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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Dan Brown has always been a 5 star favorite author for me. I finally made the decision that I needed to go back into his world and reread his Robert Langdon books since he is publishing a new one later this year. I had the best time, Dan Brown's writing is thought provoking and thrilling. Always the best time.
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder
I wanted to give this book 4 stars. I really did. In fact, I was going to right up until the end where the thing that I'd been dreading happened and my suspension of disbelief flew out the window.
Okay, let's back up a bit and talk about my mindset going into this book which I fully expected to dislike.
I read the Da Vinci Code about 2 year before this one and I was utterly unimpressed with it. I don't think that there was a single aspect of that book that I really enjoyed. So why did I bother to read that book's prequel? Well, I had multiple sources tell me that Angels and Demons was a superior novel by far and I had a copy lying around so I gave it a shot.
Imagine my shock when a realized that I was actually enjoying this thing. The story, while often a little too melodramatic for my taste, was well thought-out and truly gripping. I even found myself getting attached to some of the characters. However, throughout the entire novel, I had a lingering doubt about the coming ending. I could see a possible path beginning to take shape and I was desperately hoping that Brown wouldn't go down it. Unfortunately, he did.
I'm not going to spoil anything but let's just say that the "bad guy" of this novel was horribly set up and that there's a reveal about said bad guy that literally made me put the book down and walk away because I was so angry. This seemed like it was going to be such a good novel, but all the fun that I'd had reading the book was utterly ruined by stupid, unnecessary melodrama. What. A. Waste.
To be fair, though, Angels and Demons had already had several scenes that drew me out of the book. Scenes such as one where a group of scientists celebrate when a church is in peril from a terrorist threat which I couldn't buy happening. Scenes such as that one were just throwaway bits, though, so I could forgive them. I couldn't forgive the ending.
If you like adventure stories and don't mind REALLY overdone melodrama, then you will probably enjoy this book, but I can't in good conscious recommend this thing to anyone given how horribly disappointed I was by the ending. I only finished it because I had less than 30 pages left to go and I figured I might as well read the whole thing since I was so close to being done.
Okay, let's back up a bit and talk about my mindset going into this book which I fully expected to dislike.
I read the Da Vinci Code about 2 year before this one and I was utterly unimpressed with it. I don't think that there was a single aspect of that book that I really enjoyed. So why did I bother to read that book's prequel? Well, I had multiple sources tell me that Angels and Demons was a superior novel by far and I had a copy lying around so I gave it a shot.
Imagine my shock when a realized that I was actually enjoying this thing. The story, while often a little too melodramatic for my taste, was well thought-out and truly gripping. I even found myself getting attached to some of the characters. However, throughout the entire novel, I had a lingering doubt about the coming ending. I could see a possible path beginning to take shape and I was desperately hoping that Brown wouldn't go down it. Unfortunately, he did.
I'm not going to spoil anything but let's just say that the "bad guy" of this novel was horribly set up and that there's a reveal about said bad guy that literally made me put the book down and walk away because I was so angry. This seemed like it was going to be such a good novel, but all the fun that I'd had reading the book was utterly ruined by stupid, unnecessary melodrama. What. A. Waste.
To be fair, though, Angels and Demons had already had several scenes that drew me out of the book. Scenes such as one where a group of scientists celebrate when a church is in peril from a terrorist threat which I couldn't buy happening. Scenes such as that one were just throwaway bits, though, so I could forgive them. I couldn't forgive the ending.
If you like adventure stories and don't mind REALLY overdone melodrama, then you will probably enjoy this book, but I can't in good conscious recommend this thing to anyone given how horribly disappointed I was by the ending. I only finished it because I had less than 30 pages left to go and I figured I might as well read the whole thing since I was so close to being done.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wanted so badly to like this book. Unfortunately the writing is absolutely terrible. The historical, artistic, and religious concepts are introduced and over-explained in a way that reads like an excerpt from Wikipedia. You get the sense that this main character is completely full of himself, and he does not come across as likeable once. Brown writes women like they're objects to ornament the main character's adventure, and can't seem to help commenting on their breasts in the most absurd fashion. I waited way to long to finally give up any hope of it becoming more palatable.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Read this to bond with my husband, not my usual genre. I understand why there are movies from this series.
Well written but fairly predictable in my opinion.
Well written but fairly predictable in my opinion.