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[0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Labyrinth (Languedoc, #1) [author] author Mosse, Kate [isbn] isbn 0425213978 [isbn13] isbn13 9780425213971 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 515 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.50 [num ratings] num ratings 32,484 [date pub] date pub 2005 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Feb 06, 2007 [rating] Sammy's rating 2 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Feb 21, 2010 [date read] date read Mar 04, 2010 [date added] date added Mar 16, 2008 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view (with text) [review] 
review This book almost threw off and ruined my whole book-a-week goal for this year. Yet another reason I can't stand it. Luckily I made it by a day. Too cl This book almost threw off and ruined my whole book-a-week goal for this year. Yet another reason I can't stand it. Luckily I made it by a day. Too close for comfort. Especially seeing as it took me almost two solid weeks to read it. Good Lord. I gotta get this out of the way first- I hate not liking books. I always start a book with the hopes that I'm going to enjoy it because I know how hard it is to write and to make something good and to want to please people. So to be someone that is displeased by the work of an author, well- it makes me feel bad. Luckily for Labyrinth and Kate Mosse a lot of people really liked it. Which makes me feel a little less bad about really not enjoying it. To be honest, though, I can see how a lot of people liked it so much. Labyrinth is The Eight meets The Da Vinci Code. Actually it's those two novels put in a blender, water added for consistency, blended for five minutes and then poured over chicken tacos. Simply put I was lost and confused for most of the novel. I'm someone that can follow confusing plotlines really well and keep track of an insane amount of characters (Lost is one of my favorite shows) so for me to be unable to keep track of what was going on and who was who is saying something. The main problem with the entire book is that there was just too much of everything with not enough follow through on it. Too many mysteries, too many characters, too many storylines, too many locations, etc. For a first book Mosse took on way too much. Had she scaled it back a bit I think the story as a whole could have been so much better. So because there was so much to try and folow but not enough to back it up I didn't feel invested and I just became bored. And like I said earlier, this is almost a clone of The Eight with a bit of The Da Vinci Code in there, and both of those were executed much, much better. Therefore, seeing as I'd read it all before, there was even less to draw me in and keep me going. The only thing that got me to the end was that common mistake of, "Oh, it's got to get better!" and by halfway through the book I was too far in to just stop, at least during this year with my goal of a book a week. As for Mosse's writing? That didn't even save the book. I found it repetitive and overly descriptive with not a lot of faith in her readers. She did the thing I hate most from authors is when they have to explain every little action and every reason behind a character's actions, taking for granted the intelligence of the reader and the faith they can figure it out on their own. For me it takes the fun out of the book, especially when I discuss it with people, because then there's no reason for analyzing and debate because everything has been spelled out. I wanted to like the book, I really did. Especially as someone venturing into the writing world myself I often have to wonder if I am guilty of the same mistakes and how my writing would fare under a microscope. But as I know with this book and with countless others, people will either love it, like it or hate it. There's no pleasing everyone, just yourself. ...more
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