Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am such a bookworm, it is bordering ridiculous how much I read. Once I get my head in a book, that's it, I'm in a whole different world. Having just finished an English degree, I am far too excited to be able to read for pleasure again. Cool, I know. Reading has always been my main form of escape and it probably always will be. Some authors just amaze me, I'll give you some of my favourite's later. Back to Inferno. I have read all of Dan Brown's books more than once and I find him to have become a bit of a disappointment lately. I know many people will disagree but to me, he's lost that wow factor he had with The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. After his last Robert Langdon novel, I was left feeling a bit cheated, it felt like he had sold out and written a screenplay to sell rather than a story for the reader to lose themselves in. The only incredibly imaginative and striking aspect being the tattooed villain Malloch. I have been proved right as well as it was recently announced that it was going to be made into a film. Considering that, I was a bit apprehensive when it came to Inferno. Another Langdon novel but this time inspired by the epic poem by Dante Alligheri. The history and culture in Brown's latest race against the clock does not disappoint, it is the excitement of a gripping storyline that falls short. Nothing seems original or passionate anymore. Even the twists towards the end failed to draw a gasp from my lungs. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has yet to read it and I hope that you may finish it feeling less deflated than I did. Other than making me want to return to Italy again and perhaps take on the task of reading Dante's work, I took very little from this book.
If any of you need any recommendations for your summer holidays, here are a few I would majorly recommend: if you're a crime fan, Karen Rose is the way foward, her mix of brutal incidents and beautiful characters is beyond addictive. Her sub plots of love and humanity are incredible and just as amazing to me as the incredible detail in which she portrays psycho's and socipaths. I love her.
If you go more for adventure with a bit of history; Matthew Reilly's Seven Ancient Wonders trilogy is one of my favourites of recent years. Again, amazing characters in some truly great storylines woven with history and mythology that has you hooked from the very beginning. James Rollins also writes some really good adventure tales, I strongly recommend the Judas Strain followed by The Last Oracle.
If you're more of a romantic, Victoria Hislop's The Island is where you need to go. Based on the true history of the leper colony that used to inhabit the small venetian fortress on an island just off crete, Spinalonga. A truly magical tale of one family's plight in an unimaginably difficult situation but a truly beautiful place. It had me crying way more than once.
Finally, a trilogy that is difficult to place in a genre. Justin Cronin's The Passage. The third book is yet to be released but the first two are something else. Composed of a view different forms of emails, diaries and prose much like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Cronin weaves one of the greatest post apocalyptic tales I have ever read. I don't know what else to say other than you should read it if you want something that will blow your mind a little bit. Twisted, haunting and yet almost romantic at times, it has you hooked from the very beginning.
Let me know if you've read any of these and what you think!
And recommendations are always welcomed!:)
Becca.
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