Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Illuminati by Dan Brown

21 reviews

readingreader303's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

enbylievable's review against another edition

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

2.25

DNF. idk, I was pretty excited to read it and other people told me they really remembered liking this book but I got so turned off by the constant racist portrayal of the sexually deviant stereotypic Arab antagonist, and then the entire climax is just the threat of sexual assault against the female supporting character acting as a motivator for the male protagonist. The plan was to read The DaVinci Code after this but I think I'll just look up a synopsis on youtube, really not enticed to read Dan Brown again. I was really interested by the theorization of religion as a social institution and I loved all the info about the Roman architecture and the rituals of the Vatican but it wasn't enough to keep me going with this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction

The main antagonist of this book is an Islamophobic non-specificly-Arab caricature who is depicted as sexually depraved and as primarily motivated by the opportunity to sexually assault the female supporting character. This threat of sexual assault is then framed as a strong motivating force for the male protagonist.

emsbookshelf_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

THIS WAS SUCH AN EASY 5 STARS OH MY GOD

This book was everything I want when I want to read adventiure. It had morally grey characters. fast pacing, and a well driven plot that - at times - descended into pure chaos. 

The plot itself follows a Harvard Symbologist and Illumanti expert, Robert Langdon, as he attempts to stop the destruction of the Catholic Chruch at the Conclave. This novel explores the science versus religion debate very heavily and - as someone with an interest in this ares - I found this very enjoyable and interesting to read. Brown's writing was fast-paced, and at times, so-bad-it's-good. There were easter eggs peppered all over the plot, making for a reading experience that was easy to get sucked in to.

As far as characters go - overall, I did not think that the cast of characters were overly developed, or likeable. However, as the plot is the main forcys of this novel, that did not matter so much. Brown's use of mythical allusion for the more duplicitous characters (i.e., Janus) was a real stand out in this  novel.

Overall, I would reccomend this book to those interested in fast-paced mystery thrillers, who edon't mind that the intensity of a plot leads to underdevelopped characetrs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

electric_revenge's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative tense medium-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

pearlnavratik's review against another edition

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

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

literallysam's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

The novel focuses on the ongoing war between science and religion for centuries.
The thing i absolutely loved about the book is that it's all based on facts.
It gives an exciting introduction to the world of conspiracy theories (before this book i had never even heard of Illuminati lol).😂🙈
This book is so exhilarating, thrilling, and imaginative! I love how the author has mixed scientific and religious elements perfectly.

I think you should definitely read it if you're a begginer. This book will definitely get you into mystery-thriller books. So if you're looking for something like that then i would highly recommend reading Angels and Demons.
I'm giving it a 4.8 star rating because some of the plot twists are so predictable- though it didn't stop me from reading and was still very exhilarating.
So yeah, apart from that the book is a real page turner!

Also, the movie based on the book sucks! I don’t think this counts as a con for the book, but still..
Don’t watch it. Especially not if you haven't read the book yet because then you might not even want to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

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

malignant_gnome's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Rape