A review by novelheartbeat
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
3.0
All my reviews are posted on Auntie Spinelli Reads
I must say I kinda waffled when it came to rating this one. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship going with this book, alternating between being intrigued and bored out of my freakin' mind. My attention span wandered and I couldn't connect to the characters at all, which really dragged the story down for me. A few times I considered giving up, but I'm glad I didn't. The last 20% or so made up for the rest.
When I picked this one up, I had absolutely no clue what it was about. I went by the cover without reading the synopsis - not gonna lie, thought it was about vampires or something. Go ahead, have a laugh. Ha, ha. I certainly feel silly now! There was no paranormal aspect at all.
The story dragged a lot, at times in the beginning I didn't really know what the hell was going on or what the book was even about. I wasn't interested in historical letters written by dead people - because, let's face it, history makes my brain go into a mild coma. But it was all so mysterious, and after things start happening - accidents and murders - my interest was piqued. This story reminded me a lot of The DaVinci Code. Clues and dead-ends, lies and betrayal.
Even though I was mystified, I still couldn't really get into it until the part where two of the main characters broke into somewhere. It reminded me so much of the part in National Treasure where Nicolas Cage and the woman (whoever she is) have a fake argument to get into the office to see the desk. It was awesome! I did really like the whole treasure-hunt feel going on.
After that part there were about another 100 pages of boredom, and BAM! The truth comes out, and wow. That was a twist I never saw coming. The deceit! The treachery! If you didn't know already, I love being surprised. The end really brought this book around for me and made me re-think the low rating I was going to give it.
Quotes:
"Ah, your words say you hate me, but your face says..." He narrowed his eyes and gave me an exaggerated once-over.
"Yes?"
"You hate me." He shrugged. "At least you're consistent."
"You're alarmingly good at acting the bitch," he whispered. "It suggests practice."
"And you're alarmingly good at acting whipped," I shot back. "Food for thought."
I love these, if she had interjected that kind of humor into the whole story I may have loved it.
ASSESSMENT
Plot: 3.5/5
Writing style: 3/5
May have been because it was an uncorrected proof, but the sentences were horrifically long and hard to follow. Sometimes I had to re-read a sentence several times to understand because it was just one big run-on.
Characters: 2/5
I never connected.
World-building: 3/5
Pace: 2.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5 starfish
I must say I kinda waffled when it came to rating this one. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship going with this book, alternating between being intrigued and bored out of my freakin' mind. My attention span wandered and I couldn't connect to the characters at all, which really dragged the story down for me. A few times I considered giving up, but I'm glad I didn't. The last 20% or so made up for the rest.
When I picked this one up, I had absolutely no clue what it was about. I went by the cover without reading the synopsis - not gonna lie, thought it was about vampires or something. Go ahead, have a laugh. Ha, ha. I certainly feel silly now! There was no paranormal aspect at all.
The story dragged a lot, at times in the beginning I didn't really know what the hell was going on or what the book was even about. I wasn't interested in historical letters written by dead people - because, let's face it, history makes my brain go into a mild coma. But it was all so mysterious, and after things start happening - accidents and murders - my interest was piqued. This story reminded me a lot of The DaVinci Code. Clues and dead-ends, lies and betrayal.
Even though I was mystified, I still couldn't really get into it until the part where two of the main characters broke into somewhere. It reminded me so much of the part in National Treasure where Nicolas Cage and the woman (whoever she is) have a fake argument to get into the office to see the desk. It was awesome! I did really like the whole treasure-hunt feel going on.
After that part there were about another 100 pages of boredom, and BAM! The truth comes out, and wow. That was a twist I never saw coming. The deceit! The treachery! If you didn't know already, I love being surprised. The end really brought this book around for me and made me re-think the low rating I was going to give it.
Quotes:
"Ah, your words say you hate me, but your face says..." He narrowed his eyes and gave me an exaggerated once-over.
"Yes?"
"You hate me." He shrugged. "At least you're consistent."
"You're alarmingly good at acting the bitch," he whispered. "It suggests practice."
"And you're alarmingly good at acting whipped," I shot back. "Food for thought."
I love these, if she had interjected that kind of humor into the whole story I may have loved it.
ASSESSMENT
Plot: 3.5/5
Writing style: 3/5
May have been because it was an uncorrected proof, but the sentences were horrifically long and hard to follow. Sometimes I had to re-read a sentence several times to understand because it was just one big run-on.
Characters: 2/5
I never connected.
World-building: 3/5
Pace: 2.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5 starfish