The Book of Blood and Shadow - Robin Wasserman

by 10:33 AM 6 comments


"It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark. 

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora’s best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora’s sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life."


I wish I could say I loved this book. Believe me, I really wanted to. Let's start with the fact that it took me the space of 8 days to actually read the whole book. By that I meant, it took me 8 days to get through 55 odd pages. After that, I spent one day powering through.

The start was slow. I was bored from the beginning which was a bad indication. But after reading all the 5-star reviews, I just had to keep going.
I loved all the characters from the start, mostly Elizabeth - the dead girl from the letters. But as the story continued, I just wanted to shake everyone. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THESE PEOPLE?!

I haven't read the Da Vinci Code, although this book has been compared to it many times. Religion, mystery and all that jazz? Yep, this book certainly has it. I love my history, but the way it was gilded was too much for me. There is plenty of betrayal, and a killer ending, but unfortunately it wasn't enough for me.

I wish I could write more for this review, but I really don't know what to say.

But don't take my word for it, try reading it for yourselves!


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Reader, Blogger

Twenty-something | book-blogger | tea-drinker | procrastinator | wannabe-writer | student

6 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you didn't like it. I guess everyone has those books that you want to like but just can't :( I'm super excited to read it though. I hope I like it.

    Emily@Emily's Crammed Bookshelf

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  2. I've also been seeing a lot of 5 star reviews for this one, though I haven't gotten to read it myself yet. Sorry to see you didn't enjoy it though. I don't know if I'm going to read it.. The description just doesn't draw me in like it should and if you say it didn't keep your interest when you wanted to like the book then I'm not sure it'll keep mine. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for the review! :)

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  3. The descriptions looks really interesting, though! I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like it much. I'm pretty touchy when it comes to all these religious things and slow beginnings, but hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on this book soon and read it for myself. :)

    Thanks for sharing!

    Meg
    The Book Galaxy

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  4. You're the 2nd person I've seen not really like it. But I can understand how it could get boring and bogged down in parts. If you haven't read the Da Vinci Code, that would be understandable to not see the connection. I did enjoy it, you can read my review here:
    http://misclisa.blogspot.com/2011/11/book-of-blood-and-shadow-by-robin.html

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  5. It sucks this book just didn't do it for you, but that sometimes happens and no one can help it. I felt the same about Beautiful Creatures - I just couldn't stomach this book. It was too long and too whiny. But hey, thanks so much for an honest review. I really appreciate it! :)

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  6. Oh this hurts my heart! I adored this book. But you make very good points about how the character personalities don't mesh with yours. That's an important distinction to make - and it has definitely happened with me.

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