Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Illuminati by Dan Brown

17 reviews

mahaofhyrule's review against another edition

Was honestly not really into it. I might try it again another time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Murder

They describe the victim's body in graphic detail.

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

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

shetland_pone's review against another edition

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

francisca_pitterle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

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

rachelditty's review against another edition

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

3.0

I wanted to reread The Da Vinci Code but decided to read the first of the Robert Langdon series before getting to the second book again. Angels and Demons was a fine enough read, definitely wasn't as pulling for me as I was hoping. I didn't love that the villain of the first three-quarters of the story was a stereotype, and I also disliked the insta-love between Langdon and Vitoria. 

What I did like about the story was how Langdon just seemed to be Some Guy for the first two and a half hours of the audiobook--he had no idea why he was there an neither did anyone else; he was just the first person they found who was a professor of religion when they googled it, which I find so funny. He was basically useless for three hours and just acted as a walking purse for Vitoria. I thought it was hilarious.

I also think a lot of male authors try to make good female characters and fail horribly. Dan Brown, however, seemed like he was trying to make a cookie-cutter female support character and accidentally made a pretty cool woman. I really liked Vitoria. Again, thought her relationship with Langdon was pretty rushed and didn't feel right, but I liked their friendship, it was fun. Plus, their final interaction where Vitoria said Langdon only wasn't religious because he hadn't let her fuck him yet was. Pretty great, I'm not going to lie. It was fun.

I also liked the balance that seemed to iron out by the end of the story between religion and science. Learning about the Pope and his own utilization of both polarized opposites was interesting, and I thought it was cool.

Didn't love this book, and it wasn't as fun as I was expecting, but I appreciated the twist at the end, and I like that Robert Langdon was kind of pathetic. Love that for him.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

alexandramrtin's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious reflective tense 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

4.25

only thing to say is that the antagonist was deliciously crafted and led to (a) nice plot twist(s)
obviously long but an enjoyable read, especially once things start coming together in the second half of the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

larxene_castellan's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment