Review of The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci

[Denna]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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The Girl who knew Da Vinci is an eclectic mix of history, suspense, romance and paranormal that should appeal to a wide audience. Angela is a young art historian who works at the Getty Museum. She finds herself transported to the past where she shares an intimate view in the life of Fioretta Gorini, a close friend of Leonardo Da Vinci. Fioretta is the mistress of Giulaino Medici. When the two lovers marry in secret, Leonardo paints them as a wedding gift. This mysterious painting is what sets up the rest of the plot in this story.

Guilaino is tragically killed soon after they marry and Fioretta dies in childbirth, but it appears they are destined to meet again and again through reincarnation until the spell that cost them their lives so long ago is finally broken.

Angela’s boss, Alberto Scordata, is the antagonist of this story, and he wants to use Angela to find this mysterious Da Vinci painting worth millions of dollars. Getting in his way is Alex Caine, an art detective who is hired by a wealthy German financier to find this missing painting. He wants to clear the name of his late uncle, Gerhard Jaeger, an art historian who went missing in Florence during World War II. Gerhard and a young Italian woman named Sophia are the reincarnation of Fioretta and Giulaino.

I enjoyed Angela’s trips back to the Medici period in Italy when we meet Fioretta, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Giulaino. I thought the depictions given of these people and the history came across realistic and interesting. From the title of the book, I anticipated more visits back to this time period, but it is mainly used to set up the missing painting which will be the focus of the rest of the story.

What I didn’t like so much was the romance side, which is odd because I’m usually drawn to romance. I couldn’t quite feel the building emotions between these two main characters. It came across rushed and a little forced. There was no real sexual tension between these two and I found myself wanting to skim through sex scenes to get back to the main plot, finding the missing painting, which I felt got lost at times. The antagonist, Alberto Scordata, was also a big disappointment. There was no depth to the man. A missed opportunity, in my opinion. He was evil, wanted the painting for monetary gain, and didn’t care who got hurt to achieve this. Pretty much sums him up.

I’m giving it three out of five stars because I did finish the story. I won’t give it less than three because there were parts that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the trip back through time to the Medici period. The mystery of where the painting was hidden was also good, and the climax of the story exciting. It’s definitely worth taking a look at.