3 out of 4 stars
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With a fine mixture of thriller, passion, and the supernatural, The Girl Who Knew da Vinci by Belle Ami follows the lives of two lovers destined to meet by an uncanny fate.
At the story’s center are Angela Renatus—an attractive art historian endowed with strange abilities—and Alex Caine—a charismatic art detective battling PTSD—who scramble to end a 500-year-old cycle destined to repeat itself for a third time. Partners under the ties of fate rather than by chance, Angela and Alex outrun adversaries in Italy, participating in a wild chase for the possession of a priceless painting by the masterful Leonardo da Vinci.
Belle Ami’s gripping and well-crafted novel was thoroughly impressive, my opinion. My excitement after the opening action persisted until the novel’s end. An understandable, action-packed plot makes for a great and easy read; and Ami’s characters were so well-developed that I came to an early understanding of all their attributes and could connect them to important events.
The book also excels in cleanly meshing many elements together. Although Ami’s novel features three couples’ love stories, I could empathize with all three, as these love stories seemed genuine and weren’t overwhelming. I also think the way in the characters’ experiences were interwoven was immaculate and impressive. Even the antagonists and their movements were well-developed.
Along with genuine love stories were natural and humorous dialogues which helped the story flow well. The novel was made up of great descriptions showcasing a beautiful vocabulary, so much that I could picture paragraphs like sequences in a movie. Finally, Ami rounded up the plot with an enticing cliffhanger that closed loose ends but left me craving more.
While there is much to praise, Ami’s novel was not without mistakes: punctuation was omitted many times and, in several instances, her use of italics was incorrectly formatted. Aside from mistakes, Angela’s characterization sometimes irked me immensely. She was frequently the embodiment of the useless heroine that doubts, cries, passes out, and needs saving. A few times (as a response to her abilities) would have been fine, but ‘a few’ quickly became ‘too many’.
Also, the sex. While I felt like the erotic scenes were well-written and essential to the storyline, there was just way too much unnecessary sex. Where cuddling/kissing would have sufficed for some of the more emotional moments in the novel, there was, instead, sex. At one point, when a chapter ended and the next one consisted almost entirely of sex, I grew bored with the repetition.
One last thing I found strange was the overall lack of da Vinci, despite the title. True, “the girl” did know da Vinci, but what of it other than the fact that his painting was being hunted down? Sadly, he wasn’t very significant. Perhaps addressing the painting in the title would have been more fitting.
In all, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Despite the mistakes and my criticisms, this novel truly was an interesting and worthwhile read. I enjoyed almost every second of it, and I think adults who enjoy art, mystery, the supernatural, and passionate romance will get a lot out of The Girl Who Knew da Vinci. I’m sure we can look forward to the series’ next installment.
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The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci
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