abbyhiggins 's review for:

Conclave by Robert Harris

3.0

informative tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

The pope is dead. Now, cardinals from around the world must gather to elect the next Holy Father in an election called the Conclave, of which the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Jacopo Lomeli, is to lead. Shortly before the election a secret cardinal emerges; one that was created in pectore, or secretly, by the late pope. As the election proceeds through the multiple rounds of voting, Lomeli is faced with secrets and scandals that test his already struggling faith. The frontrunners for the papacy are not all that they claim to be, but who will God guide to ascend to the Chair of St. Peter?

I really struggled with this in the beginning. I wanted to read this before I watched the hugely popular movie, but as someone whose only knowledge of Catholicism was a brief stint at Catholic preschool, I was left so confused. This book is heavy on the process of the Conclave; it goes into a lot of detail about the specifics of every step but does not always take the time to explain what things are. I was putting the book down every few paragraphs to google a term that I didn’t know. I eventually just gave up and was okay with only getting the gist of the story. It was far too in depth for myself and having to look everything up was ruining my enjoyment of the book.

Once I had put aside the goal of understanding every detail of this book, I found myself enjoying it. I especially loved seeing the arc of Dean Lomeli’s struggle with his faith and how he approached that as situations arose throughout the Conclave. Cardinal Benitez is one of my favorite characters that I have read recently. The way that he views his faith and intertwines it with caring for the underrepresented was my favorite aspect of this book. 

I watched the movie the day after I finished the book.This might have been a downfall for me as I spent the entire time just comparing the two instead of viewing them as separate entities with one being based on the other. I should also state that I rarely watch movies (my attention span tends to not handle them well), so any movie statement should be taken with a grain of salt. The movie was good though, I can see why it got all the praise that it did. I think that it is an honest adaptation of the book and I really enjoyed the cast. It’s really all one could ask for from a movie adaptation in my opinion.