Reviews
(3.33/5)Great introduction to novel-reading for N4
The only reason I got this book was to gift it to my best friend (who’s at N4). I was looking for something suitable for an elementary-level learner. And I think I found it!
Mikeneko Holmes - Case Files has most elements that beginner readers look for, i.e.:
- large font,
- not much text per page,
- most kanji has furigana,
- the vocabulary and the story is not overly complex.
Also, the book includes a few pictures - not to many to make the book overly childish, but enough so that you can grasp what’s going on (plus Holmes the cat is super cute!) if you have trouble comprehending.
There are additional advantages I can mention, like having all characters' names properly introduced with furigana. In fact, each name/surname is reintroduced each CHAPTER, so even if you forget how to read it - you get reminded. What’s more, the narration is fast-paced and concise, without unnecessarily lengthy, confusing and detailed descriptions. The characters just do this, do that and the plot moves on. It definitely helps that the book includes 3 separate ‘cases’ which you can just fly through - it reads that fast. And the beautiful hardcover is a nice bonus.
Succinct, Relaxed
Primary complaint: The cat doesn't show up until 1/3rd of the way in, hmph >:(
This book tells three stories via 90% dialogue and 10% description. This causes scenes to not be conveyed very richly and makes it tough to fully follow if this crime is happening at a house, a cafe, oh they're on a boat now, etc. That being said, the writing structure does make it easy to read and be a good first novel to build confidence with vertical text.
The majority of the vocab leveled off at N3, with a light sprinkling of N2 grammar structures here and there. If you're N3, I can see this being a nice read with nearly no vocab lookups.