This is a book that I picked up on a whim when I stopped by at my local library. It had an interesting cover and the short blurb about it was intriguing. So despite my exam stress and course deadlines, I decided to take the leap and read this novel. Here is my review and my opinion:
In Barcelona in 2003, tragedy strikes through a series of gruesome murders; three young women are found dead with their bodies mutilated by a cryptic alphabet and with their tongues cut out. Inspector Fabregat received a beautiful and sinister letter before each body was found but he was unable to decipher the clues within.
It is now 2014 in Barcelona and Anna Verco, an academic and book thief, unearths hidden letters in a chapel in Mallorca. These letters connect her to Inspector Fabregat and leads them to reignite the case of the brutal murders. As Fabregat uses Anna as bait to lure out the perpetrator of the crime, Anna hunts her own prey – a medieval book written in the language of witches and alchemists: The Serpent Papers.
This book had such an interesting plot. I don’t know much about the topic of alchemy so I was excited to read this novel. The reviews on it said it was similar to the work of Dan Brown, an author I adore, so my expectations were set quite high This novel let me down harder than I could ever have imagined. The story was so disjointed; literally nothing made sense. The writing style is abrupt and doesn’t make any clear connections. I kept pushing through, hoping that the author was simply trying to entice me. But no. The descriptions of the alchemical text was not explained thoroughly; my understanding on the subject has not improved whatsoever from this novel. In fact, I did not even finish this novel because I simply got tired of trying to make connections that just didn’t exist. If someone manages to read it, please let me know what you thought and whether it is worth giving another shot. For now, I’m giving up.
Happy Reading ~