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frednamode's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Once again the only female main character has to be younger than our male protagonist and end up being the love interest by the end. She has to be beautiful and clever but not as witty or charming as the MC because this is basically a self-insert of the author’s fantasy of being taken seriously by younger women.
Do we really have to sexualise her right away, Dan? Can you write a single woman without talking about her body the moment we meet her?
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder
mattiedancer's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.75
- Fans of mystery novels
- Fans of thrillers
- Fans of art history who like mysteries/thrillers
- Murder, death, self-harm, gun violence, ableism, blood, death of parent, car accident, violence, stalking, gaslighting, emotional abuse, religious bigotry, torture, kidnapping, confinement
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
ritugp01's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Minor: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
elspethmigliore's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
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 ✅
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Death of parent
bessadams's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture
mirandyli's review
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
3lsiis's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence
lindsayslibrary22's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
ellahoward_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Violence and Murder
TW: Corporal mortificationwoweewhoa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Okay, so, I listened to the audiobook of this within a few days, and I gotta say, this book, while going at a rapid pace, is way too long. If I was editing this? I would take out a bunch of the lecture scenes, and honestly, made Robert a much more minor protag than he was and make Sophie more central. She is the main character, but because we start with Robert, and he's the guy!!(apparently?), we gotta go into his brain a Lot. I think this book would've been more interesting and also more compelling if it mainly focused on Sophie. Also, the lecture parts of this book were lame!
On a different note, this book is super gender essentialist, which is also partially why I put transphobia in the moderate content warning. There's a couple mentions of 'girls with dicks' said in a frankly derogatory manner as well, which, was out of left field honestly and did make me feel uncomfortable. Also, as a trans man, as this book really got into the nitty gritty of the 'Sacred Feminine' and associating that with the womb and vagina, and let me tell you, I sure started feeling really dysphoric listening to this book. Also, even though the book Does mention Da Vinci possibly being gay, it really boils down to 'men and women gotta be together for the '''''balance''''''' of the world' which. hm. Kinda saying heterosexuality is inherent to being which. Well, is wrong. Just at point blank.
When the book was Not super focusing on that stuff, its a fun romp. Very very stupid at times with how to solve the puzzles and the mysteries involved. But it was fun in the way stupid stuff goes, and honestly a lot of the stuff I was hearing would make me double take because of how dumb it was. That was great.
If your gonna read this book, I'd recommend the audiobook as narrated by Paul Michael, because he did a great job with all the accents and didn't make that aspect sound silly at all. It helped kinda place people too, and the voices of all the characters was very well realized because of that! I liked hearing conversations between the characters because you'd get an American accent, then a Brooklyn accent(? this guy shows up only a couple times but I liked hearing him when he showed up bc of this choice), British, French, Scottish... very fun!
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, and Transphobia
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Pedophilia