Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Änglar och demoner by Dan Brown

25 reviews

mustafai's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

 
Firstly, I ask myself this question, was the book interesting enough considering its length ? The answer is NO. Not quite enough. 
 
Professor Robert Langdon gets a call in the middle of the night from CERN(European Organisation for Nuclear Research) asking him to come over as there is a crisis. A scientist has been murdered and a symbol has been branded on his chest. Robert Langdon gets there in a science-fiction created plane. The brand on the deceased scientist chest is ‘Illuminati’. Professor Langdon who specialises in religous symbology, is baffled as the illuminati is supposed to be defunct since last 150 years! 

 Dan Brown succeeds in getting us glued to the story, which is pretty interesting to read. But there are a lot of twists in it, and the last few are more cinematic than realistic to convince those who cannot keep logic away. 
Robert Langdon is a fantastic character and so is the Carmalengo but the rest were pretty ordinary. The assassin or ‘Hassassin’ in this book is not fascinating as you are not convinced till the end how he was found and convinced to do such a dangerous job. 
In some parts the book becomes a real page-turner but then there being lots of unanswered questions about the motivations of certain characters and defying of (forget science), plain logic make this book an average thriller at best despite the fascinating Vatican City history, architecture of the churches and illuminati symbolism. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

miri42's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readingreader303's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

emsbookshelf_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THIS WAS SUCH AN EASY 5 STARS OH MY GOD

This book was everything I want when I want to read adventiure. It had morally grey characters. fast pacing, and a well driven plot that - at times - descended into pure chaos. 

The plot itself follows a Harvard Symbologist and Illumanti expert, Robert Langdon, as he attempts to stop the destruction of the Catholic Chruch at the Conclave. This novel explores the science versus religion debate very heavily and - as someone with an interest in this ares - I found this very enjoyable and interesting to read. Brown's writing was fast-paced, and at times, so-bad-it's-good. There were easter eggs peppered all over the plot, making for a reading experience that was easy to get sucked in to.

As far as characters go - overall, I did not think that the cast of characters were overly developed, or likeable. However, as the plot is the main forcys of this novel, that did not matter so much. Brown's use of mythical allusion for the more duplicitous characters (i.e., Janus) was a real stand out in this  novel.

Overall, I would reccomend this book to those interested in fast-paced mystery thrillers, who edon't mind that the intensity of a plot leads to underdevelopped characetrs. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

crazytealady's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

A great comfort read! 

I just love Dan Brown’s writing style. He is so descriptive - you really dive into his world and it feels like you’re there. I’d also have the urge to write down every place in the book so I can visit/revisit them - like the Vatican Necropolis! 

I’m probably biased since I love stories about a) Italy b) the Vatican c) mysteries or who-dunnits d) symbolism - this was my cup of tea. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pearlnavratik's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

excellent book, but was slightly thrown off by the sensualization of the sole female character
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

shetland_pone's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

If you don't pay any attention, it's fun, but the moment you start to think about things it all falls apart. Langdon is a Mary Sue, most of the characters are seriously unlikeable, and the ending was a shitshow. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kit666's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Ich muss ehrlich sagen, dass ich nicht mit dem Ende gerechnet habe! Sobald Kohler zum Vatikan kam, dachte ich es ist klar, was Sache ist. CERN sind die Illuminati etc etc. Ich war sogar leicht enttäuscht, dass alles so ein "Happy End" hatte und habe nur noch auf die Aufklärung gewartet wir Kohler alles geplant und ausgeführt hat. Doch dann kam der Plottwist. 
Anfangs habe ich den Camerlengo sogar gemocht! Es wurde also super geschrieben! 
Am Ende hat mir besonders die logische Erklärung für alles mit einem Hauch von Mystik gefallen. Das war genau das, was ich haben wollte und weswegen ich vor dem Plottwist so enttäuscht war. 
Ich finde es schade, dass Vittoria eine vergleichsweise kleine Rolle hatte. Sie hätte definitiv weiter ausgebaut werden können/sollen. Man weiß so gut wie garnichts über sie und das obwohl sie doch fast immer mit Langdon zusammen unterwegs war.
Zwischen Langdon und Vittoria ist natürlich gaaaaanz viel Trauma-Bonding zu sehen, was aber nach allem was passiert ist verständlich ist.
Warum ausgerechnet Langdon so viel gemacht hat, macht in meinen Augen wenig Sinn. Ich verstehe, warum er als Berater hinzugezogen wurde, aber darüber hinaus? 
Es wäre sehr interessant und cool gewesen, wenn der Hauptcharakter jemand wie Rocher oder Oberst Olivetti wäre. Wobei ich sagen muss, dass ich Olivetti nicht sonderlich sympathisch fand haha. Wobei der wohl nervigste Charakter Glick ist. Meine Güte. Die Rolle hätte man auch einfach als No-Name Rollen verteilen können.
Es war unglaublich spannend, sich die Bilder von den echten Skulpturen usw. anzuschaue, während sie im Buch beschrieben werden! Das transportiert einen natürlich sofort ins Geschehen!
Das Buch hat mir sehr gefallen! Ich weiß, dass der Film sehr beliebt ist, habe ihn selber aber nie gesehen. Wenn man es also ohne Vorwissen liest, kann es super als alleinstehenden Roman lesen! Ich würde gern mal nach Rom, um mir die Orte auch in echt anzuschauen. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass das sehr Spaß machen würde!

Doesn't pass the Bechdel Test tho.. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

notartgarfunkel's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings