chapter_adventure's Reviews (801)

This book was a treat for me to read. So different from what I've been reading lately that it was a welcome change. This book is quirky, funny, and just plain fun to read. I loved the wide variety of characters and I couldn't help but notice how they are all so different but in the end they all have a piece of themselves to give to each other. They are all very charming in their own way and I love the lifelong friendships that were created in this book. The 'mystery' part of it is so fun to follow because it delves back in to history and ancient secret societies, but uses modern day technology (Google!) to figure out just what is going on. It shows us that both ends of the spectrum are important and relevant. A short, quick read and one that I couldn't put down. I loved the audio version of this book!

This book has all the things I love in a book- historical references, magic, action, interesting characters, with a little bit of romance mixed in. I enjoyed the second book in the series as well, although it wasn't quite as action packed as the first.

I'll be honest...the first half of the book was not all that enjoyable to me. It just kept going around and around and around the same issues and never finding solutions. I started to get bored with it and if I hadn't been reading it for a book club I may have abandoned it. But then there were little snippits of clues that started to hook me and nag at my curiosity. I really wanted explanations. I finally got them in the second half of the book and I'm extremely glad I stuck it out. The last couple of chapters I had to read in privacy because they made me so emotional. I have my bachelors in history and have spent some time studying Russian history so the story of Leningrad was particularly interesting and moving to me. All in all, I ended up loving the book. I'm just an impatient person and it took the author awhile to start making her point. I would fully recommend this book.