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A review by marygbookshelf
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
4.0
This book started out very slow for me initially and took me about a week to read a little each night before it really picked up for me. Once Robert and Vittoria were on the hunt to save the Cardinals--I couldn't stop reading the book until 4:30 in the morning! Now just finished it.
After first reading "Da Vinci Code", the plot set-up and character building seemed very similar in this book (which makes sense since "Angels & Demons" was was written first). Initially, I found myself thinking "oh yeah, I know how this is going to turn out"...but BANG there were some twists and glad that I continued reading!
Despite the somewhat "cookie cutter" style of the book, what I enjoyed most about this novel (and what encouraged me to keep on reading) was the exploration of the long-time debate between religion vs. science as well as learning more about the Illuminati lore. In addition to Brown doing a good job of using the voice of specific characters to argue for/against science and for/against religion, he also invites the reader to explore the parallelism as well as the partnership of the two. The Camerlengo's speech later in the book was especially moving.
On a fun note, when I do visit Rome and the Vatican City...I'm definitely going to be very observant of the symbolisms and signs. Also, will be thinking about what is lying beneath the grounds.
I'll forgive his formula style writing as long as he continues to make me think/question what I've learned in history/politics/religion/science, sprinkle in some word/mind puzzles, and keeps me up all night to find out what happens next.
After first reading "Da Vinci Code", the plot set-up and character building seemed very similar in this book (which makes sense since "Angels & Demons" was was written first). Initially, I found myself thinking "oh yeah, I know how this is going to turn out"...but BANG there were some twists and glad that I continued reading!
Despite the somewhat "cookie cutter" style of the book, what I enjoyed most about this novel (and what encouraged me to keep on reading) was the exploration of the long-time debate between religion vs. science as well as learning more about the Illuminati lore. In addition to Brown doing a good job of using the voice of specific characters to argue for/against science and for/against religion, he also invites the reader to explore the parallelism as well as the partnership of the two. The Camerlengo's speech later in the book was especially moving.
On a fun note, when I do visit Rome and the Vatican City...I'm definitely going to be very observant of the symbolisms and signs. Also, will be thinking about what is lying beneath the grounds.
I'll forgive his formula style writing as long as he continues to make me think/question what I've learned in history/politics/religion/science, sprinkle in some word/mind puzzles, and keeps me up all night to find out what happens next.