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dtiselin's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
alice2000's review against another edition
1.0
I still haven't paid the late fee to the library for this one...over a month and I just couldn't finish it. Had some great parts, but in the end just couldn't hold my attention.
chelseaj91's review
4.0
What a story! Seven Wonders is a high-speed, fast-paced, action-filled mystery tour of the Seven Wonders of the world!
I loved the very beginning as we see Jeremy filling in the pieces of the puzzle and while those pieces are what start this adventure I was impressed that he was able to find a way to get the information into Jack's hands.
Jack was definitely a version of Indiana Jones andI liked his interactions with everyone. He was very protective of his students and, after his initial suspicions, even Sloane. I also was impressed with his overall knowledge and the way that he was willing to cultivate relationships with the various peoples that he met up with over the course of his research and field work.
Sloane was certainly a different kind of botanist. Granted I don't know many, but from what I've read, up until she went physically trekking through an off-limits area of the Coliseum, she seemed like the kind of person/scientist who was more comfortable working in the lab than anywhere in the field. I also thought that her hooking up with Jack, despite the fact that she was still largely skeptical was the biggest hint of her last ditch "Hail Mary" play to save her career. The fact that she didn't flaunt it though was nice, she just showed up, said "I think we're on the same general path. So lets work together" and let the chips fall where they may. I really liked the fact that we got the scientific/Latin names for a lot of the plants she found, but I could have done with the English translation as well. It was kind of distracting for me having to go look up names. But that's just my personal preference, I know that other people aren't the same way.
Jendari, Vika and her crew and Euphrates were all interesting mysteries. To me, it seemed like Jendari really did what she did because she's the kind of person who wants everything important and has the "If I can't have it, no one can" thought process. Of course she clearly wasn't as high on the food chain as she thought but still. Vika and her crew were interesting and I wonder if there are any more of them around or if they're the last. And then we come to Euphrates...the company behind everything apparently. I wonder what they really do, who belongs to them and how much they've actually had their hands in over the years. The ending particularly left me wondering.
I'm also wondering if we'll see Jack and Sloane again? Maybe on another adventure across the globe? Possibly? Please?
In exchange for my review, I received a copy for free from a Goodreads giveaway
I loved the very beginning as we see Jeremy filling in the pieces of the puzzle and while those pieces are what start this adventure
Spoiler
and lead to his death which wasn't as goodJack was definitely a version of Indiana Jones and
Spoiler
at the end when he and Sloane discover the moat of snakes, all I could think of was: "Snakes, why'd it have to be snakes?Sloane was certainly a different kind of botanist. Granted I don't know many, but from what I've read, up until she went physically trekking through an off-limits area of the Coliseum, she seemed like the kind of person/scientist who was more comfortable working in the lab than anywhere in the field. I also thought that her hooking up with Jack, despite the fact that she was still largely skeptical was the biggest hint of her last ditch "Hail Mary" play to save her career. The fact that she didn't flaunt it though was nice, she just showed up, said "I think we're on the same general path. So lets work together" and let the chips fall where they may. I really liked the fact that we got the scientific/Latin names for a lot of the plants she found, but I could have done with the English translation as well. It was kind of distracting for me having to go look up names. But that's just my personal preference, I know that other people aren't the same way.
Jendari, Vika and her crew and Euphrates were all interesting mysteries. To me, it seemed like Jendari really did what she did because she's the kind of person who wants everything important and has the "If I can't have it, no one can" thought process. Of course she clearly wasn't as high on the food chain as she thought but still. Vika and her crew were interesting and I wonder if there are any more of them around or if they're the last. And then we come to Euphrates...the company behind everything apparently. I wonder what they really do, who belongs to them and how much they've actually had their hands in over the years. The ending particularly left me wondering.
I'm also wondering if we'll see Jack and Sloane again? Maybe on another adventure across the globe? Possibly? Please?
In exchange for my review, I received a copy for free from a Goodreads giveaway
stricker's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
oligneisti's review against another edition
2.0
Ég sá höfundinn í þætti Craig Ferguson og ákvað að lesa bókina. Hún virkaði á mig eins og eitthvað sem ég hefði viljað lesa þegar ég var unglingur.
Þetta var alveg rosalega heimskuleg bók. Það á víst að gera kvikmynd eftir henni og það sést að höfundurinn var að reyna að skrifa Indiana Jones mynd.
Jack Grady er verri mannfræðingur en Indiana Jones fornleifafræðingur. Reyndar er Grady yfirleitt meira á sviði fornleifafræði en mannfræði en er væntanlega kallaður mannfræðingur til að vera ekki of augljós eftirherma en það væri erfitt að vera augljósari eftirherma.
Svölu tilsvör söguhetjunnar eru sársaukafull í kjánalegheitum sínum. Það er bara vont.
Aukapersónurnar eru þunnar og almennt virðist höfundurinn ekkert vita hvað hann á að gera við þær. Sérstaklega á það við um annan framhaldsnemann sem fylgir hetjunni því sú persóna fer í gegnum bókina án þess að afreka nokkuð.
Leyndardómurinn sjálfur í bókinni gerir ráð fyrir að allir fornleifafræðingar sem rannsakað hafa umrædd undur séu hálfvitar.
Versti glæpur höfundar er samt að hann kann ekki að segja áhugaverða sögu. Hann kann ekki að byggja upp spennu. Eða kannski kann hann þetta og er hér að leggja sig fram við að sýna ekki þessa kunnáttu sína.
Bókin má samt eiga það að hún er auðlesin (og fær því tvær stjörnur en ekki bara eina, ef hún ætti skilið eina stjörnu hefði ég ekki náð að klára hana) en það þýðir ekki að nokkur maður ætti að leggja það á sig.
Þetta var alveg rosalega heimskuleg bók. Það á víst að gera kvikmynd eftir henni og það sést að höfundurinn var að reyna að skrifa Indiana Jones mynd.
Jack Grady er verri mannfræðingur en Indiana Jones fornleifafræðingur. Reyndar er Grady yfirleitt meira á sviði fornleifafræði en mannfræði en er væntanlega kallaður mannfræðingur til að vera ekki of augljós eftirherma en það væri erfitt að vera augljósari eftirherma.
Svölu tilsvör söguhetjunnar eru sársaukafull í kjánalegheitum sínum. Það er bara vont.
Aukapersónurnar eru þunnar og almennt virðist höfundurinn ekkert vita hvað hann á að gera við þær. Sérstaklega á það við um annan framhaldsnemann sem fylgir hetjunni því sú persóna fer í gegnum bókina án þess að afreka nokkuð.
Leyndardómurinn sjálfur í bókinni gerir ráð fyrir að allir fornleifafræðingar sem rannsakað hafa umrædd undur séu hálfvitar.
Versti glæpur höfundar er samt að hann kann ekki að segja áhugaverða sögu. Hann kann ekki að byggja upp spennu. Eða kannski kann hann þetta og er hér að leggja sig fram við að sýna ekki þessa kunnáttu sína.
Bókin má samt eiga það að hún er auðlesin (og fær því tvær stjörnur en ekki bara eina, ef hún ætti skilið eina stjörnu hefði ég ekki náð að klára hana) en það þýðir ekki að nokkur maður ætti að leggja það á sig.
bmartino's review
2.0
2.5 stars. Not.. horrible? Certainly "smarter" than some thrillers I've read recently, although that really isn't saying much.
lizhop's review
3.0
A perfectly pleasant "romp," as book review quotes go, but so formulaic. I enjoy Ben Mezrich as an author; his writing style is clean and easy to read. I heard him interviewed on the radio when I was nearing the end of this book, and he described how he had basically been commissioned to write a Raiders of the Lost Ark/DaVinci Code book that could easily be turned into a movie, and that's exactly what this felt like. It was filled with a lot of actual good information about the various sites of the Seven Wonders of the World, so I certainly appreciate the research that was put in, and I enjoy factoids and anecdotes as much as the next person. But the facile following of the clues, the shockingly dangerous and violent yet easily dispatched encounters with the "enemy," and the slow yet obvious build towards romance were all so predictable that this book didn't feel like a page-turner, but rather, something to get through because it just wasn't that hard to do so. It's fine, it's pleasant - I was disappointed, because I was hoping for great.
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