Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

19 reviews

haleylooloo's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I've seen the movie multiple times, which definitely colored my reading of the book, but a friend lent it to me so I decided, why not? Overall a fun story. Some parts didn't age well, mainly just the sexualizing of the one female character who was given a speaking role and wasn't a nun. Like I don't need a description of how physically attractive she is when first meeting her, and it definitely didn't need to be repeated once already said. Other than that, fun, pretty easy read.
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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Writing: 4⭐️/5 
The writing falters at some points, but shines at others. I particularly loved how Brown writes about history and art in a way that blends fiction and fact seamlessly. I also enjoyed the flow of action, which was mostly easy to follow. What I liked less was the reliance on some sexist tropes of female characters. And, while the writing was functional, it definitely fell into some tropes for the favour of time and ease of reading. Not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely not the strongest writing characteristic.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5
Alright, so I get it. Robert Langdon is very, very badass. But he doesn’t know it. It was both fun and not fun at times to follow him, but I did overall enjoy him and most of our main characters. I felt less love towards the suddenness at which Robert and Sophie found themselves romantically involved. I also didn’t buy into Sophie’s reason for essentially estranging herself from her grandfather. It felt like something that would’ve been silly to keep going for that long. 

Plot: 4.25⭐️/5 
Okay, so the plot is incredibly... fun? That seems like the wrong word, but here we are. I enjoyed reading the plot, despite its many ups and downs and some completely unbelievable sections. But I was okay with employing some suspension of disbelief (like the many many hours of zero sleep) to enjoy the engaging, ever-changing, ever-moving plot.

Who Should Read This Book? 
  • Fans of mystery novels
  • Fans of thrillers
  • Fans of art history who like mysteries/thrillers

Content Warnings? 
  • Murder, death, self-harm, gun violence, ableism, blood, death of parent, car accident, violence, stalking, gaslighting, emotional abuse, religious bigotry, torture, kidnapping, confinement

Post-Reading Rating:  4.75⭐️/5
Well, that was fun.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5
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lycheeteareads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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gail_dancer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Wow - an exciting intelligent book that was hard to put down. Dan Brown fuses non-fiction with fiction flawlessly in this murder mystery about the Holy Grail. This illustrated Collectors hardcover edition was beautiful and fascinating. This is definitely a book I will keep. 
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liri_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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lindsayslibrary22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The mystery is gripping, and the historical elements are interesting. Brown’s use of suspense keeps the reader going throughout the novel, and it is easy to follow the threads of the plot. Some of the action sequences are a bit unbelievable, but match the logic of your average action film. 
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eliever's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

i mean.......... it was ok? i was more focused on silas and dan brown's mystery shit 
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av0ncor3's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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ran_sophia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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cassandra72's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

Had a very lukewarm response to this and im honestly glad. The concept and the plot has been discussed over a million times so I'm not going to say anything about that.. I found some of the ideas appealing, like the conspiracy theory and symbolism, but the execution was not so great most of the time. Also this is a personal opinion, pet peeve if you may, but I hate reading about religion and if I could describe this book with a sentence it would be everything wrong with religion. So there is that. 
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