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sam_gartley91's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
Loved rereading this via audio! Good pace and pulling in the art history and current topics of world health even if pushed to some extremes some times. The variety of characters and perspectives kept you guessing what would happen next. Forgot how this book ended and it was exciting to read again. Interesting discussions of plagues and pandemics now after 2020.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Medical trauma, Confinement, and Rape
rafacolog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infertility, Gun violence, and Sexual harassment
jodar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.75
4.5/5 stars in the superficial-but-fun scale.
A fast-moving thriller which felt like a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. It’s well written and all the characters are well drawn and relatable. The MC/narrator is reliable, but much else is not what it seems.
Quibbles: a misuse of ‘enormity’ in Chapter 88 (‘enormousness’ not ‘exceedingly horrible’ is clearly meant), and given the scientific context, the misuse of ‘quantum leap’ in Chapter 102 with the sense of a huge leap (rather than the smallest possible leap) is rather odd.
A fast-moving thriller which felt like a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. It’s well written and all the characters are well drawn and relatable. The MC/narrator is reliable, but much else is not what it seems.
Quibbles: a misuse of ‘enormity’ in Chapter 88 (‘enormousness’ not ‘exceedingly horrible’ is clearly meant), and given the scientific context, the misuse of ‘quantum leap’ in Chapter 102 with the sense of a huge leap (rather than the smallest possible leap) is rather odd.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Confinement, Death, and Suicide
sofia_17's review
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, and Infertility
welllovedspines's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
TL;DR: If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller based in the real world, then this book (and the entire series) might be right up your alley. (The following review is spoiler-free).
_____
This is the 4th book in Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series. Now, I know there are a lot of strong opinions on Dan's writing, but I've personally always found the books extremely entertaining and quick to read. They've been a pretty consistent companion on long commutes on the subway and plane rides.
Thrillers are one of my favorite genres. Does the writing leave something to be desired? Yes. It's not lyrical or metaphorical in any way. But I find the books to bring a great sense of balance between history (often art history) and fictional conspiracy. Add a healthy dash of suspense, and ta-da!
If you're a fan of this genre and like contemporary works that are grounded in the real world, I definitely recommend checking this out. Another bonus is that you don't need to read the whole series or even start with the first book in order to fully enjoy them! I'm already looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
_____
This is the 4th book in Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series. Now, I know there are a lot of strong opinions on Dan's writing, but I've personally always found the books extremely entertaining and quick to read. They've been a pretty consistent companion on long commutes on the subway and plane rides.
Thrillers are one of my favorite genres. Does the writing leave something to be desired? Yes. It's not lyrical or metaphorical in any way. But I find the books to bring a great sense of balance between history (often art history) and fictional conspiracy. Add a healthy dash of suspense, and ta-da!
If you're a fan of this genre and like contemporary works that are grounded in the real world, I definitely recommend checking this out. Another bonus is that you don't need to read the whole series or even start with the first book in order to fully enjoy them! I'm already looking forward to reading the next one in the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Gun violence
mneex05's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use
niimo's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Suicide and Death
tiemzahra's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
My second Dan Brown, and already I found a template of his story.
This book was intriguing, too intense for my mild self. But towards in the middle, I simply couldn’t stop reading. Twists here and there,couldn’t appreciate what they did for the movie, that Sienna was the bad guy after all, because in the book, what Sienna believed is more complicated. I love that for a fact, this book features ambiguity in morality. What’s right and wrong, you could never say which one’s which.
I might wait for a while before starting another Dan Brown. His books were well-crafted, but sometimes books of the same author with similar template put me off (eg. Murakami). But you could appreciate the intricacies of his story, like I was reading nonfiction in a fiction, if that makes sense. This book features the poet Dante and I learned so much of his life history.
This book was intriguing, too intense for my mild self. But towards in the middle, I simply couldn’t stop reading. Twists here and there,
I might wait for a while before starting another Dan Brown. His books were well-crafted, but sometimes books of the same author with similar template put me off (eg. Murakami). But you could appreciate the intricacies of his story, like I was reading nonfiction in a fiction, if that makes sense. This book features the poet Dante and I learned so much of his life history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Infertility, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Mental illness
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