binstonbirchill's review
3.0
I’m working my way towards reading the divine comedy so naturally this one caught my eye. I enjoyed the poets and their Dante club and the murder mystery in concept was a good one. I do wish the poets had stayed in their study and speculated about the murder, then had office Rey come to them for advise repeatedly I think the story would have been more satisfactory. I didn’t really need the poets running around Cambridge hunting a killer. Less action and more discussion would have been my preference but still I did enjoy the book and I also wish Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr had gotta a bit more page time.
jenmkin's review against another edition
2.0
If you like Dante and are interested in Longfellow, you can probably make it through this book, but you also probably don't want to. Props for a fun idea, but the execution is poor
jake_leicht's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
chrisbrakebill's review against another edition
3.0
Really fun book to read. I love exciting murder mysteries and this one had a good literary background.
lucrezia30's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
evelynb29's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Do not read this whilst eating!
whippycleric's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Having a murder mystery set in a real historical setting and trying to remain faithful to the real people's characters whilst writing a fiction novel is quite a challenge, but expertly achieved here. It's a slow burn so you have to commit in first third knowing it gets quicker paced later on. A solid mystery, very interesting characters, sub plots all coming together neatly at the end tying up all lose ends nicely. A unique book which I'd recommend.
rachelll2020's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sweetash_reads's review against another edition
It wasn’t catching my interest and my TBR is too big to waste my time on a dull start. I’ll try it again at another time