The Yellow Face (Arthur Conan Doyle)

 

I like this story, the client, Holmes, and Watson's interaction, and we don't see this a lot: Sherlock being humbled by a case. The case is so simple, there is no elaborate scheme and general knowledge needed, and those are the charm of this case, and have the honor of escaping Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes is an intriguing character; having been a big fan of the BBC adaptation (except for Season 4), I am beginning to fall with the subtlety of his canon character. What is better than having a lovely afternoon walk in a relaxing environment with the detective (from the point of view of Watson)? Sherlock is a busy, busy bee and his mind has to keep running. And while his deduction is sound and logical, he failed to see the case from the very human point of view. The case is appalling, of course, and has no place in the current time, hopefully. Coming from a story written more than a century ago (130 years!), I have to feel good about the client's reaction, the author's view of the matter, and the humbled Sherlock. 5 out of 5 stars View all my Goodreads reviews

The Adventure of the Red Circle (Arthur Conan Doyle)

 

Spoiler review I like the story, and I don't feel that it ends abruptly because we don't need to resolve everything. But I do have some nitpicking. The couple was aware of their dire situation, so let's imagine this. Was it necessary for the husband to signal Beware three times? Anyone would be suspicious to see that, no? ATTENTA three times! 1 20 20 5 15 20 1 times three. In total, someone could see 246 flashings without the message going anywhere! Other people are living opposite, and I don't even think he needed to say it one time because their situation was clear. I also don't understand why he didn't just say it through the newspaper. He could have suspected that the enemy had found out the method. Still, it would be quite foolish to send that code. High red house with white stone facings. Third floor. Second window left. I believe brick has been a common building material since 1850s, and the houses commonly stood at two-three stories. So, it could be difficult to identify the specific location mentioned; therefore, the husband felt safer doing so. But that would depend on what he needed to warn his wife about, especially after his previous message 'the path is clearing.' (Did he see the enemy lurking around (just like what his wife saw?) Giving a warning would be counter-effective. As an influential organization, it's also possible that the enemy could just send people around to watch out for three-story brick houses with some residential opposite. Sherlock deduced the occupant of the flat was different because of the language for orders sent to Mrs. Warren. I wonder if Sherlock deduced it from the newspaper ads would be more intriguing. In the 80s, I often watched my father send 'encrypted' telegrams. They were not spy messages, but it was a significant effort to save money and time. It was (and still, in today's communication) common to use abbreviations to substitute longer words. I don't know about Victorian times, but as recently as three years ago, I placed an ad in the newspaper, and even though it was no way as extensive as telegram, I used the same method because it was still expensive. Every word and every space counts. So, instead of identifying weird messages in the paper, Sherlock thought it was odd that there was one message that didn't use abbreviations (for the reason that it would be difficult for his wife to pick it up because of her limited English). Just an idea.  View all my Goodreads reviews

Bilaluna (Ann Birdgenaw)

 

I am a fan of astronomy, and I love nature. This book has both!

We follow the journey from Matt's point of view, and in the middle of the book, it switches to Celeste's. I think it works well, and I like them both, especially Celeste's, since she has some familiar traits like mine. I also had something similar to worry stone, although, thankfully, I didn't need it for long.

Even though this is the second book, readers miss nothing because we briefly learn about what happened in the first book soon enough. I love the space club name, by the way. It must be great to have a 'space' space, mine was a folder with all the space-related clippings, but I loved it all the same.

Along the way, readers are able to learn about many things without them being too obvious because they are worked into the story, which is excellent. Kids will love this book because every one of us, even when we have grown up, dreams about having extraordinary abilities and adventures.

Another thing: I love puns and let my online English-speaker friends groan when I make them. It's much better than puns in my own language, so they have to suffer, and I'm proud of them. Ha.  

Overall, this is a great book for its target readers. It has excitement and adventure. The chapters are short and easy to read. It's educative, and the characters are believable and likable. I like the creative acronyms.

5 Noble Tripods out of 5 Butts of the Solar System

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CHLOE DOLLS (Ed Morawski)

 

My favorite genre is Speculative Fiction and realistic SciFi, so I was excited to read this book and had high expectation from the beginning.

The opening gets me because Vincent is my favorite song, and it's very fitting with the scene from the first chapter. I read through the book easily as it kept me interested, although I stumbled here and there because some, perhaps it's not accurate to describe them as expositions, maybe lengthy explanations were distracting to me. I love it when authors do their thorough research, but Imo, for this genre and the story's context, those explanations could be briefer. For example, DID is fitting, but love at first sight and anxiety don't need that many explanations. However, this is IMHO because some readers actually love them.

The plot is easy to follow (more on that later)

 

Now to the possible spoiler part.

As mentioned, I am a Sci-Fi fan; I watch and read what others might categorize as nerdy stuff for fun. So I wonder if I could speak for other readers, but I know the 'secret' just by reading the blurb. This is fine if only it is not only revealed when it hits 80% of the book. It takes away quite a lot of enjoyment for me, especially when the main character is portrayed as very knowledgeable about everything. This secret is one of the things he knows well, yet, it never enters his mind even though he has considered every scenario. I find that quite unbelievable, and making the character know about everything backfires here.

 

I remember a couple of years before, and in early 2000, that theme was everywhere. My favorite movie of all time, which I refrain from saying in case of spoiling it to others, is based on that. The entire series, Orphan Black, is based on that. It was revealed pretty early, so I mentioned it. Secret and 'twist' work when it's not glaringly obvious and when the story mentions everything but that. It's almost like you consider everyone in detail in a locked room murder mystery except one person that turns out to be the killer. It's much more intriguing when it's not obvious or, if there is no way around it, to bank more on the premise after the revelation, just like the series I mentioned earlier. But again, it could work better for other readers.

Based on that, I find it hard to believe the ending as well. I wouldn't let the protagonist go with a slap on the wrist, let alone reward and submission if I were the villain of the story, based on what the story tells me.

End of possible spoiler

 

If you are looking for a well-research easy-reading Sci-Fi, Chloe Dolls has it all, including the ability for readers to follow the journey to uncover the mystery.

 

Round this up from 3.5

BLIND CERULEAN (Gene Kendall)

I have to admit that I was quite frustrated for one-third of the book. I was confused about where it was going, who the characters were, and what it was about. Wasn't a fan of a sudden second-person narrative as well, and the main supposedly protagonist that I found unlikeable. The narrative also jumped to different scenes and characters without any indication, making it hard to follow. Another thing that was too jarring for me: the product placements! There were too many of them, especially in the book's first half. It was very distracting and contributed little to the story, except for some minor relevancy (we don't need too many mentions of iPhones, Apple, lululemon, Salvatore Ferragamo, and the like). 

Now that I get those out of my way... 

Once I got the hang of the story and character, the plot became more profound and complex, and I started to get the rewards of enjoyable stories and interesting revelations. The criss-cross timeline was risky, but I was a fan.

The book doesn't underestimate the readers; observant ones are awarded correct predictions to follow along. The characters have distinctive enough voices, and this book has more potential if it's explored better into a longer story because there are so many things to unfold. The side characters are, if not more interesting than the main one. My initial frustration was no longer there once it kept me on track, and the rest of the book was a much easier read. I appreciate the amount of research done, and if readers think there are too many strange plots or ideas, trust me, they are no stranger than what already exists in the world.

It's an ambitious and complex book, and I appreciate every single effort the author put into it because I know there must be a plethora of them.

4 Mexican Rumba Shakers out of 5 Dusty Old Grouches

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