I read “Da Vinci code” and was disappointed

I didn’t read anything in the last two months so I was looking for something light just to get into reading again and my brother suggested me this book. The premise was interesting, I kind of enjoyed the first part where they are in the Louvre, but then my dislike started to grow to the point I just ended it yesterday just to see the end of it all (and it was SO lame).

I’ve read the italian version, so maybe something was lost in translation? Anyway, I found the style to be so so dull, like everything flows very nice and quick but not in the good way, you know? It felt like a train speeding through the rails. In many chapters I found myself reading “diagonally” just because the pages were FILLED in nothingness, just meaningless repetition of the things that were explained countless throughout the story.

The author also LOVES to explain things. But does so in very questionable ways. For example, when he introduces a new location, he will start a chapter talking about that place and its story and that’s cool when it’s done the first, second, third time. Then you read it for the 17th time and you kinda roll your eyes because it feels like reading a Wikipedia article.
Another way he will explain things will be making a character explain it to another character, and that’s textbook writing, except all the protagonists are expected to be kind of intelligent, academic and fond of symbologism people; in the end, you will just think Sophie is just a girl who doesn’t know anything because she is the one that always needs people to explain things to her.

But that’s ok, the true crime of this book, in my opinion, is its characters. They have zero personality, you are shown their inner thoughts but they are always something pointless that enriches the narrative admittely, but adds NOTHING to their character. The whole story happens in one day, so I thought “ok, maybe everyone is just so euphoric they are just not thinking about anything at all!” and I get it, but this makes the book have zero re-readibility. Once you know the story, you have nothing else to know about. There is no character depth, the characters don’t get any development, they don’t even get a proper ending! You have the bishop ending up in the hospital being forgiven even though he literally covered for a mass murderer, said mass murderer just ends his story praying on a field while he was probably the most interesting and complex character (and that is saying something), the villain is taken down the moment you discover who he is (it is supposed to be this big climax but it resolves itself in a scene), langdon and sophie become intimate for some reason??? Like, ok you went through a lot of things together but you have known each other for a day. And for the whole book you kind of forget that Sophie is a 30 something yo, you actually think she is much younger because the author loves to make her dumb. So in the end it sounds like Langdon thirsting over a much younger girl, idk…

I wonder why this book was such a deal back then. And for all ages too. I think this book would be the favourite of edgy cospiracy obsessed middle school kids probably? Idk

by Cuoricino3