So! Here’s what you need to know first! I haven’t watched ‘Enola Holmes’ on Netflix, I haven’t read any Enola Holmes book before this one, and all I know of ‘Enola Holmes’ is what I saw in the BBC series ‘Sherlock’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which isn’t a reliable reference point. I have read every single Sherlock Holmes story, but that doesn’t help much in this case. So this is the perspective of a general reader (and graphic novel lover), not of an Enola Holmes fan-girl. (Just preparing you for why the review is so lacking on gush.)

This book brings together Serena Blasco’s graphical adaptations of the first three Nancy Springer novels featuring Sherlock’s younger sister Enola. Those who have read the original series might know that each of the first six books of the series contains one mystery for Enola to be solved, and at the same time, there is a larger narrative connecting them all and resolved only at the end of the sixth book. Thus, this collection has an incomplete ending in a sense as books 4-6 aren’t part of it. But whatever is covered in the book is enough to hook you.

The three stories in this book are:
1. The Case of the Missing Marquess: Enola’s mother disappears without any information whatsoever except for a collection of flowers and a coded message book. What makes it worse is that this happens on Enola’s 14th birthday. In desperation, Enola sends a telegram to her estranged elder brothers, the famous Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. But when they are convinced that their mother has disappeared voluntarily and that Enola needs to go to boarding school to become a “proper lady”, Enola decides to take matters in her own hands and runs off to London to dig deeper. While there, she hears about a missing young viscount and decides to look for him also.

2. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady: Still hiding from Sherlock and Mycroft, Enola has now christened herself as Ivy Meshle, secretary to the fictitious Dr. Ragostin, specialist in finding missing persons. When John Watson walks into Ragostin’s office one day with the intent of hiring the elusive detective to locate Enola, she takes on the case so that she can keep an eye on Sherlock’s moves and hopefully discover more of what happened to her mother. She also looks into a missing teenaged girl coming from a wealthy family, though the police are convinced that she has eloped.

3. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets: Still hiding from her brothers, Enola walks into a local customer shop hoping to find newer disguises. On her way, she hears of Dr. Watson’s mysterious disappearance. While enquiring about this with Mrs. Watson, Enola discovers a strange bouquet, which her floral expertise tells her indicates bad luck and revenge. Will Enola be able to locate Dr Watson in time?


Where the books clicked for me:
❤ The book includes some serious topics within its content, such as women’s suffrage, societal compulsions about ‘proper’ women’s behaviour and appearance, poverty, class discrimination, and so on.
❤ At the end of each of the stories, there are excerpts of Enola’s secret notebook. This makes for an interesting addition as it reveals Enola’s thoughts and modi operandi through her doodles.
❤ The writing style is pretty quick-paced and help the story move further clearly and quickly.
❤ The illustrations are very good, painted in a watercolour-like effect, lending a light-hearted and dreamy quality to the tense subject matter. The main characters (except one key character) are drawn in a way suiting their personalities. I especially loved Sherlock’s and Enola’s upturned noses, thereby uniting them not just as siblings but also as two stubborn individuals who refused to see any way except their own.


Where the book didn’t click for me:
💔 As in almost every detective fiction, it is the main detective – Enola in this case – who finds out everything related to the mysteries. While I find this tough to digest even in regular detective stories (one reason I avoid the genre), it is even more unbelievable this time as the highly capable Sherlock Holmes is also part of the narrative. How is it possible that Sherlock has hardly any clue of what’s happening while Enola racks up the solutions and solve the case?
💔 Again, as in almost every detective fiction, clues conveniently present themselves whenever Enola is around. There are too many coincidences to be believable.
💔 I would have preferred a bit of variety in the mysteries. All three dealt with missing persons, and even the overarching mystery is about Enola’s missing mother. Though the resolutions were quite distinct, it still felt a bit repetitive after a while.
💔 The story development is quite abrupt at times. For instance, when Enola first leaves her house, it is only to find her mother. Why then would she abandon that search midway and go looking for another missing boy instead? It seemed silly.
💔 I loved Mark Gatiss’s portrayal of Mycroft in the BBC Sherlock series. According to Watson’s narration in the original Sherlock books, Mycroft is supposed to be tall and portly, similar to Sherlock in appearance though larger in build. So Mycroft’s physical appearance in this book was very, very disappointing to me.

All in all, the books were quick, fun, but one-time reads for me. Detective fiction fans or even fans of the Enola Holmes series might enjoy it a lot more. At the same time, the books kept me hooked enough to know what’s going to happen next.. As they are aimed at children/teenagers, they surely fulfil their purpose well for their target readers.

3.5 stars from me.

My thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I am a huge fan of the Enola Holmes Movie and this Graphic novel proved to be no exception!
Enola's wit,charm,and heart are rendered masterfully in this bright and beautiful art style. The characters come to life in these pages and it's hard not to feel instantly endeared to them.
I'll absolutely be picking up the next installment!
Thank you to the Andrews Mcmeel Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book.

I'm a big fan of Enola Holmes. I read all the books in this series.
I love the art. The illustrations are too beautiful.

Thank you to the Andrews Mcmeel Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. I loved Enola — such a fantastic character, and really enjoyed the three stories provided in this volume. I absolutely adored the art in the book! Whimsical and fantastic! Can’t wait for the next volume and more of Ebola’s adventures.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel adaptation of the first three Enola Holmes books. The artwork is a lot of fun.

Very thrilling story lines and amazing illustrations which brings the 19th century London to life. Elona's eccentric character and how she faces problems in the society that expects girls to be caged birds and how she navigates her life solving the issues was very thrilling and educational. Love reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves graphic novels with strong leading characters. This book would be a perfect gift for tween and teen children.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels by Serena Blasco is an amazing collection of graphic novels that inspired the hit Netflix film. The story revolves 14 year-old Enola, Sherlock Holmes's sister. When her mother disappeared, she tracks down her older brothers Sherlock and Mycroft. Afterwards, she solves several mysteries and shows that she really is her brother's sister.

Overall, Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels is a lovely collection of graphic novels that will appeal to fans of Nancy Drew. One highlight of this book is the artwork. The art uses lovely and vibrant watercolors, and it was a joy to look at. Another highlight of this book is the mystery plotlines. Although I didn't really enjoy watching the Netflix film, I did enjoy reading this book. If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of graphic novels, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in May!

Ebola Holmes: The Graphic Novels illustrates the stories of the first three books in brilliant color and fanciful art. The fourteen year old sister of Mycroft and Sherlock, Enola sets out on a mission to find her mother after she disappeared on Enola’s fourteenth birthday. Enola manages to stay one step in front of brothers with her wit and disguises and solves an impressive set of cases that even have Sherlock scratching his head. Cute and entertaining, Enola’s books are books you can read as a parent and pass right along to your kids for enjoyment by all. The book is a delight to read! My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

This was a delightful graphic novel that kept me hooked, even though I have seen the movie. There were still surprises and additional mysteries. The story follows Enola, the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. Her mother leaves home without a trace on Enola’s birthday. Convinced her mother left her clues to follow, she adventures into the world beyond their home to search for her. Along the way she solves additional mysteries and meets new friends. Sherlock and her other brother Mycroft make appearances as well as they attempt to find Enola and her mother. I am excited to pick up this one in print, as well as the next volume of the Enola Holmes graphic novel series.

I loved this book. It's based off a series of novels that I haven't read. I had watched the movie when I picked this up. I knew the story and I knew I would enjoy it. However, this book was a surprise. It was even better than I would have thought. From the get go, I was entranced by the watercolor illustrations. Their detail and layering dazzled the watercolorist in me. I appreciated the amount of time, attention and skill required to execute this book. Regarding the story, the book contained three stories; the movie tackled the first story only. The latter two stories were entertaining. They helped me get to know the characters better. They fleshed out the relationships and outlined everyone's natures and quirks. Except for some comments on cross-dressing, the book was perfect. I would heartily recommend it to middle graders and older. The watercolor illustrations are more than enough reason to buy this book.

I am unable to see this file or convert it to pdf. And I was actually excited to read this one. Disappointed.

I loved this! I am a fan of the Netflix adaptation of Enola Holmes, and didn’t know much about the franchise outside of that, but this was such a fun read! I love Enola as a character and it is very engaging to watch her journey to solving the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. The artwork is also beautiful, my favorite pages being the secret notebook ones where we get to see Enola’s discoveries and solutions. All in all, this was quite an adventure, and I’d recommend it to people of all ages, but especially fans of mystery and riddles.

While I'm not familiar with the novels by Nancy Springer, I am a huge fan of the Netflix adaptation and this graphic novel by Serena Blasco was just as enjoyable! Such an engaging read, and quick too. The illustrations are so amazing I could've spent a whole day just looking at them. Highly recommend! *Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an arc for review.

The illustrations are beautiful! I love the colors and the artwork.

I enjoy a good spin on Sherlock Holmes and this story did not disappoint. This graphic novel was broken up into three episodes, but the story flowed well with natural stopping points. There are a few pages separating each episode that include bits and pieces from the story, a storybook, summarizing and piecing together the story.

This is a great read for the those who enjoy a mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley for the download in exchange for an honest review.

I love the art in this book. It is what really drew me in to read it. The story is fun and I’m pretty sure the Netflix show follows it very closely. It was a little hard for me to read since it’s tiny on my phone and I’d already seen the show, but once I got used to those I really enjoyed reading the story.
I think it’s also perfect to read as a recap of the first season of the show before a second season comes out since it’s just as lovely and takes a bit less time than rewatching a whole show.

This binding of the first 3 stories about Enola Holmes was really fun. I really enjoyed reading about Sherlock's younger sister, and the art style was very well done and enticing to look at. I loved the girl power and feminist undertones of these stories, despite it taking place in the late 19th century. I would definitely want to pick up the next installments, and recommend these to other readers, young and old.

I am a huge fan of Enola Holmes and having it brought to page as graphic novel was very enjoyable! Serena Blasco did a great job of carrying on the Enola Holmes character in graphic form. I'm excited for this book to be published so that we can get a copy for our home library.

The stories in this graphic novel were great! I loved the artwork and the use of actual "code-breaking" techniques for Enola to encode and decode messages. The use of the language of Flowers was also very unique and added to the storytelling. I enjoyed the wrap-ups that were given at the end of each story as well.

I enjoyed this graphic novel of Enola Holmes’ adventures. If you are at all familiar with her story, you will recognize many classic moments from other books or the movie. The watercolor style is very beautiful, playing with light and shadow very effectively. This book would be a great entry point for those who are unfamiliar with Enola’s story or for long-time fans. I look forward to seeing more of her adventures in the next book! Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels releases on May 24, 2022. Thank you to Serena Blasco, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sherlock Holmes's younger sister takes on the role of detective when their mother goes missing. This graphic novel adaptation is a great choice for a range of readers. Some may be familiar with the Netflix adaptation. The artwork compliments the humor-filled, clever story featuring empowering themes for girls.