Review Arc: The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wassermann

Title: The Book of Blood and Shadow

Author: Robin Wasserman

Expected publication: April 10th 2012 by Random House Children's Books
ARC taken from Netgalley

Book Description:

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

My Thoughts:

The secret lies within her letters…

                The story revolves about Nora who’s trying to solve the mystery behind the death of her bestfriend Chris, and apparently, her boyfriend Max seems to be the suspect. She wants to prove his innocence therefore leading her to Prague with the help of Adriane and Eli as they try to uncover the mysteries from a century-old manuscript and the dark secrets it holds within.

                I decided to request this ARC from netgalley because first of all, I’m a big murder mystery fan. Before I started reading YA books, I read horror, thrillers and murder mystery novels that I really enjoyed. When I found out that this is YA plus mystery, I was so excited to read this, especially after seeing the good feedbacks from Goodreads. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite enjoy it like I expected, probably because the idea about Prague and its history didn’t quite grabbed me and the letters were too long that I found myself skipping them!

                But despite all that, I still somehow enjoyed the mystery parts. I kept thinking who the real killer is, and I had a lot of suspects. I love it when a book keeps me thinking. The revelation of who the culprit was didn’t surprised me at all, but I was surprised about that person’s certain relationship to one of the characters. I didn’t expected that!

                I liked Nora. She’s strong, intelligent and very persistent in uncovering the secrets of the letters. Eli is another character I enjoyed. He’s funny, sarcastic, and he’s gorgeous! He’s one of the reasons why I kept reading!

                Overall, this book lacked a bit of the “oomph!” factor that I’m looking for in a murder mystery novel. A lot of parts were really boring, but there were also parts that I enjoyed. Fans of the Da Vinci code will probably like this one :D

I give this book 2.5 whales.