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A review by srsanderson
Da Vinci's Tiger by L.M. Elliott
3.0
[b:Da Vinci's Tiger|24951755|Da Vinci's Tiger|L.M. Elliott|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440241895s/24951755.jpg|44611439] is a YA, historical fiction novel that takes place in 15th century Florence. While there was certainly a ton of research that went into producing this book, I don't know if I enjoyed the actual story.
After reading 1/3 of the book, I had no idea what the plot was. The descriptions of Renaissance Florence were amazing, and the characters seemed interesting enough (a young Leonardo Da Vinci is intriguing in itself) but I could not see the overall shape the novel was taking. But in a weird way, that made me want to read more, as opposed to setting it aside as a DNF. I needed to see where this was going, and I love an intelligent female main character.
I think the awkward parts of this book came from the introduction of Florence and Italian politics. While I understand the importance of Papal politics during the time of the Renaissance, there was no transition between the talk of art and poetry, to the intrigue of politics and its background. All of the characters and roles somehow melded into each other, and not in an eloquent, seamless way... More like a, "I don't care what is going on right now, and I have no energy to backtrack and find out" kind of way.
Overall, I thought it was a decent read. I finished it quickly, and I really enjoyed the setting. The story was a bit lacking, but the historical characters, and descriptions of all the art made up for it.
After reading 1/3 of the book, I had no idea what the plot was. The descriptions of Renaissance Florence were amazing, and the characters seemed interesting enough (a young Leonardo Da Vinci is intriguing in itself) but I could not see the overall shape the novel was taking. But in a weird way, that made me want to read more, as opposed to setting it aside as a DNF. I needed to see where this was going, and I love an intelligent female main character.
I think the awkward parts of this book came from the introduction of Florence and Italian politics. While I understand the importance of Papal politics during the time of the Renaissance, there was no transition between the talk of art and poetry, to the intrigue of politics and its background. All of the characters and roles somehow melded into each other, and not in an eloquent, seamless way... More like a, "I don't care what is going on right now, and I have no energy to backtrack and find out" kind of way.
Overall, I thought it was a decent read. I finished it quickly, and I really enjoyed the setting. The story was a bit lacking, but the historical characters, and descriptions of all the art made up for it.