This is fast paced and really kept my attention. I liked all the codes and clues and deep meanings. I'm not any type of art historian so idk the truth to most of that, but it was cool to me. Also, I don't get hung up on the religion stuff. As far as I'm concerned, it could be anyone's guess about Jesus. The biggest draw back to this story IMO is how they always found clues or details but never revealed them right away. I know that was supposed to keep the reader drawn into the mystery more, but sometimes I just wanted them to spit it out.

Poor old Dan Brown. He does get a bit of stick. They say he writes silly, brainless stories told in a way appropriate for telling silly, brainless stories. With three thousand or so plot twists. In fact, my friends say, one cannot even call Dan Brown's novels stories - they're just collections of plot twists. By the end it really gets (unintentionally) hilarious - one twist and then another and another AND ANOTHER AND ANOTHER!!!, and you feel like a cat trapped in a washing machine. But fortunately unlike the cat you have the power to stop the ludicrous infantile spinning and just drop the book.

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Thanks to Net Galley and to Australian eBook Publisher (the author?) for offering me an ARC copy of this novel that I voluntarily choose to review.

As I do sometimes I checked some of the reviews of this book and I found that most people were really positive, and, interestingly, people who didn’t like it gave as reasons some of the same ones that made others like it. We all know nothing rules over personal taste.

The story, that it’s not straightforward to categorise (it has elements of thriller, of historical novel, of horror story with paranormal elements, even with religious undertones), is told in an interesting way. The story we start reading, after a brief prologue that hints at things to come, of Siobhan, a young woman who is given her mother’s Bible and a strange message after finding out she hanged herself in Spain, frames the main story, the confession by Siobhan’s mother, Denise. Siobhan follows her mother’s instructions and soon realises that many people seem invested in keeping hidden the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. For much of the book, Siobhan is just a stand-in for the reader, who gets hooked on the book her mother has left her as an explanation of what happened, and as we later learn, as a way of recruiting her into her mission. Siobhan experiences similar emotions to the readers, at times thinking the story is not possible, that her mother must have been unwell while at the same time finding it impossible to stop reading, in her case even when she’s in serious danger.

Denise’s confession is fascinating. What starts as the story of a single mother quickly turns into a thriller, where Denise is the victim of a conspiracy and with some paranormal help (yes, the devil of the title comes to the rescue, of course at a price) manages to get even. This part of the story, of greed, jealousy and friendship gone sour would make an interesting novel in its own right, although there are details that require some suspension of disbelief. The story eventually takes a moral turn and things get more bizarre (yes, even with the devil already on the scene). The nature of Denise’s family life comes into question and she has no option but to leave her loved ones without a word of explanation. She is recruited for a mission and as part of that we are introduced to a number of religious texts and historical facts of the XIII century that show a good research used in a very compelling way (although some readers did not enjoy it so much, but I’m sure others who love books such as The Da Vinci Code would appreciate it).

The writing is fluid and compelling, with some descriptive passages and some that offer moral lessons (especially about the role humanity has in destroying our environment, and about the cost of our wishes and desires, exemplifying the fact that actions have consequences) and a deep understanding of the texts and the religious questions discussed, without becoming preachy. At some points, especially when describing the texts, there is more telling than showing, but that can’t be avoided (and considering that according to the blurb, the author turned one of his scripts into a novel, it’s very well resolved). I’ve read some people who found the repeated used of long names (of monasteries and convents in particular) tiresome, although in my case, as a few of them were Spanish like me, I didn’t have much of an issue with it.

The story of Denise is completed within the book, but it ends up at the point when Siobhan goes back home and has to decide what she will do from now on. So there is some sort of resolution, but we are left at the beginning of another story.

Denise is an understandable and totally human character, who makes mistakes, who sometimes is confused about her emotions, who wants to believe the best of people but is sorely betrayed. She is faced with terrible decisions and if one tries to put oneself in her shoes, is not easy to know what one would do. Does one really always have to choose between two loves? Perhaps. We don’t have much chance to get to know Siobhan, other than as an ersatz reader and a girl who, like her mother, will pursue the truth even at the cost of her own safety. I hope we’ll be given a chance to get to know her better soon.

I enjoyed the book, both the intriguing and gripping story, and also the background of history and the fascinating documents described. I didn’t find it scary but it is a book that makes one think about one’s decisions, about the world and about what we would be prepared to sacrifice for those we love. And it’s impossible to put down.

Goodreads summary:

Harvard professor Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in Paris: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered inside the museum. Alongside the body, police have found a series of baffling codes.

As Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, begin to sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci – and suggests the answer to a mystery that stretches deep into the vault of history.

Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, a stunning historical truth will be lost forever…

My opinion:

This was an interesting book. I learnt quit a lot and it was really captivating, but I had some problems with it. The first one is that I absolutely hated Fache. He doesn't like women and everything I read one of his chapted I felt the hate coming. The second thing was that some parts were really boring and it took me way too long to get through this book (it took me 12 days in total to read The Da Vinci Code!). I lost my interest at the end of the book and I could not wait to start an other one.

Overal I think it's an important book to read and I still highly recommend it. I also liked the main character and the explanation about certain topics.

I've seen the movie last year (so before I read the book, yes shame on me!) but my plan is to re-watch it this month. The Da Vinci Code is the second book in this book series, but it's the first in the movie series. So they switched Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code (I think because The Da Vinci Code was already famous and Angels and Demons was less famous). Here's the trailer in case you haven't seen the movie yet (but I'm prettyy sure everybody has seen that one already!)

Am I the only one who has read this book so late or is it still in your tbr?

I was really looking forward to this book when i first bought it , despite me being a bit of religious thriller virgin, and not really knowing what to expect i was still disappointed by the writers style , characterization , and most of the content (emphasis on most remember). If i recall correctly there was quite a large segment of news coverage and hype on it when it was released in Scotland when i was growing up in 2003. Why was i not intrigued then to read then you may ask? I was six, and was nowhere near quite as ardent of a reader (i know it sounds narcissistic) as i am today. Following that , it did in fact make me increasingly more inquisitive about my own religion, it's origins, etc. Which i guess, was good. It showed me the tributary which leads to the vast sea of historical fiction so for that (which i guess was all because i picked it first before any other religious and/or historical novel) it gets three stars when originally started out with a meager two.