It was kind of addictive. I started the book and several times decided to stop but couldn't, because I wanted to know how it will end. So I finished it and now I have no idea how to rate it.

The beginning was quite interesting and mysterious. Veronica gets dumped by his cheating boyfriend and suddenly sees a handsome young man, who is wearing a kilt. The next moment the man disappears. A bit later Veronica travels to Scotland with her friend Mackenna, who has inherited her aunts cottage. In Scotland Veronica again sees the same man and hears about Doon - a magical land hidden behind a veil of mist, which can be visited only once in a hundred years. The village people are sure that Mackenna's aunt was one of the people who had seen Doon with her own eyes. 

When girls find aunt's diary and the rings, Veronica decides to prove that Doon exists. Mackenna doesn't believe in it but plays along, so that Veronica could go on after she realizes Doon is just a fairytale. 
It turns out Doon is real and before you know the girls are thrown into a dungeon, accused by being the accomplices to a witch, who has tries to destroy Doon for centuries. Veronica's dream man turns out to be the crown prince of Doon, who can't stand the girl and acts like a total jerk.

Doon was a weird place with indoor plumbing, sword fights, sushi, and carriages. At first it was so strange, but there was a rather good explanation of this mixing of centuries. 

Some days ago I moaned about the lack of books with true female friendship, well Veronica and Mackenna were really good friends. But the girls themselves were ... I don't have good enough word for this. Some examples maybe:

[spoiler]* they don't like their looks but think the other one is absolutely gorgeous. 
* Mackenna has no time or patience to read her aunt's diary. She's stomping around the room and singing hits from musicals while Veronica is reading the diary. 
* They are accused of witchcraft and instead of keeping her mouth shut, Mackenna threatens a man with some "Disney magic". 
* The other time she decides to be silent and let Veronica speak, but opens her big mouth anyway and makes things worse again.[/spoiler]

Veronica plays a martyr almost the whole story. 

[spoiler]* She believes it's her duty to save Doon without saying anything to Mackenna or James. 
* Although James tells her, that he is a grown up and for once would like to make his own decisions (it turns out when you are a crown prince, your whole life is planned before your birth), Veronica just takes his choices away, because she "knows" what is best for James and Doon. 
* She also makes assumptions without knowing all the facts and almost kills everyone. 

[/spoiler]

And James, I actually thought he was bipolar. His mood swings were confusing as hell. Later I understood his behaviour but his stalling was annoying. 

I actually liked Duncan, Fiona, and Fergus. They had some sense and although some things were so obvious, those didn't bother me as much as all that stuff I wrote before.

I so hoped it to be a 5 star read because of Scotland, travelling to a fairytale land, magic, but unfortunately it wasn't so. 

I have been a fan of Dan Brown since The Da Vinci Code and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his books up until this one. This particular story was interesting in challenging our relationship with technology and perhaps opening a dialogue about our future as a species. The characters and story line just felt a little meh for me. 

Part of the charm of Dan Brown's stories are that they all take place in real places, and this is no exception. Focused in Spain our hero, Robert Langdon once again finds himself caught in the middle of an ordeal, this time focused on a former student of his. To say Langdon's character wasn't really necessary seems cruel, but that's how I felt. His particular expertise didn't shine through and his character could have been replaced with almost anyone with a similar academic background. His inclusion in the scandal felt forced at times and simply ridiculous at other times. 

Vidal was an interesting character and I enjoyed her contributions to the story. She really carried the story for me. A strong, intellectual, beautiful woman with ties to the throne, what could possibly be wrong with her? It was a remarkable commentary on her relationship with the Prince and how that all came together in the end. 

All in all I didn't love this particular installment of the series. I think fans of Dan Brown and his character Robert Langdon will find this interesting. The actual "discovery" is quite dramatic and very interesting and I would love to chat about it in real life, but alas the plot just didn't fit for me this time

Another Dan Brown classic! Robert Langdon is back in this book with another winding tale of symbology, secret passageways and allegorical puzzle. Once I started reading it I could not put it back down. I started reading the last 150 pages last night and after 3 hours found myself at the 98th chapter. The story is so immersive and mind boggling one wants to know what, why, who, when…all the time.

Inferno spans 3 most architectural cities of the world, starting from the artist’s haven i.e. Paris, sprinting into the beautiful waters and gigantic St. Mark’s Square of Venice and finally flying to its end straight into the East’s Heart i.e. Istanbul. As always, Dan Brown was very intimate and detailed about the architectural beauty of each historical building that Professor Landgon set foot in.

The most defining part of the whole story-line is that the plot spans a total of 2 days and 2 night only. 48 hours of Robert Langdon and a dramatic unraveling of Dante’s seven levels of hell. This is what makes it so empowering and fills your imagination with hundreds of minute thoughts, codes, architectural details. So much so that one can forget the subtle hints of the dark and twisty ending. But being a serial movie watcher that I am, I did guess some part of it by the beginning of the end (how boastful of me).

Nevertheless, the ending is kind of a boggling turn of events. I do not want to provide any spoilers so lets just say that the book’s ending is nothing like what you think it is. Its exactly the opposite. Still it needs to be said here that, although the story itself was riveting, the curtain dropping moment was not as imaginative and thrilling as I would have liked it to be. And as Inferno readers have come to known Dan Brown by. Still, its definitely, worth the read. Also, if you are a Dan Brown follower like me, you would read anything he offers like the Scripture.

I would highly recommend this book to detective and mystery novel enthusiasts with a touch of thrill.

Cheers.