Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

Title: The Book of Blood and Shadow
Author: Robin Wasserman
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: April 10, 2012
Source: Thanks Netgalley and Random House!
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Summary: 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.


Review: The Book of Blood and Shadow is almost indescribable. It's full of ancient history, books, blood and so many things that you wouldn't think could ever make sense. But when everything finally comes together, it's incredible.


Other then the history, the thing I loved best about The Book of Blood and Shadow was the scavenger hunt aspect. Most of the book is spent trying to find things and deciphering different codes. I LOVED this. When scavenger hunts are done well in books they're great. But this-this was brilliant. What Wasserman did in this book was pure genius!


I won't touch too much on the history, other to say that it was fantastic. Isn't it awesome when you can absorb and learn new things by reading a great book? That's exactly what happened in The Book of Blood and Shadow.


Nora. If anyone everyone ever mentions the name Nora to me, I'm sure I'll think of this Nora. Nora is smart, witty and underneath she's just struggling to survive after so many awful and unthinkable things have happened to her. The girl even knows Latin for goodness sakes! How could you not love her?


The supporting cast of characters left a mark on me as well. Every single one of them from The Hoff to Chris to Eli and back to Elizabeth wormed their way inside my head and didn't let go while I was reading. I just loved them all so much. They're written in such a way that you just get to know them so well and you can't help but love (or hate) them to pieces.


The Book of Blood and Shadow is intriguing, suspenseful and incorporates history effortlessly. It has all that plus amazing, well-developed characters. Basically, I love this book.


Rating:

2 comments:

Lauren M said...

"indescribable" is the perfect word! I was completely blown away by The Book of Blood and Shadow. Glad to hear that you were, too! I think Robin Wasserman has definitely taken her writing to a new level with this book. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

Yeah, I pretty much read this book with my mouth open! Can you imagine the research that went into that story? It really was a wild, YA DaVinci Code!

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