needs some more education, of whatever sort. Or, as Sherlock mentions later: 'Does any respectable and responsible older person have a care for you? [...] If not, then you cannot possible be safe; any female dwelling alone is a magnet for crime.'
2) There's some guy named Baron Dagobert Merganser. In the Netherlands, Donald Duck's uncle (Scrooge) is called Dagobert.
3) Enola has to make sure her aristocratic accent doesn't slip through. I liked this bit of realism.
4) The riddle that Enola wrote was pretty catchy
5) And now... the reason I liked this book! Sherlock and Enola have quite a bit of interaction, and this is the first we see of them working together. It was very cute, especially since Sherlock shows actual love for Enola, and even Mycroft is starting to warm up.
6) There's a non-sexist man in here!
Dislikes
1) "Society-watching was a pursuit that, being a person of democratic convictions, I had scorned, up until now." What does that even mean?
2) This is the fourth book in a row in which Darwin and evolution are mentioned for no good reason.
3) I'm okay with long words, but "dolichocephalic" is overdoing it.
4) I have to admit I'm very prejudiced against stories where girls try to get out of arranged marriages. It's not that it's wrong for them to want to be happy, it's just...
Okay (1) if you've lived your entire life in a culture where it's normal, you will probably accept your parents' decision (). (2) Quite a lot of the time, parents actually... cared about their children. Yeah, weird concept, huh? So when they were looking for partners, they would also take the character into consideration.
I guess my problem with the trope is just that it portrays the entire world as anti-women and makes everything seem way worse than it was.
It also makes for a perfect opportunity for Enola to complain about marriage again: 'It had to do with the lock part of the wedlock. Trapped. Horrible, irrevocably trapped' Just because a character doesn't want to marry doesn't mean she has to hate marriage! Nuance exists.
5) Enola continues with the "not like other girls" - spiel by disguising herself as beautiful. Yeah, basically she says her brothers won't recognise her if she looks beautiful... I could read this as being insecure, but it comes across as "I'm not like other girls. I don't care about looks". Except she's constantly calling everybody ugly.
6) Enola steals candals from a chapel, which isn't great. But my bigger problem comes later. Enola talks about feeling "revulsion" while "appropriating altar candals and baptismal water". Apparantly the church is something to be grossed out by.
7) Enola assumes Cecily's father is marrying her off because he's embarrassed by her kidnapping in book something (i don't remember which one it was). She says: "And marrying his daughter to his sister's son was exactly the sort of thing Sir Eastace would do. I remembered how his concern had been all for hushing up scandal, rather than for his daugher's safety, when Cecily had been kidnapped." Now, first of all, we've never even met the man. We don't know how concerned he was. I recall it was he who contacted Sherlock Holmes about it, although I might be wrong. Whatever the case, simply assuming the father doesn't love the daughter because he doesn't love the poor is a bit of a stretch.
8) Enola doesn't say a proper hello to her landlady and her servant (idk was it a servant) at one point, and her excuse is: "the deafness of the former and the humble status of the latter rendered any explanation unnecessary" Yeah, cause you don't have to be polite to the deaf and those of lower social status than you.
So... yeah. The only reason I gave this three stars is because of the sweet scene between Sherlock and Enola.
But, anyway, despite absolutely hating the premise, this book was enjoyable to me! I've decided to accept that this version of Sherlock is just a lot less intelligent. I'd rather he was, but the whole series would crumble if Sherlock knew how to actually solve stuff. And it's gonna make for an adorable scene (his bumbliness) so I'm just chalking this up to character interpretation.
Likes
1) In the prologue, Mycroft brings up an excellent point: 'It is the girl's future that is at stake, not her immediate survival. What is to become of her in a few years?' Of course, he and Sherlock are still mostly interested in getting Enola a husband, but he still has a point. Enola is 14. She needs some more education, of whatever sort. Or, as Sherlock mentions later: 'Does any respectable and responsible older person have a care for you? [...] If not, then you cannot possible be safe; any female dwelling alone is a magnet for crime.'
2) There's some guy named Baron Dagobert Merganser. In the Netherlands, Donald Duck's uncle (Scrooge) is called Dagobert.
3) Enola has to make sure her aristocratic accent doesn't slip through. I liked this bit of realism.
4) The riddle that Enola wrote was pretty catchy
5) And now... the reason I liked this book! Sherlock and Enola have quite a bit of interaction, and this is the first we see of them working together. It was very cute, especially since
Spoiler
Sherlock was hurt and Enola was helping him. Yes, I love whump when done right.6) There's a non-sexist man in here!
Dislikes
1) "Society-watching was a pursuit that, being a person of democratic convictions, I had scorned, up until now." What does that even mean?
2) This is the fourth book in a row in which Darwin and evolution are mentioned for no good reason.
3) I'm okay with long words, but "dolichocephalic" is overdoing it.
4) I have to admit I'm very prejudiced against stories where girls try to get out of arranged marriages. It's not that it's wrong for them to want to be happy, it's just...
Okay (1) if you've lived your entire life in a culture where it's normal, you will probably accept your parents' decision (
Spoiler
unless your future husband is as horrible as the guy in this bookI guess my problem with the trope is just that it portrays the entire world as anti-women and makes everything seem way worse than it was.
It also makes for a perfect opportunity for Enola to complain about marriage again: 'It had to do with the lock part of the wedlock. Trapped. Horrible, irrevocably trapped' Just because a character doesn't want to marry doesn't mean she has to hate marriage! Nuance exists.
5) Enola continues with the "not like other girls" - spiel by disguising herself as beautiful. Yeah, basically she says her brothers won't recognise her if she looks beautiful... I could read this as being insecure, but it comes across as "I'm not like other girls. I don't care about looks". Except she's constantly calling everybody ugly.
6) Enola steals candals from a chapel, which isn't great. But my bigger problem comes later. Enola talks about feeling "revulsion" while "appropriating altar candals and baptismal water". Apparantly the church is something to be grossed out by.
7) Enola assumes Cecily's father is marrying her off because he's embarrassed by her kidnapping in book something (i don't remember which one it was). She says: "And marrying his daughter to his sister's son was exactly the sort of thing Sir Eastace would do. I remembered how his concern had been all for hushing up scandal, rather than for his daugher's safety, when Cecily had been kidnapped." Now, first of all, we've never even met the man. We don't know how concerned he was. I recall it was he who contacted Sherlock Holmes about it, although I might be wrong. Whatever the case, simply assuming the father doesn't love the daughter because he doesn't love the poor is a bit of a stretch.
8) Enola doesn't say a proper hello to her landlady and her servant (idk was it a servant) at one point, and her excuse is: "the deafness of the former and the humble status of the latter rendered any explanation unnecessary" Yeah, cause you don't have to be polite to the deaf and those of lower social status than you.
So... yeah. The only reason I gave this three stars is because of the sweet scene between Sherlock and Enola.
aa27266's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0