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There are currently 17 member reviews
for The Book of Illumination
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Cathy G. (Shelton, CT)
Light reading, but not much ghostly interaction
When I read the back cover of this book i was expecting to read a book that had a lot of interaction with ghosts in addition to a lively mystery with many twists in the plot. Instead, the mystery got bogged down with too many detailed explanations about who was who and who did what. The book would have been better if there was more interaction with the ghosts and the mystery wasn't so slow.
The author seemed to be writing to a younger audience, stating things that would be obvious to an adult but might need explaining to an older child or very young teenager.
The mother tries to explain the afterlife to her very young child by telling him details of a gruesome story of a death in the family ending with the fact that she doesn't know if there's a heaven. The afterlife is a difficult concept for many adults and one that a 5 year old would never be able to grasp. Then she couldn't understand why he is afraid of death...and proceeded to lie to him about the fact that she would never die.
It just made no sense to me. A little like trying to explain where babies come from to a young child who then says the baby just comes out of mommy's tummy.
In my opinion, it would be a good book for an older child or young teenager to read. Some light mystery with a little ghostly interaction. But I definitely would not recommend it to anyone who is interested in a more complex story plot or character development.
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Rita L. (Green Bay, WI)
Not really my kind of story.
I am not a big mystery fan, but I was intrigued with the mention of ghosts in the synopsis of this novel, because I like a story that’s a bit different. However, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more interaction with the protagonist and the ghosts. It was a good light mystery involving the disappearance of a priceless manuscript, with a subplot about a missing deed, but if it hadn’t been for my promise to review the book, I probably wouldn’t have finished it. If you like a light mystery, you will probably find this book is one you may want to add to your “want to read” list, but if, like me, you look for something a little edgier or with a twist, you may want to pass this one up.
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Loren B. (Appleton, WI)
Light weight
I would say that this novel read like a typical "cozy" but that would be giving a well-written "cozy" a bad name.
When I read the synopsis I thought this would be an interesting mix of historical mystery/ghost story. It wasn't. The plot was drawn out with way too much of the main character's "in her mind" romance with her ex-boyfriend and not enough concentration on what could have been a fascinating story.
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