Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

23 reviews

lauren625's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Blood

Minor: Sexual violence and Death of parent

crazytealady's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative 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? No

4.25

A great comfort read! 

I just love Dan Brown’s writing style. He is so descriptive - you really dive into his world and it feels like you’re there. I’d also have the urge to write down every place in the book so I can visit/revisit them - like the Vatican Necropolis! 

I’m probably biased since I love stories about a) Italy b) the Vatican c) mysteries or who-dunnits d) symbolism - this was my cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Blood and Kidnapping

Minor: Ableism, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

pearlnavratik's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

excellent book, but was slightly thrown off by the sensualization of the sole female character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

kit666's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Ich muss ehrlich sagen, dass ich nicht mit dem Ende gerechnet habe! Sobald Kohler zum Vatikan kam, dachte ich es ist klar, was Sache ist. CERN sind die Illuminati etc etc. Ich war sogar leicht enttäuscht, dass alles so ein "Happy End" hatte und habe nur noch auf die Aufklärung gewartet wir Kohler alles geplant und ausgeführt hat. Doch dann kam der Plottwist. 
Anfangs habe ich den Camerlengo sogar gemocht! Es wurde also super geschrieben! 
Am Ende hat mir besonders die logische Erklärung für alles mit einem Hauch von Mystik gefallen. Das war genau das, was ich haben wollte und weswegen ich vor dem Plottwist so enttäuscht war. 
Ich finde es schade, dass Vittoria eine vergleichsweise kleine Rolle hatte. Sie hätte definitiv weiter ausgebaut werden können/sollen. Man weiß so gut wie garnichts über sie und das obwohl sie doch fast immer mit Langdon zusammen unterwegs war.
Zwischen Langdon und Vittoria ist natürlich gaaaaanz viel Trauma-Bonding zu sehen, was aber nach allem was passiert ist verständlich ist.
Warum ausgerechnet Langdon so viel gemacht hat, macht in meinen Augen wenig Sinn. Ich verstehe, warum er als Berater hinzugezogen wurde, aber darüber hinaus? 
Es wäre sehr interessant und cool gewesen, wenn der Hauptcharakter jemand wie Rocher oder Oberst Olivetti wäre. Wobei ich sagen muss, dass ich Olivetti nicht sonderlich sympathisch fand haha. Wobei der wohl nervigste Charakter Glick ist. Meine Güte. Die Rolle hätte man auch einfach als No-Name Rollen verteilen können.
Es war unglaublich spannend, sich die Bilder von den echten Skulpturen usw. anzuschaue, während sie im Buch beschrieben werden! Das transportiert einen natürlich sofort ins Geschehen!

Das Buch hat mir sehr gefallen! Ich weiß, dass der Film sehr beliebt ist, habe ihn selber aber nie gesehen. Wenn man es also ohne Vorwissen liest, kann es super als alleinstehenden Roman lesen! Ich würde gern mal nach Rom, um mir die Orte auch in echt anzuschauen. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass das sehr Spaß machen würde!

Doesn't pass the Bechdel Test tho.. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement

naiu_cs's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence

notartgarfunkel's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit and Medical content

Minor: Fatphobia and Islamophobia

laurajordensharris's review

adventurous 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cocacolor's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racial slurs

purplehulk713's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent