Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

What readers think of The Historian, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Historian

by Elizabeth Kostova
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (71):
  • First Published:
  • Jun 14, 2005, 656 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2006, 688 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 9 of 9
There are currently 71 reader reviews for The Historian
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

CindyE

Save yourself the time and trouble
I read this novel despite my bosses warning that she was bored and kept waiting for something to happen. She and I are extremely avid readers of all types of novels. I am ever optimistic and rarely do I ever not finish a book once I begin one. I can usually find something redeeming about any novel. After reading the pages of sparkling reviews I thought there has to be something my boss just missed. After all, I do love to savor a good detailed read more than many. I was wrong. There is nothing thrilling, terrifying, contemporary or compelling about this novel. All words used to describe this novel by reviewers I can certainly believe that the book took ten years to write as I felt that it seemed to take that long to read. I literally forced myself to finish it trying for the life of me to figure out what anyone could find remotely scary about it. It was plodding, dated, boring and deeply in need of a skilled editor. Bram Stoker's Dracula to which the author frequently refers, has a more contemporary feel than this novel. I can't keep from asking myself who this author is related to and how much the publisher paid people to write the positive reviews. I really feel that this book was slipped out to capitalize on the success of currently popular historical-geographical thrillers and the equally current vampire craze. I am definitely glad that I didn't pay to read this borefest but felt sorry that my boss did. Please take my advice and save yourself from the Historian.
summa

She'd probably fail a pop vocabulary quiz taken from her own book!
This book reads like an 8th grader writing with a thesaurus in the other hand. It seems like her goal is to "prove" she is smart by using excessively long strings of cumbersome and quaint adjectives to describe everything. She writes about ten pages of plot in the first 130 pages. The characters are two-dimensional. Gratuitous victims appear, become dear friends, and are killed off, in some cases within two pages. Violence and gore are used innappropriately for shock value. The story lacks creativity and direction, and for all the ten-dollar words the writing lacks substance or style. There couldn't possibly have been any editing. How on Earth did this book get published? The worst part, however, is that this poor excuse for an occult thriller is being forced down the throats of some public-school kids as required reading. She must be somebody's blood relative for that to have happened.
Jen

Hate it
OH MY GOSH!!! This book was a complete let down. It was confusing and was waaaaayyyy too long. The author needs so much editing in this book.It was soooooooooooo boring.
Bob F

Don't waste your time
This is a book in desperate need of an editor. At best this is a wordy travel guide and a reminder to never believe the major reviewers. It is almost inconceivable that the author can ramble on for over 600 pages and still manage to leave so many loose ends, like who's this mysterious librarian that follows them around and what's the deal with Helen's "family" connection? I also hated the way she left the door open for a sequel. Don’t waste your valuable time on this poor excuse for a thriller.
Denise

Ho-hum
I was very excited to read this book as several of my friends had read and enjoyed it. From the beginning, I found it very tedious and uninteresting. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did! I thought the characters were very poorly developed, which made it impossible for me to empathize with any of them. The only character that had any real depth for me was Helen's mother, and her part in the story was minimal. I did not find the book to be suspensful or frightening, as many of my friends did. Again, I think this was due to the fact that I just could not connect with any of the characters. Most of the time I was reading this book, I was merely counting down how many pages I still had to read. I was in hopes that the ending would be good enough to somewhat make up for the poor story line, but the ending was as dissapointing as the rest of the book.
adina

Very poor book!!!!
As a Romanian and Transylvanian native I did not like this book at all....it is too long...it jumps from one character to another, same name, how confusing..I want to make one thing clear..Vlad Tepes (DRACULA )was one of the best rulers of my country, during his time all the thieves, cheats, people that wanted my country to be put under the ruling of the Ottomans were the one that were impaled , not innocent honest peasants! I regret I paid $35 for this book!
sharik

What a bore!
This boring, huge concoction of a book is too heavy to take it to the beach and too false to consider it a serious historical research. It was clearly written on a wave of Dan Brown's bestseller' popularity, but doesn't have quiet the same fast pace in plot development. Of course, everything goes when it comes to making a buck, but Kosova' pretenciose ignorance is not balanced with vivid imagination: it is too predictable and plain boring.
Women who watch Ophra show would be delighted, though;
No dought, it would be soon on her list. You must read it if you want to sound like an "intellectual" or have something to talk to your hairstylist.
Not much fun for an intelligent reader or any true book-lover. Count Dracula would suck her dry, in case he would have a chance. No thanks.

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The Frozen River
    by Ariel Lawhon
    "I cannot say why it is so important that I make this daily record. Perhaps because I have been ...
  • Book Jacket
    Prophet Song
    by Paul Lynch
    Paul Lynch's 2023 Booker Prize–winning Prophet Song is a speedboat of a novel that hurtles...
  • Book Jacket: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    by Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Book Jacket
The Story Collector
by Evie Woods
From the international bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop!
Who Said...

I like a thin book because it will steady a table...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.