Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Da Vinci Code

The writing falters at some points, but shines at others. I particularly loved how Brown writes about history and art in a way that blends fiction and fact seamlessly. I also enjoyed the flow of action, which was mostly easy to follow. What I liked less was the reliance on some sexist tropes of female characters. And, while the writing was functional, it definitely fell into some tropes for the favour of time and ease of reading. Not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely not the strongest writing characteristic.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

Alright, so I get it. Robert Langdon is very, very badass. But he doesn’t know it. It was both fun and not fun at times to follow him, but I did overall enjoy him and most of our main characters. I felt less love towards the suddenness at which Robert and Sophie found themselves romantically involved. I also didn’t buy into Sophie’s reason for essentially estranging herself from her grandfather. It felt like something that would’ve been silly to keep going for that long.

Plot: 4.25⭐️/5

Okay, so the plot is incredibly... fun? That seems like the wrong word, but here we are. I enjoyed reading the plot, despite its many ups and downs and some completely unbelievable sections. But I was okay with employing some suspension of disbelief (like the many many hours of zero sleep) to enjoy the engaging, ever-changing, ever-moving plot.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of mystery novels
Fans of thrillers
Fans of art history who like mysteries/thrillers

Content Warnings?

Murder, death, self-harm, gun violence, ableism, blood, death of parent, car accident, violence, stalking, gaslighting, emotional abuse, religious bigotry, torture, kidnapping, confinement

Post-Reading Rating: 4.75⭐️/5

Well, that was fun.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

Content Warnings

lycheeteareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

elspethmigliore's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

okay…this was fine !

it was actually very interesting and informative, but i feel like every single chapter there was an inessential lecture about a random topic that didn’t even contribute to the story. i was very pulled in the whole time, but by the end i felt like it was just a whole lot of words with a half-assed ending. overall it was like a decent read and i’m suddenly very interested in symbolism regarding religion, but i know some of this information isn’t even accurate so i’m slightly confused.

i’d probably reread. this was pretty interesting ✅

Content Warnings

gail_dancer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

Wow - an exciting intelligent book that was hard to put down. Dan Brown fuses non-fiction with fiction flawlessly in this murder mystery about the Holy Grail. This illustrated Collectors hardcover edition was beautiful and fascinating. This is definitely a book I will keep.

Content Warnings

bessadams's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Content Warnings

mirandyli's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

I read this book after watching the film in high school. There are some thought-provoking parts. I'm not sure if it's historically accurate, but I don't really care either, as I'm not religious.

Content Warnings

liri_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Content Warnings

More...