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girl_in_glasses's review against another edition
4.0
After reading Fiorato's "The Daughter of Siena," I decided to search out more of her work.
The Botticelli Secret blew "Siena" out of the water. A saucy, fierce female protagonist allies with a monk to discover the true meaning of La Primavera, one of Botticelli's most famous paintings. The clues led the unlikely pair all across the Italian peninsula. From Florence to Naples, and even to Milan, this book takes the reader through an exciting journey, filled with intrigue and perhaps a bit of amore.
Really fun, enjoyable novel. A little slow in the middle, but worth the lull!
The Botticelli Secret blew "Siena" out of the water. A saucy, fierce female protagonist allies with a monk to discover the true meaning of La Primavera, one of Botticelli's most famous paintings. The clues led the unlikely pair all across the Italian peninsula. From Florence to Naples, and even to Milan, this book takes the reader through an exciting journey, filled with intrigue and perhaps a bit of amore.
Really fun, enjoyable novel. A little slow in the middle, but worth the lull!
mary_onemorechapter's review against another edition
5.0
5* ... One of the best books I've read in a long time. Intriguing and very excitig. I stayed up the whole night because I couldn't put this book away. So I'd definitly recommend reading it :)
pnilldwild's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
jkkb332's review against another edition
3.0
Thoughts:
- So many twists and turns
- Luciana good narrator, thorough and clever, not cocky, reliable
- Cleverly written in that it was easy to keep track of characters even though there were so many - information repeated frequently but interwoven neatly into the story
- Unsure why this isn't 4 stars - gut feeling - nothing negative to say about it...liked it but was anxious to finish and move onto the next one
- So many twists and turns
- Luciana good narrator, thorough and clever, not cocky, reliable
- Cleverly written in that it was easy to keep track of characters even though there were so many - information repeated frequently but interwoven neatly into the story
- Unsure why this isn't 4 stars - gut feeling - nothing negative to say about it...liked it but was anxious to finish and move onto the next one
stromers's review against another edition
5.0
A very exciting book....if you enjoyed the Da Vinci Code you will love this book.
rosemarieshort's review against another edition
3.0
I've categorized this as an adventure novel even though that doesn't really fully capture what this book is. A mixture of romance, historical, crime and probably a lot more in thrown in there too. I found the choice of heroine to be brave and pulled off well, the writing was interesting and kept me going until the last quarter, which became a bit of a slog. I'd definitely re-read this though as I think on second viewing my opinion might change. The ending I found, however, to be really, really satisfying which is what saved it for me during that last leg to the finish. In all honesty I did like it and would recommend it as a really solid holiday read.
pianorunner421's review against another edition
3.0
After a slow start, mostly because I found the first person narrative a little strange, this quickly became a book I could not put down. The narrative became familiar and actually made sense. The connection to the art and the history were very interesting. If you like DaVinci Code or anything by Tracy Chevalier, you should pick this one up.
mydarkacademia's review against another edition
1.0
Ugh, where do I begin.
First of all, to anyone who likes this book, Im sorry because Im about to roast it. Im glad you like it but I really didnt like it and I have the right to express my opinion. Please dont try to say I didnt like it because I dont like historical fiction because thats not true, I do like historical fiction, I didnt like this book because its bad.
Second of all, english is my second language so I might make some grammatical errors in this review. I also wont be using an apostrophe, I cant find it on my keyboard. (Yes, I am serious.)
Okay, lets start.
I didnt expect much from this book, I expected a nice, fun story about a prostitute who gets in over her head. I didnt expect a masterpiece. As you might have realized by now, it still managed to disappoint me.
The main problem I had with this book was the writing. The characters are either two dimensional or one dimensional. The pace is all over the place. The ending was very predictable and the story as a whole lacks suspense since the character is talking to the reader from the future.
Hm, I wonder if Luciana is gonna survive. Oh she is cause she just talked about her future husband. Oh and I wonder who that husband could be? The one man who she keeps daydreaming about? No, not him for sure.
And dont get me started on the fact she talks to the reader. I personally dont like that trope unless its done in a funny or inventive way. Trust me, its not done in a funny or inventive way in this book. It made me feel like Im reading my own writing from the fifth grade. All though I shouldnt be so harsh towards my eleven year old self. I suspect it was used in this book because the writer didnt know how to show how the character was feeling without the character actually telling us.
Another thing I really had an issue with was how unrealistic the book was. The main characters have the best luck and nearly escape death in impossible situations. A character falls into a fire and is fine, a character holds a burning peace of wood that is covered in flammable oil and is fairly short in his mouth and is fine. What the actual fuck? They also only figure out important clues just when its time to move on to the next city and fail to see them sooner even though they look at the same clue (a painting) the entire time. They are also often just handed answers.
The whole goal of this book is also kinda dumb because even though the main characters do stop it now (which is what they wanted), it does happen later on in history and everyone knows that so they look stupid celebrating stopping sth that did happen eventually.
The writer also dares to use important historical figures ( Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus) as throw away characters.
It didnt have many problematic aspects except for the continuous use of the derogatory term for gay people for one of the characters which wasnt at all necessary.
Good things:
- The love interest isnt toxic
- I dont know what else, Im trying okay
I would like to finish off by saying that it took me over a month to read it even though I was reading it almost every day. Additionally, as I usually read two books at the same time, I finished 6 books while reading this one. Yes, I started and finished 6 books before I finally finished this book.
You might ask why i forced myself to finish it and I dont really have a proper answer. This book started out as a solid 3 star and went down to a 2 soon after. I guess I just didnt want to look at another dnf-ed book on my bookshelf so I just kept on reading it and hoping it will become better. It didnt, it became worse.
I know I had more problems with it but I really dont care right now. Please dont hate on me for not liking this book, Im sorry, I really wanted to like it.
First of all, to anyone who likes this book, Im sorry because Im about to roast it. Im glad you like it but I really didnt like it and I have the right to express my opinion. Please dont try to say I didnt like it because I dont like historical fiction because thats not true, I do like historical fiction, I didnt like this book because its bad.
Second of all, english is my second language so I might make some grammatical errors in this review. I also wont be using an apostrophe, I cant find it on my keyboard. (Yes, I am serious.)
Okay, lets start.
I didnt expect much from this book, I expected a nice, fun story about a prostitute who gets in over her head. I didnt expect a masterpiece. As you might have realized by now, it still managed to disappoint me.
The main problem I had with this book was the writing. The characters are either two dimensional or one dimensional. The pace is all over the place. The ending was very predictable and the story as a whole lacks suspense since the character is talking to the reader from the future.
Hm, I wonder if Luciana is gonna survive. Oh she is cause she just talked about her future husband. Oh and I wonder who that husband could be? The one man who she keeps daydreaming about? No, not him for sure.
And dont get me started on the fact she talks to the reader. I personally dont like that trope unless its done in a funny or inventive way. Trust me, its not done in a funny or inventive way in this book. It made me feel like Im reading my own writing from the fifth grade. All though I shouldnt be so harsh towards my eleven year old self. I suspect it was used in this book because the writer didnt know how to show how the character was feeling without the character actually telling us.
Another thing I really had an issue with was how unrealistic the book was. The main characters have the best luck and nearly escape death in impossible situations. A character falls into a fire and is fine, a character holds a burning peace of wood that is covered in flammable oil and is fairly short in his mouth and is fine. What the actual fuck? They also only figure out important clues just when its time to move on to the next city and fail to see them sooner even though they look at the same clue (a painting) the entire time. They are also often just handed answers.
The whole goal of this book is also kinda dumb because even though the main characters do stop it now (which is what they wanted), it does happen later on in history and everyone knows that so they look stupid celebrating stopping sth that did happen eventually.
The writer also dares to use important historical figures ( Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus) as throw away characters.
It didnt have many problematic aspects except for the continuous use of the derogatory term for gay people for one of the characters which wasnt at all necessary.
Good things:
- The love interest isnt toxic
- I dont know what else, Im trying okay
I would like to finish off by saying that it took me over a month to read it even though I was reading it almost every day. Additionally, as I usually read two books at the same time, I finished 6 books while reading this one. Yes, I started and finished 6 books before I finally finished this book.
You might ask why i forced myself to finish it and I dont really have a proper answer. This book started out as a solid 3 star and went down to a 2 soon after. I guess I just didnt want to look at another dnf-ed book on my bookshelf so I just kept on reading it and hoping it will become better. It didnt, it became worse.
I know I had more problems with it but I really dont care right now. Please dont hate on me for not liking this book, Im sorry, I really wanted to like it.
the_sassy_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
This was sort of like historical fiction meets Dan brown. The story centers around Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece Primavera, the hidden clues within etc. It kept me interested for the most part, but could have probably lost about 50 pages in the middle as it seemed to drag a bit. Overall a good read though.
kawthar114's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5