tjmcq's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoy the book. Good character development and a real page turner in parts but the ending wasn’t as good as previous Brown books. B
giftsintogold's review against another edition
4.0
Daniel Brown does his research.
I enjoyed learning about all the discoveries Brown came across in the novel. At times, it's hard to separate the "academia" and the story in Brown's novels. In this case, they worked well together--though Brown continues to struggle differentiating between telling a story and delivering a research paper.
The story definitely made the research around Masonic symbolism more interesting and digestible. I gained a new appreciation for an area of religion/philosophy I had not known much about.
Although, it ended up being a fairly quick read for its 638 pages, the story (writing) became a bit drawn out. This was especially true at the end of the book where the story itself was complete. Brown felt the need to go on about Langdon's belief dilemma. (I gained some value from this part of the book, but it definitely was not part of the plot.)
I enjoyed learning about all the discoveries Brown came across in the novel. At times, it's hard to separate the "academia" and the story in Brown's novels. In this case, they worked well together--though Brown continues to struggle differentiating between telling a story and delivering a research paper.
The story definitely made the research around Masonic symbolism more interesting and digestible. I gained a new appreciation for an area of religion/philosophy I had not known much about.
Although, it ended up being a fairly quick read for its 638 pages, the story (writing) became a bit drawn out. This was especially true at the end of the book where the story itself was complete. Brown felt the need to go on about Langdon's belief dilemma. (I gained some value from this part of the book, but it definitely was not part of the plot.)
ladyyluna's review against another edition
3.0
It did not disappoint in terms of the amount of research that must've been done to help weave this lore and make it tangible throughout the book, but in a lot of parts, it drags on a lot and made it a little difficult to finish. I still enjoyed his ability to make us predict one path while still surprising us with two others, but I can't say it's a book I'd read again, though I'm still glad I read it.
mellafo's review against another edition
4.0
If you are a fan of Dan Brown you will enjoy this book.
ecole's review against another edition
2.0
It was a bit of a let down after reading his two other books featuring Robert Langdon.
tessypie's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as the previous two novels. While the history is interesting and astonishing - as always - there were far fewer twists and turns. I figured out the major plot twist about 100 pages before it occurred, which decreased the shock element that makes Brown's novels so riveting. The dénouement was also a little slow and could have been done in 25 fewer pages. Overall, the book was an enjoyable and very quick read, but Brown was not as successful as he was with Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code.
hmonkeyreads's review against another edition
2.0
Just started this one. It inspired quite a battle of opinions between my facebook friends so I can't wait to see which side I fall on!
Well -- I didn't love it but I didn't COMPLETELY hate it either. I went into it kind of like I'd go into a summer blockbuster movie: expecting to be entertained but not have to use my brain too much. I think that's about what I got.
I found it pretty repetitive and pretty annoying (enough with the Ancient Mysteries already) but the puzzles were fun and I was surprised by some things that happened.
But for a piece of fluff, it was just fine. I think Dan Brown needs to find something less religious and mystical to write about next. And he needs to lighten up on the physical descriptions. He has tatoos, we know, stop telling me!
Well -- I didn't love it but I didn't COMPLETELY hate it either. I went into it kind of like I'd go into a summer blockbuster movie: expecting to be entertained but not have to use my brain too much. I think that's about what I got.
I found it pretty repetitive and pretty annoying (enough with the Ancient Mysteries already) but the puzzles were fun and I was surprised by some things that happened.
But for a piece of fluff, it was just fine. I think Dan Brown needs to find something less religious and mystical to write about next. And he needs to lighten up on the physical descriptions. He has tatoos, we know, stop telling me!
canuckmum's review against another edition
4.0
The adventure and mysteries of this novel sucked me in!