I find it fascinating how 200 people can give a rating and review of a book and all say something completely different about it. You are the first one I have seen to comment that you didn't like the inclusion of Scordato. Given his minimal involvement until the very end, I think Ami felt like there wouldn't be enough suspense without a bad guy thrown in. I think it would have been a little less complicated had Scordato been a more integral part of the book.Cheryl12 wrote: ↑12 Jun 2018, 21:23
The least that I like about the book is twist that Scordato made to the mystery making it more complicated and how he tried to manipulate Angela
My actual rating for "The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci" is a three out of four Stars. I found only a few grammatical errors but the book is still fascinating to read.
Overall rating and opinion of "The Girl Who Knew da Vinci" by Belle Ami
- kfwilson6
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Re: " The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci" by Belle Ami
- kfwilson6
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It's on Kindle Unlimited if you haven't used your free trial for that, now might be the time. Or if you decide to trial KU later on, you might want to add this to your shelves to remind yourself. I highly recommend KU as many of the BOTD are on there.
- kfwilson6
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I think all of the discussion drew out the things I loved and hated about this book. For a while I saw a lot of negative comments about the romance aspect of it and I was like "yea, I didn't like that either!" And then I started to see a lot of comments about how much people enjoyed the glimpse into two different time periods. Overall, my rating would remain the same, but I would say I am more aware of the areas for improvement and the parts of the story I really enjoyed. I would still be willing to read a sequel to this book. I am curious as to how Ami will develop Angela's ability.bookowlie wrote: ↑27 Jun 2018, 08:54 This book has provoking an extremely lively discussion! In my in-person book club, the moderator has everyone give their rating before and then after the discussion. People sometimes change their opinion of the book, for better or worse, after listening to everyone's views.
Has anyone changed their opinion of this book after reading everyone's comments...and why?
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I initially rated the book 3 out of 4. I did that because of the errors (which have since been corrected by the author), the cluttered plot, and the central plot moving forward too slowly and going off track. After having such a lively discussion, I can't say I have changed my rating, although I do appreciate the author's historical research more. When I first read the book, I didn't realize parts of Fioretta and Giuliano's story was true, that the Uffizi Gallery actually exists, etc.kfwilson6 wrote: ↑29 Jun 2018, 11:48I think all of the discussion drew out the things I loved and hated about this book. For a while I saw a lot of negative comments about the romance aspect of it and I was like "yea, I didn't like that either!" And then I started to see a lot of comments about how much people enjoyed the glimpse into two different time periods. Overall, my rating would remain the same, but I would say I am more aware of the areas for improvement and the parts of the story I really enjoyed. I would still be willing to read a sequel to this book. I am curious as to how Ami will develop Angela's ability.bookowlie wrote: ↑27 Jun 2018, 08:54 This book has provoking an extremely lively discussion! In my in-person book club, the moderator has everyone give their rating before and then after the discussion. People sometimes change their opinion of the book, for better or worse, after listening to everyone's views.
Has anyone changed their opinion of this book after reading everyone's comments...and why?
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I completely agree with you, one or two errors in a whole book I can understand to a degree, but when there are 8-10 errors I think they should be called out.bookowlie wrote: ↑28 Jun 2018, 21:41 I felt the same way. The book was a solid 3 out of 4 stars for me, regardless of the errors. That being said, a book that is published should be free of errors. If the reader is noticing the errors, then the author and/or their editor should have picked them up. I think Indie writers often don't want to spend money on a professional editor; instead, they will have a relative or friend proofread the book. Of course, I'm not saying this was the case here.
Ernest Hemingway
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What surprises me is that bookowlie states that the errors she found in this book were corrected after her review was published, but I still found enough errors that I couldn't give this book a 4-star rating had I wanted to. If one reviewer points out ten errors, it's unlikely that reviewer even caught all of the errors there are. Sad....
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Perhaps Belle Ami only corrected the ten reported errors. It's really a pity when grammar becomes the issue that keeps a book from the perfect rating.
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When an author thanks their editor profusely, it still doesn't mean they actually paid for editor services (even a more affordable one). For all we know, an editor of a book is the writer's brother. Regarding the errors in this book, that's probably what happened. Otherwise, the author may not have sent the updated file to Amazon in a timely manner. With some OBC review books I've read that are in Kindle gift format, I've received a download that has draft written on it or something else that indicates it's not in final form.Miriam Molina wrote: ↑30 Jun 2018, 02:07 I think a really talented editor would be pricey. I recently reviewed a book that had the author thanking her editor profusely. Yet, I still found numerous grammatical flaws.
Perhaps Belle Ami only corrected the ten reported errors. It's really a pity when grammar becomes the issue that keeps a book from the perfect rating.
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If an author isn't careful enough to ensure he sends the right copy, I think he deserves to be dinged for the mistakes we see in old versions. You would think authors would be very careful of that. I like that on the reviews a note can be added that errors the reviewer noted were corrected. Especially if the reviewer indicates the errors impacted the score. Readers might be more apt to read the book if they know the errors no longer exist.
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I also think that if grammar is the only thing that keeps a book from a perfect rating, that is overkill (and I'm usually the grammar nazi in the room!)
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is also something I liked to read about, to learn about
various works. Romance is not something that mattered
to me, but I am okay with it being in the story. I found
that Belle Ami's writing style has improved from their
previous work. Kudos to the author!