Book Review: Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche
Original review written 8/17/21
Title: Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche
Author: Nancy Springer
Expected release date: 8/28/21
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What's it about?
Enola Holmes is like no other girl you'll find in England, and she's got her brother, Sherlock's love and talent for solving crimes. This time she's taking lead, with her brother, sometimes unwantingly, in tow as she helps a woman, Miss Letitia Glover investigates the truth of her twin sister, Felicity's alleged death. Now they must sift through falsified signatures, lies unruly animals to find those who were important to the case, extract the necessary information and discover the what exactly happened to Miss. Felicity. Was Miss Letitia's suspicions true, or just wishful thinking?
Favorites:
Favorite Character: My favorite characters were, not overly surprising, Enola Holmes herself and Miss Letitia. While I was thinking about what it was about the two women, one an actual adult while one is still a teen, I realized that my affection for them both is pretty similar. They are both witty, strong women who rea caring, people who reject gender roles. They both made me chuckle and smile. I rooted for them both.
Least Favorite Character: Most of the men. I know that it fits for the time period of late 1800's, but I was really annoyed by their sexist mindsets, always thinking that the females they came across were helpless and in need of a man. Which, I guess, in contrast, really fed into my love for Enola and Letitia.
Favorite Part: I think my favorite part was when Enola was in the pub and her stroll and chat with the companion she met while there. It was fun and playful while beneficial.
Any other thoughts?
This was probably my fist audio book. I know, crazy right? They just never felt like my thing so, when I acquired this one, I thought that it might be a good start. While I learned that there are times when audio books are not for me (like checking social media) I also learned that I like Enola. I found myself chuckling and eager to get back to the store when I hadn't listened for a while.
While I couldn't help but love the quirky characters weaving in and out of the lives of the Holmes siblings, adding to their own quirkiness, I wasn't always comfortable with Enola being so young. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that Enola was only about 14/15 years old with all of the freedom of an adult, right down to living on her own. I know that Sherlock "checked in" on her from time to time, but I hardly feel that that would be an adequate level of care, especially for a girl so determined to jump into situations that could easily turn violent and result in her injured or worse.
In the end, though, I couldn't help but to want to find the rest of the series and read those and watch the Netflix movie again just to get to know Enola and her family better. I wonder if she started with cases more "appropriate" for a child her age? I was glad I experienced this story and am even thinking about sharing Enola and some of her cases with my daughter.
What do I rate this book?
I give this book a
6
out of
10 unruly horses
But that's just me. What did you think? Do you prefer Enola over Sherlock, or Sherlock over Enola? Did you enjoy this case? Let us know in the comments.
