A review by howattp
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

5.0

This is such a fantastic, intelligent book! It's fast-paced, bookish, dark, and dangerous at times. Everyone has said that this is YA Dan Brown, and they're right! Things are not as they seem, enemies lurk behind every shadow, and a world-changing artifact lies hidden somewhere in Prague. People will kill for it. People have killed for it--and they won't stop until their goal is complete.

There are a few small problems I have with it, but they're absolutely minor, and maybe I'm being nitpicky.

Spoiler

I think that Nora is a bit too sure of herself, for someone so unceremoniously thrust into this situation. She's too confident at times. Max is SO obviously the bad guy, and Eli is clearly not, but there is a bit too much protesting on either side. And also, the parents. This has one of the consistent flaws in YA lit: utterly absent, apathetic parents. I can't decide if it's just a motif, or if there's a metaphor for teens learning to be independent, but YA lit has SO MANY absolutely absent, uncaring parents. There is not a single loving, even slightly caring parent to be found in the book. That being said,

it was only in bits of the characterization that I found problems. The plot was great, the mystery was delightfully tantalizing, and it's absolutely worth reading.