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hldonavant's review against another edition
3.0
Decent. Boring at times. Caused me to become interested in Prague, that's about it. The plot needed to be a bit more convincing.
wellduhiread's review against another edition
2.0
This book was really slow, to the point where one of my friends saw me reading it more than once and said I just need to give up and read something else. Well, unless the novel is just crap, I refuse to give up so I finished the book. It was not great. It had a lot of potential but I really just didn't get why the author ended it like it was.
First of all it could have been cut down SO FRICKING MUCH. The whole first half of the book could have been taken out and rewritten so it could have a much more exciting pace. I mean, isn't it a rule to start a novel where the action begins. STOP WITH THE BACKSTORY. NO ONE REALLY CARES UNTIL THEY FIND A REASON TO READ.
Anyway, this book frustrated me to no end because I read it while I could have been reading Cassandra Clares new novel. I wanted this book to be worth my time and it really wasn't. *cue depressed sigh*
First of all it could have been cut down SO FRICKING MUCH. The whole first half of the book could have been taken out and rewritten so it could have a much more exciting pace. I mean, isn't it a rule to start a novel where the action begins. STOP WITH THE BACKSTORY. NO ONE REALLY CARES UNTIL THEY FIND A REASON TO READ.
Anyway, this book frustrated me to no end because I read it while I could have been reading Cassandra Clares new novel. I wanted this book to be worth my time and it really wasn't. *cue depressed sigh*
christajls's review against another edition
4.0
Originally reviewed at Christa's Hooked on Books
What a beautifully crafted mystery Robin Wasserman has wormed her way directly onto my “I will read anything this author writes” list.
This story begins with Nora translating the Latin letters of the long dead Elizabeth Weston. Cryptic letters in a dead langauge? You know there's got to be a good mystery there. I always wonder when I'm reading mysteries like this if people actually created such elaborate hidden messages in every little thing they did. But then I get so wrapped up in the story I just don't care any more. Robin Wasserman builds up the tension in such an expert fashion. She reveals only as much as the reader needs to know and because of this all external thoughts and questions melt away as you get wrapped up in the mystery.
It helps that all this mystery and action takes place in such a beautiful setting. The story starts in America but soon you are thrown head first into the beautiful world that is Prague. I love stories set in Europe, there's so much more history and distinct architecture there that we just don't have here in North America. And because Prague isn't one of the more common European cities we see stories based in (like Paris, London etc) is felt even more unique and enchanting.
One things I really appreciated about this book (and the reason that I can so whole heartedly recommend this book) is that is builds this whole century old mystery, involving Latin and secret sects and it does it all without demonizing religion. I find for many similar titles some authors easily fall into a pattern of scape goating religion - particularly Christianity - and I usually find this incredibly problematic and kind of lazy. Robin Wasserman builds a much more complicated and layered plot with three dimensional antagonists. That's a sign of a quality mystery writer.
Final recommendation: A beautiful book that is great for more than just mystery lovers but is perfect for those who want something similar to The Da Vinci Code but with better writing and plotting.
What a beautifully crafted mystery Robin Wasserman has wormed her way directly onto my “I will read anything this author writes” list.
This story begins with Nora translating the Latin letters of the long dead Elizabeth Weston. Cryptic letters in a dead langauge? You know there's got to be a good mystery there. I always wonder when I'm reading mysteries like this if people actually created such elaborate hidden messages in every little thing they did. But then I get so wrapped up in the story I just don't care any more. Robin Wasserman builds up the tension in such an expert fashion. She reveals only as much as the reader needs to know and because of this all external thoughts and questions melt away as you get wrapped up in the mystery.
It helps that all this mystery and action takes place in such a beautiful setting. The story starts in America but soon you are thrown head first into the beautiful world that is Prague. I love stories set in Europe, there's so much more history and distinct architecture there that we just don't have here in North America. And because Prague isn't one of the more common European cities we see stories based in (like Paris, London etc) is felt even more unique and enchanting.
One things I really appreciated about this book (and the reason that I can so whole heartedly recommend this book) is that is builds this whole century old mystery, involving Latin and secret sects and it does it all without demonizing religion. I find for many similar titles some authors easily fall into a pattern of scape goating religion - particularly Christianity - and I usually find this incredibly problematic and kind of lazy. Robin Wasserman builds a much more complicated and layered plot with three dimensional antagonists. That's a sign of a quality mystery writer.
Final recommendation: A beautiful book that is great for more than just mystery lovers but is perfect for those who want something similar to The Da Vinci Code but with better writing and plotting.
cleah's review against another edition
2.0
This is going to be a bummer review to write. It is with great sadness that I tell you I was unable to finish this book.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book. The premise had promise (a book about a book!), it's a well-respected author, and I was excited for the release. But I just couldn't do it. Could barely get to page 100, which is my standard for giving a book a solid try. Really, if you can't hook me from the very first page or chapter, it will be hard to get me later on.
So what went wrong? The writing was good enough, though I have not read anything else by Wasserman to compare it to. The characters were interesting, too, though I felt completely distanced from them right from the beginning. I think maybe there was just not enough action to start things off. The pace moved too slow. Or there wasn't enough exposition to keep me hooked on the Chris or Nora enough to care about them when there was the little bit of action that occurred. For such a lengthy book, I personally needed more to get me started than what was provided.
Has anyone else experienced this? Please let me know!
No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book. The premise had promise (a book about a book!), it's a well-respected author, and I was excited for the release. But I just couldn't do it. Could barely get to page 100, which is my standard for giving a book a solid try. Really, if you can't hook me from the very first page or chapter, it will be hard to get me later on.
So what went wrong? The writing was good enough, though I have not read anything else by Wasserman to compare it to. The characters were interesting, too, though I felt completely distanced from them right from the beginning. I think maybe there was just not enough action to start things off. The pace moved too slow. Or there wasn't enough exposition to keep me hooked on the Chris or Nora enough to care about them when there was the little bit of action that occurred. For such a lengthy book, I personally needed more to get me started than what was provided.
Has anyone else experienced this? Please let me know!
tiamushka's review against another edition
3.0
I would say that this book was more of The Historian for Ya, rather than Da Vinci Code for YA which some people say. Lots of libraries, translating latin, long flowery letters from the past. Still enjoyable.
owls_rainbow's review against another edition
Apparently lost old books and Latin translations aren't my thing. Additionally when your book consists of said Latin translations, old books, and elite old schools then maybe you should clarify what year it is because I thought it was a period novel (the way the main character spoke didn't help matters either - needs lessons in 'Teen') until the mentions of Converse, jeans, WiFi and Wikipedia.
Also I found the layout really frustrating with all the super-short chapters (125 over 4 parts - I checked). Last I checked a sentence about someone being dead wasn't a chapter.
Also I found the layout really frustrating with all the super-short chapters (125 over 4 parts - I checked). Last I checked a sentence about someone being dead wasn't a chapter.
barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
1.0
negative stars due to the bitterness of sticking with it when I should have given up on it early on. it's badly written, unbelievable, and boring. I was on a long car ride and kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. and by then I had already given it 4 hours which I didn't want to feel like I wasted, so I stuck with it, and HOLY BAD CHOICE. GRRRRRRRRR
nssutton's review against another edition
4.0
Wasserman's story gets a lot of inevitable comparisons to The DaVinci Code, with the search for religious artifacts and on-the-run pacing, but I feel it's more on par with Jennifer Donnelley's Revolution. I love that it is set in Prague, and the scene in the Strahov Monastery, the camaraderie and betrayals, the way my suspicions of whodunnit were confirmed without taking away my enjoyment of the final third. The ending left me feeling a little let down, but it's perfect within the context of the story.
Read mostly on the Northeast Corridor, even if it was finished on our Golden Girls-esque couch.
Read mostly on the Northeast Corridor, even if it was finished on our Golden Girls-esque couch.
kristi_starr35's review against another edition
3.0
The comparisons to Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books - with teens in place of Langdon - are spot-on. The book felt lengthy at times, sometimes too much of a stretch. And the "aha!" moments come pretty easily; the puzzles are solved too quickly. Very few surprises in this one; just had to wait to see how it all unfolded. Maybe closer to 3.5 stars for me. It has its faults, but in general the mystery kept me reading.
beths0103's review against another edition
3.0
There is absolutely no doubt that Wasserman is an incredibly gifted writer. Like so gifted I'm envious of her ability to weave words into something beautiful and magical. But I never really found myself fully invested in the characters of this story and I almost felt like if the ages of the characters had been changed to people in their 30s, this would have made more sense as an adult novel instead of YA.