Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Angels & Demons

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

shetland_pone's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

If you don't pay any attention, it's fun, but the moment you start to think about things it all falls apart. Langdon is a Mary Sue, most of the characters are seriously unlikeable, and the ending was a shitshow.

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naiu_cs's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-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

3.0

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marialilypotter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

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malignant_gnome's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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cocacolor's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

2.0

The breadth and depth of architectural and physical detail is good but the science is iffy, which normally wouldn't be much of a downside except that the author clearly went to a lot of effort to make it as accurate as possible--I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it might've seemed more accurate twenty years ago. I'd say the twists were pretty predictable, except that somehow, even though I suspected

the camerlengo ever since Chartrand mentioned the walk they'd taken together, Janus's true identity still caught me off guard because the author had spent the last hundreds or so pages advancing the Kohler-is-Janus theory

, so kudos for that. Vittoria is, unexpectedly, a better developed and more capable character than Langdon, so ally points for that--and then a whole slew of them taken off because the Hassassin and Kohler are, respectively, absolutely skin-crawling racist, Islamaphobic, and ableist stereotypes. On a pure narrative level, it's mediocre; in its representation, worse than mediocre. Also, more malapropisms than a Bush speech. There have to be better "solve-conspiracy-puzzle" thrillers out there.

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frednamode's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

A good portion of the book hinges on ambigrams being the most miraculous inimitable creation, yet when we meet them they are anything but. They are barely legible unless you’ve some idea of the word you are looking for - any 13 year old with a tumblr account has seen better ambigram tattoos that Brown offers us in this book

the characters felt flat, especially the only female lead who was used as a romantic interest and a plot device, her body unnecessarily sexualised at all manor of occasion from the moment we meet her, to the very last page of the book.

The plot dragged on to a very predictable plot twist to avoid making any political statement.

Okay for an airport read I guess 2/5

Also the science falls flat wrt the antimatter. You cannot convince me that a bomb which would destroy an entire city would be stopped by a mile or two of air. Unlike an explosive that fires shrapnel and therefore is majorly limited by air resistance, gravity & other forces, antimatter would easily burn through the very low density air and get to the people below. Even if there was extreme cloud cover, that wouldn’t be as effective as a big thick vault. It’s about the number of particles needed for antimatter annihilation not the distance between them.

Brown needs to spend less time kissing his own ambigram and more time talking to a physicist

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

The Catholic Church’s circus tent is about to come crashing down. Dan Brown is incredible at creating a fast-paced while still multi-layered thriller that at the same has the spectacle and religious esotericism as an Indiana Jones film. (Robert Langdon is effectively Indiana Jones without the aesthetic) The religious and artistic history entranced me like hypnosis—Christians stole the practice of “god-eating” from the Aztecs after conquering their empire. Some of the plot points seemed a little unnecessary though—why does Robert go into the helicopter? I did the love the fast pace but slow burn of the reveals, like the dead Pope actually being the camerlengo’s father and not just his foster father, and the camerlengo’s reveal as Janus. Vittoria and Robert are a cute couple, and they are definitely a good match—she’s determined and flexible (literally and figuratively) and he’s quiet and compassionate. The scientific theory, though advanced, is clearly and concisely explained to the non-scientific mind. The backstories (for Langdon and Vittoria especially) are incredibly compelling, like how Vittoria came to meet and grow up with the man that would adopt her. The Hassassin’s deadly inspiration and glorious delight in his cruelty weave a spell-binding villain. But the one of the most significant elements of the story is the fact that you can truly walk this Path of Illumination—from “Habakkuk and the Angel” in the Chigi Chapel in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Popolo (Earth—Terra) to the “West Ponente” relief in St. Peter’s Square (Air—Aria) to “The Ecstasy of St. Teresa” in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria (Fire—Fuòco) to the Fountain of the Four Rivers in front of the church of Saint Agnes in Agony in the Piazza Navona (Water—Acqua) and finally to the Church of Illumination within Castel Sant’Angelo. The path is real though the story may not be. Let angels guide thee on thy lofty quest…

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greek_book_wanderer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Στο βιβλίο “Illuminati - Οι Πεφωτισμένοι”, γνωριζόμαστε με τον καθηγητή Ρόμπερτ Λάνγκτον, τον κύριο πρωταγωνιστή των βιβλίων του συγγραφέα. Τα γεγονότα λαμβάνουν χώρα στο Βατικανό, όπου ο Λάνγκτον καλείται να εμποδίσει τα καταστροφικά σχέδια της αρχαίας μυστικής αδελφότητας που ακούει στο όνομα Illuminati.

Από άποψη γραφής θύμιζε πολύ το προηγούμενο βιβλίο του Brown, τον Κώδικα Ντα Βίντσι το οποίο είχα διαβάσει πριν από αυτό. Η αφήγηση ήταν ίδια, τριτοπρόσωπη, δίνοντας μία εικόνα για τις σκέψεις διαφόρων χαρακτήρων, βοηθώντας έτσι τον αναγνώστη να τους γνωρίσει καλύτερα. Η γραφή ήταν απλή, περιγραφική εκεί που έπρεπε και τα κεφάλαια ήταν μικρά και περνούσαν γρήγορα.

Κάτι το οποίο είδα να επαναλαμβάνεται, είναι η αδυναμία του συγγραφέα να δώσει περισσότερη «προσωπικότητα» στους πρωταγωνιστές. Τόσο ο Λάνγκτον, όσο και η σύμμαχος του, Βικτόρια Βέτρα ήταν αρκετά βαρετοί σε ορισμένα σημεία και δεν ένιωθα δέσιμο μαζί τους. Εξαιτίας του μεγάλου όγκου πληροφοριών και συμβολισμών που υπάρχουν στο βιβλίο, θεωρώ ότι εμποδίζεται η εξέλιξη των χαρακτήρων, οι οποίοι ήταν σαν ρομπότ. Για ακόμη μία φορά, το ενδιαφέρον μου στράφηκε στους δευτερεύοντες χαρακτήρες, από τους οποίους μερικοί ήταν πιο περίπλοκοι και (κατά εμέ) καλογραμμένοι.

Η πλοκή ήταν ενδιαφέρουσα και εκτυλισσόταν γρήγορα ενώ προσωπικά τη βρήκα περισσότερο ενδιαφέρουσα σε σχέση με το προηγούμενο βιβλίο. Υπήρχε παραπάνω δράση και η μάχη μεταξύ επιστήμης και θρησκείας μού κέντρισε περισσότερο το ενδιαφέρον. Η εξέλιξη των γεγονότων κινεί την περιέργεια του αναγνώστη, καθώς και τα cliffhangers σε ορισμένα κεφάλαια και οι ανατροπές αποτελούν την κορύφωση.

Είναι ένα ωραίο αστυνομικό θρίλερ, με το οποίο μπορεί να περάσει ευχάριστα η ώρα. Μην το αντιμετωπίσετε σαν ένα βιβλίο που θα σας ανοίξει τα μάτια, παρά σαν ένα ευχάριστο ανάγνωσμα. Αν δεν έχετε διαβάσει βιβλία του Dan Brown, είναι ένας ωραίος τρόπος να ξεκινήσετε.

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative 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

3.75

I admire Dan Brown for his ability to create these kinds of page-turners full of interesting facts. I'm not a huge fan of action books or movies where everything is centered around villains and violence, but all the nerdy stuff in this book surely made up for it :)

On the other hand, I really dislike Brown's way of writing characters, everything from creating backstories interesting enough to describing them in present day and action. I mean, of course Robert Langdon is as perfect as Brown's wanted him to be (bet he created him as a perfect version of his own self), but oh god, ARE THERE MORE TO FEMALE CHARACTERS THAN THEIR BODIES? Obviously there should be, but I wouldn't recommend using Brown's books as a guide to writing women. Or, tbh, any other characters either, so very one-dimensional, stereotypical, (and even racist) he made them all (apart from Langdon ofc). Especially the assassin — his actions and overall villain-ness didn't frustrate me nowhere near as his personality was written to be.

So, overall the story was adventurous and entertaining if you just treat most of the chacters as "necessary implementers to the required actions" and ignore their personal traits. Wouldn't recommend if you dislike science and/or history.

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