Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

6 reviews

cglharmony's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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divine529's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I really enjoyed this book. 

This is a historical fiction novel about the Crusades and in particular the Pays d'Oc region in France and it incorporates The Holy Grail story in a very interesting way. 

It's a dual timeline story following two main protagonists, Alice (in present day - 2005) and Alais (from 1209) and explores how stories and history, events and ancestry has in impact on the present and who we are today. 

I loved the historical aspects of the book and generally I preferred being in the 1209 timeline to the 2005 timeline, but towards the end, I found myself loving both. The pacing was odd and it's hard to explain exactly what I mean by that. Part of it was the multi-timelines and what was happening in those timelines, but it was also just how each of the timelines was written. Sometimes I found that I didn't care at all about what was happening in one, but we stayed there for a chunk of time, and other times I wanted to stay in a timeline and we ended up jumping to the other. It was just a bit strange at times. The characters were very flawed and at times irritating to no end. Some were fleshed out better than others, but still held important weight to the story and yet their stories all made sense or fit what the story was telling (most of the time). 

All in all, a great story and one I really enjoyed. 
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pattyblom's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Goede afwisseling tussen het heden en het verleden. Speelt zich af in het zuiden van Frankrijk. Vond het einde wel kort vergeleken met de dikte van het boek.
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katylou95's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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georgeeporge's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

I liked more than I disliked, but it was hard work at times. Some parts felt over described, the same descriptions being used over and over ("he felt all of his 52 years" was one of a few repeated phrases), and to often the reader is listening in on another person telling a story of another person. Bit convoluted. In contradiction though, some key areas felt unexplained, like I still don't really understand what the labyrinth was about and how the Grail was created, why did the cave collapse? Who was the weird face? But I did think it captured the true brutality of the crusades, and I enjoyed learning about the Cathars more. I'm not going to rush to buy the second but it was enjoyable enough.
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carmaj91's review

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adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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