Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Het Bernini Mysterie by Dan Brown

21 reviews

purplehulk713's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

The Catholic Church’s circus tent is about to come crashing down. Dan Brown is incredible at creating a fast-paced while still multi-layered thriller that at the same has the spectacle and religious esotericism as an Indiana Jones film. (Robert Langdon is effectively Indiana Jones without the aesthetic) The religious and artistic history entranced me like hypnosis—Christians stole the practice of “god-eating” from the Aztecs after conquering their empire. Some of the plot points seemed a little unnecessary though—why does Robert go into the helicopter? I did the love the fast pace but slow burn of the reveals, like the dead Pope actually being the camerlengo’s father and not just his foster father, and the camerlengo’s reveal as Janus. Vittoria and Robert are a cute couple, and they are definitely a good match—she’s determined and flexible (literally and figuratively) and he’s quiet and compassionate. The scientific theory, though advanced, is clearly and concisely explained to the non-scientific mind. The backstories (for Langdon and Vittoria especially) are incredibly compelling, like how Vittoria came to meet and grow up with the man that would adopt her. The Hassassin’s deadly inspiration and glorious delight in his cruelty weave a spell-binding villain. But the one of the most significant elements of the story is the fact that you can truly walk this Path of Illumination—from “Habakkuk and the Angel” in the Chigi Chapel in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Popolo (Earth—Terra) to the “West Ponente” relief in St. Peter’s Square (Air—Aria) to “The Ecstasy of St. Teresa” in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria (Fire—Fuòco) to the Fountain of the Four Rivers in front of the church of Saint Agnes in Agony in the Piazza Navona (Water—Acqua) and finally to the Church of Illumination within Castel Sant’Angelo. The path is real though the story may not be. Let angels guide thee on thy lofty quest…
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avadena's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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mylittlebooklibrary's review against another edition

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

5.0

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I admire Dan Brown for his ability to create these kinds of page-turners full of interesting facts. I'm not a huge fan of action books or movies where everything is centered around villains and violence, but all the nerdy stuff in this book surely made up for it :)

On the other hand, I really dislike Brown's way of writing characters, everything from creating backstories interesting enough to describing them in present day and action. I mean, of course Robert Langdon is as perfect as Brown's wanted him to be (bet he created him as a perfect version of his own self), but oh god, ARE THERE MORE TO FEMALE CHARACTERS THAN THEIR BODIES? Obviously there should be, but I wouldn't recommend using Brown's books as a guide to writing women. Or, tbh, any other characters either, so very one-dimensional, stereotypical, (and even racist) he made them all (apart from Langdon ofc). Especially the assassin — his actions and overall villain-ness didn't frustrate me nowhere near as his personality was written to be.

So, overall the story was adventurous and entertaining if you just treat most of the chacters as "necessary implementers to the required actions" and ignore their personal traits. Wouldn't recommend if you dislike science and/or history. 
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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

a pulse-racing, unstoppable page-turner filled w/ twists and turns, interesting historical facts, info, speculation, and thought-provoking debate on science and religion and their roles in modern society, though its writing abt women does turn me off quite a bit. 620 pages of this felt like a short novella tbh; thats how engrossing the book was. i havent read a lot of thrillers to make an adequate compariaon, and idk how historically and factually accurate this book is, but as a casual reader it was pretty damn good.
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caro221's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Im Not Sure, I really Like it the First half but Then Well what
The only poc were a camera Woman who got talked down to by a Rookie News Guy and a murderer/almost-rapist.....

Victoria lost her dad, got almost Killed, knocked Out almost raped and then she Just jumps Landon....
Landon got almost crushed, Shot, drowned, knocked Out, Fell from the Sky and then drowned almost again....

The plottwists Well I think at 2/3 that I suspect the CERN Guy, and the bretrayl from the guard came Out of nowhere
And Then Just everybody dies...nice


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mickeyyjr's review against another edition

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challenging tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Excelente libro.  En mi opinión, mejor que el Código de Da Vinci (y Da Vinci es un 5 estrellas). Misterio, engaño, y muchísimos cambios inesperados. Hace un excelente trabajo en ocultar al antagonista.
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cambrand's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This is a re-read. I read it first time when I was 12 and I wasn’t sure if I was still going to like it but… I do. Now, I know there’s plenty of criticism about the book but if you like art history, occultism, symbolism, a good conspiracy theory, or you’re a lapsed catholic,  and you enjoy an actioned pack book with some sexual tension, then you’d enjoy this book. 
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aneebsadiq's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious fast-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? No

4.25

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bronzeageholly's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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