Note: This review has been copied and pasted from my GoodReads account, to here. This review is a messy one.
This review contains spoilers.
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 didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. Maybe I expected a horror type young adult book. When I was reading I didn’t know what to expect and that kept me go. There is a really interesting story line.
I know that when I was reading it, I was feeling a lot of things. I was sad during the beginning of the book and I was dreading it at the same time. I thought that it was a slow read, even though it had its moments where it was exciting. In the first half there’s not much excitement. For me though I ended up liking this book. It has a great ending and left me wanting more.
*rant* I really didn’t like Max and Adriene’s relationship. I find that when authors make two characters annoy each other and call each other petty names, its obvious that later on in the book they’ll be together. And they did end up together and I thought they’re relationship together was an ugly one. They went behind Nora’s back and then Max just acted like everything was okay. When Nora did find out about it I loved her reaction and what she wanted to do to him. And Im glad that two-faced-back-stabbing-son-of-a-bitch got what he deserved in the end. Although I didnt expect what happened in the way it did. Props to Robin for making that happen.
I thought that Chris’ death was unnecessary and it was even though it happened the way it happened I really don’t like that it did happen. Chris was a really great character and even better boyfriend material. And now that I know that Adriane was cheating on Chris the whole time, this brings me to tell you that I really don’t like Adriane at all.
Eli. Good ‘ol Eli. He doesn’t make an appearance right away in the book which for me was good because when he was introduced, I was wary of this character. I remember in one part of the book Eli called Nora beautiful and this leads me to believe that if there were to be a sequel to this book I’d hope to see Eli and Nora develop a romantic type of relationship together. I ship them. So hard.
And this leads me to Nora. Im so glad that Nora is the main character in this book. Nora is awesome. She’s smart and corny. And serious when the characters needed to be calmed down. She’s lost a lot though and Im sorry she had to go through that. Even though I have little to say about Nora, I feel as though this is a good thing.
If your still here reading this, I definitely recommend this book so you can experience everything as I did.
I gave The Book of Blood and Shadow, 3 of 5 stars on GoodReads.
Have you read The Book of Blood and Shadow before?
Happy Reading!
Adele
