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michalice's review against another edition
2.0
It all started with a group of students researching a book that is 700 years old. They get hold of a copy of it and work together to study and learn more about it, in the hopes they make a great discovery. One thing leads to another and peoples lives are lost, and what Nora thought was the truth turns out to be a lie, things can only get better from now on can't they???
When you start a book with the words 'I should probably start with the blood' then you have my attention immediately. By the time I had reached the bottom of the first page I was hooked and wanted this to continue throughout the book. Admittedly, throughout the first third of The Book of Blood and Shadow I was hooked and found it hard to put it down, but by the time it got to the middle I was struggling to keep focused and continue reading. Just as I was about to give up The Book of Blood and Shadow did a complete turn around and I found myself engrossed once again.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue in this book and all the way through continued guessing as to what was going to happen next. During the main parts of the storyline, the history of the Luminis Dei and the ancient letters, I found myself losing interest in what was wrote down, and I think this is really just a personal opinion, I am more of an action, mystery person rather than a person who enjoys reading about the history of certain things.
Even though this is not one of my favourite reads, I would still recommend it to others to read.
When you start a book with the words 'I should probably start with the blood' then you have my attention immediately. By the time I had reached the bottom of the first page I was hooked and wanted this to continue throughout the book. Admittedly, throughout the first third of The Book of Blood and Shadow I was hooked and found it hard to put it down, but by the time it got to the middle I was struggling to keep focused and continue reading. Just as I was about to give up The Book of Blood and Shadow did a complete turn around and I found myself engrossed once again.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue in this book and all the way through continued guessing as to what was going to happen next. During the main parts of the storyline, the history of the Luminis Dei and the ancient letters, I found myself losing interest in what was wrote down, and I think this is really just a personal opinion, I am more of an action, mystery person rather than a person who enjoys reading about the history of certain things.
Even though this is not one of my favourite reads, I would still recommend it to others to read.
pewterwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
Originally, I wasn't going to read this book. When I first heard of this book, it didn't push my buttons. It didn't get me excited. But then the UK publishers, Atom, asked if I would be involved in a blog tour for this book. I said yes, but knew that if I wanted to take part, I would have to read and review the book. I didn't want to agree to something and go "Read this!" if I haven't read it nor liked it. So, that's how I got my hands on a copy.
Anyway, the story. Nora Kane joins a translation project to unravel a 700 year old book along with other clasicists. So, imagine her outrage when she was given the "girly" task to translate the letters of the author's daughter, Elizabeth Weston. Expect, the more she translates Elizabeth's letters, the more Nora becomes fascinated with her life. And with her busy friend Chris dating Adriane and her budding relationship with Max, Nora has her life under control.
Until Nora finds Chris murdered. Until Nora discovers Adriabe has appeared to have lost her mind. Until Nora discovered Max has vanished into thin air, making him the Police prime suspect in Chris's murder.
But Max couldn't have done it. Could he? Slowly, Nora tries to make sense of what has happened and it seems that the reasons - and the answers - she seek are in Elizabeth Weston's letters...
Now, this book has been described as "The Secret History by Donna Tartt or The Lessons by Naomi Alderman meets The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown". So, already, there's a high standard. So, will it live to the hype that surrounds this book?
Yes, it does. I was surprised on how quickly I fell into this book and this strange world of Latin and universities and then, suddenly, how it switches to murder, Prague, secret societies and the Lumen Dei (you have to read the book to find out what that is). And it's also surprising how smart this book is. There were times I read this that I feared that the book would come across "too smart" and, I think, this only happened once or twice with me, but it was over very little things.
Don't get me wrong. This book is good! But it's flawed too. Some of you guys won't like it as it's slow going. It took over 100 pages (in my copy) for something to happen and it kinda does this all the way through the book until the end where everything falls into place. And there were several occasions that I felt that it went a bit flat. Sometimes it was characters, other times it was dialogue but it always picked itself up within a few paragraphs (I says this as my copy was a draft so this might be changed in the real version).
This is a very smart read, even when it goes into the realms of secret societies. I'm just fascinated on how much research the author, Robin Wasserman, did as (according to her Acknowledgements and Afterword) she talks about Elizabeth Weston, Edward Kelley, Don Giulio & Rabbi Judah Loew Ben Bezalel and the Voynich Manuscript and explains that they were real and briefly explains them to us.
While this book won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this is one smart read to start 2012 and I will be very intrigued over Robin Wasserman write next...
Originally, I wasn't going to read this book. When I first heard of this book, it didn't push my buttons. It didn't get me excited. But then the UK publishers, Atom, asked if I would be involved in a blog tour for this book. I said yes, but knew that if I wanted to take part, I would have to read and review the book. I didn't want to agree to something and go "Read this!" if I haven't read it nor liked it. So, that's how I got my hands on a copy.
Anyway, the story. Nora Kane joins a translation project to unravel a 700 year old book along with other clasicists. So, imagine her outrage when she was given the "girly" task to translate the letters of the author's daughter, Elizabeth Weston. Expect, the more she translates Elizabeth's letters, the more Nora becomes fascinated with her life. And with her busy friend Chris dating Adriane and her budding relationship with Max, Nora has her life under control.
Until Nora finds Chris murdered. Until Nora discovers Adriabe has appeared to have lost her mind. Until Nora discovered Max has vanished into thin air, making him the Police prime suspect in Chris's murder.
But Max couldn't have done it. Could he? Slowly, Nora tries to make sense of what has happened and it seems that the reasons - and the answers - she seek are in Elizabeth Weston's letters...
Now, this book has been described as "The Secret History by Donna Tartt or The Lessons by Naomi Alderman meets The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown". So, already, there's a high standard. So, will it live to the hype that surrounds this book?
Yes, it does. I was surprised on how quickly I fell into this book and this strange world of Latin and universities and then, suddenly, how it switches to murder, Prague, secret societies and the Lumen Dei (you have to read the book to find out what that is). And it's also surprising how smart this book is. There were times I read this that I feared that the book would come across "too smart" and, I think, this only happened once or twice with me, but it was over very little things.
Don't get me wrong. This book is good! But it's flawed too. Some of you guys won't like it as it's slow going. It took over 100 pages (in my copy) for something to happen and it kinda does this all the way through the book until the end where everything falls into place. And there were several occasions that I felt that it went a bit flat. Sometimes it was characters, other times it was dialogue but it always picked itself up within a few paragraphs (I says this as my copy was a draft so this might be changed in the real version).
This is a very smart read, even when it goes into the realms of secret societies. I'm just fascinated on how much research the author, Robin Wasserman, did as (according to her Acknowledgements and Afterword) she talks about Elizabeth Weston, Edward Kelley, Don Giulio & Rabbi Judah Loew Ben Bezalel and the Voynich Manuscript and explains that they were real and briefly explains them to us.
While this book won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this is one smart read to start 2012 and I will be very intrigued over Robin Wasserman write next...
karireyn's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! Such a fun read and lots of twists and turns I never expected.
hldonavant's review against another edition
3.0
Decent. Boring at times. Caused me to become interested in Prague, that's about it. The plot needed to be a bit more convincing.
wellduhiread's review against another edition
2.0
This book was really slow, to the point where one of my friends saw me reading it more than once and said I just need to give up and read something else. Well, unless the novel is just crap, I refuse to give up so I finished the book. It was not great. It had a lot of potential but I really just didn't get why the author ended it like it was.
First of all it could have been cut down SO FRICKING MUCH. The whole first half of the book could have been taken out and rewritten so it could have a much more exciting pace. I mean, isn't it a rule to start a novel where the action begins. STOP WITH THE BACKSTORY. NO ONE REALLY CARES UNTIL THEY FIND A REASON TO READ.
Anyway, this book frustrated me to no end because I read it while I could have been reading Cassandra Clares new novel. I wanted this book to be worth my time and it really wasn't. *cue depressed sigh*
First of all it could have been cut down SO FRICKING MUCH. The whole first half of the book could have been taken out and rewritten so it could have a much more exciting pace. I mean, isn't it a rule to start a novel where the action begins. STOP WITH THE BACKSTORY. NO ONE REALLY CARES UNTIL THEY FIND A REASON TO READ.
Anyway, this book frustrated me to no end because I read it while I could have been reading Cassandra Clares new novel. I wanted this book to be worth my time and it really wasn't. *cue depressed sigh*
christajls's review against another edition
4.0
Originally reviewed at Christa's Hooked on Books
What a beautifully crafted mystery Robin Wasserman has wormed her way directly onto my “I will read anything this author writes” list.
This story begins with Nora translating the Latin letters of the long dead Elizabeth Weston. Cryptic letters in a dead langauge? You know there's got to be a good mystery there. I always wonder when I'm reading mysteries like this if people actually created such elaborate hidden messages in every little thing they did. But then I get so wrapped up in the story I just don't care any more. Robin Wasserman builds up the tension in such an expert fashion. She reveals only as much as the reader needs to know and because of this all external thoughts and questions melt away as you get wrapped up in the mystery.
It helps that all this mystery and action takes place in such a beautiful setting. The story starts in America but soon you are thrown head first into the beautiful world that is Prague. I love stories set in Europe, there's so much more history and distinct architecture there that we just don't have here in North America. And because Prague isn't one of the more common European cities we see stories based in (like Paris, London etc) is felt even more unique and enchanting.
One things I really appreciated about this book (and the reason that I can so whole heartedly recommend this book) is that is builds this whole century old mystery, involving Latin and secret sects and it does it all without demonizing religion. I find for many similar titles some authors easily fall into a pattern of scape goating religion - particularly Christianity - and I usually find this incredibly problematic and kind of lazy. Robin Wasserman builds a much more complicated and layered plot with three dimensional antagonists. That's a sign of a quality mystery writer.
Final recommendation: A beautiful book that is great for more than just mystery lovers but is perfect for those who want something similar to The Da Vinci Code but with better writing and plotting.
What a beautifully crafted mystery Robin Wasserman has wormed her way directly onto my “I will read anything this author writes” list.
This story begins with Nora translating the Latin letters of the long dead Elizabeth Weston. Cryptic letters in a dead langauge? You know there's got to be a good mystery there. I always wonder when I'm reading mysteries like this if people actually created such elaborate hidden messages in every little thing they did. But then I get so wrapped up in the story I just don't care any more. Robin Wasserman builds up the tension in such an expert fashion. She reveals only as much as the reader needs to know and because of this all external thoughts and questions melt away as you get wrapped up in the mystery.
It helps that all this mystery and action takes place in such a beautiful setting. The story starts in America but soon you are thrown head first into the beautiful world that is Prague. I love stories set in Europe, there's so much more history and distinct architecture there that we just don't have here in North America. And because Prague isn't one of the more common European cities we see stories based in (like Paris, London etc) is felt even more unique and enchanting.
One things I really appreciated about this book (and the reason that I can so whole heartedly recommend this book) is that is builds this whole century old mystery, involving Latin and secret sects and it does it all without demonizing religion. I find for many similar titles some authors easily fall into a pattern of scape goating religion - particularly Christianity - and I usually find this incredibly problematic and kind of lazy. Robin Wasserman builds a much more complicated and layered plot with three dimensional antagonists. That's a sign of a quality mystery writer.
Final recommendation: A beautiful book that is great for more than just mystery lovers but is perfect for those who want something similar to The Da Vinci Code but with better writing and plotting.
cleah's review against another edition
2.0
This is going to be a bummer review to write. It is with great sadness that I tell you I was unable to finish this book.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book. The premise had promise (a book about a book!), it's a well-respected author, and I was excited for the release. But I just couldn't do it. Could barely get to page 100, which is my standard for giving a book a solid try. Really, if you can't hook me from the very first page or chapter, it will be hard to get me later on.
So what went wrong? The writing was good enough, though I have not read anything else by Wasserman to compare it to. The characters were interesting, too, though I felt completely distanced from them right from the beginning. I think maybe there was just not enough action to start things off. The pace moved too slow. Or there wasn't enough exposition to keep me hooked on the Chris or Nora enough to care about them when there was the little bit of action that occurred. For such a lengthy book, I personally needed more to get me started than what was provided.
Has anyone else experienced this? Please let me know!
No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book. The premise had promise (a book about a book!), it's a well-respected author, and I was excited for the release. But I just couldn't do it. Could barely get to page 100, which is my standard for giving a book a solid try. Really, if you can't hook me from the very first page or chapter, it will be hard to get me later on.
So what went wrong? The writing was good enough, though I have not read anything else by Wasserman to compare it to. The characters were interesting, too, though I felt completely distanced from them right from the beginning. I think maybe there was just not enough action to start things off. The pace moved too slow. Or there wasn't enough exposition to keep me hooked on the Chris or Nora enough to care about them when there was the little bit of action that occurred. For such a lengthy book, I personally needed more to get me started than what was provided.
Has anyone else experienced this? Please let me know!
tiamushka's review against another edition
3.0
I would say that this book was more of The Historian for Ya, rather than Da Vinci Code for YA which some people say. Lots of libraries, translating latin, long flowery letters from the past. Still enjoyable.
owls_rainbow's review against another edition
Apparently lost old books and Latin translations aren't my thing. Additionally when your book consists of said Latin translations, old books, and elite old schools then maybe you should clarify what year it is because I thought it was a period novel (the way the main character spoke didn't help matters either - needs lessons in 'Teen') until the mentions of Converse, jeans, WiFi and Wikipedia.
Also I found the layout really frustrating with all the super-short chapters (125 over 4 parts - I checked). Last I checked a sentence about someone being dead wasn't a chapter.
Also I found the layout really frustrating with all the super-short chapters (125 over 4 parts - I checked). Last I checked a sentence about someone being dead wasn't a chapter.
barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
1.0
negative stars due to the bitterness of sticking with it when I should have given up on it early on. it's badly written, unbelievable, and boring. I was on a long car ride and kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. and by then I had already given it 4 hours which I didn't want to feel like I wasted, so I stuck with it, and HOLY BAD CHOICE. GRRRRRRRRR