Skip to main content

Origin - Reviews Without Spoilers

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would.


I'm not gonna lie - I sincerely love reading Dan Brown's novels. His are the only suspense/mystery books I really read. I appreciate the academic puzzle style that keeps me engaged in his fast-paced stories. 

That being said, I think his latest novel, Origin, missed the mark. 

What I love most about Dan Brown's serial main character, Robert Langdon, is how he uses his career as a symbologist (and professor at Harvard) to resolve the strange situations he finds himself in. As is usually the case with the first of a series, I think the first Langdon novel, Angels and Demons, is the best example of this. The other books do a decent job of utilizing symbology and code breaking, too, which is what keeps me invested in Dan Brown. 

Origin, though, feels like it could have existed without Robert Langdon at all. 

The symbology professor hardly had to use any of his cool and cryptic knowledge in this book. So it felt like Dan Brown used Robert Langdon as the main character simply to promote sales and maintain Langdon's fanbase. As a character, Langdon hardly existed in this book as more than a placeholder. 

I think that was an especially poor decision considering that Brown's other non-Langdon books were so good! Writing Origin with a different, new main character could have brought his audience closer to Digital Fortress and Deception Point, his other Langdon-less books. 

Instead of code-breaking and puzzles, Origin felt more like a secret was being kept from the audience. Sure, you don’t have to reveal the next thing that happens all the time – let your readers work for it! But the questions that were posed on page 1 were the same questions still being asked on page 390. Rather than keeping me guessing and engaging me, this “mystery” had me rolling my eyes and saying, “Come on, already!”

Further, there were too many moments of easy problem solving, which was a let down after so much unnecessary build up. I’d rather have to work with the characters to figure things out than just be granted a deus ex machina solution. That being said, I really did like the message we were left with at the end. It was optimistic in the face of seeming adversity, which is the best kind of optimism – yet, the supposed adversity also seemed contrived.

Despite these problems, I still found myself being pulled back to continue reading. Origin was an easy read, and, as with all Dan Brown novels, I found immense joy in the discussions of art and architecture of the setting. For these reasons, I’m scoring Origin at 3/5 stars.

What were your thoughts? Leave a comment to let me know!

Book: Origin
Author: Dan Brown
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: October 2017
Genre: mystery
Length: 456 pages, 18 hrs 10 mins in audiobook format
Setting: Spain

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Self Love, Part 3: Inclusive Shopping

https://www.eloquii.com/customerservice-help?subViewFolderId=about_us&subViewId=about_us_main Photo from eloquii.com You should never feel forced to wear clothes that are baggy, ugly or too tight. Your wardrobe should encourage you to express yourself to the fullest extent of who you are and all that you want to be. In the last Self Love series post , I talked about Average Emily and her quest to find clothes that fit the body of the average American woman…and that fit her style, too. With the help of Whitney McGruder of  witandtravesty.com , I’ve put together a list of some of the most size-inclusive stores you can shop at. It’s easy enough to search the web for the best plus size stores, but what do those listicles really tell you? I don’t know about you, but seeing one cute shirt isn’t quite enough for me. Instead of that, I’ll be going in depth to see what these stores have to say about their sizing and purpose. I’ll do a price comparison of basic items and see ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rediscovering Myself on Whole30

Before we go any further...What is Whole30? Essentially, it's an elimination diet that only allows you to eat "real" food: fruit, veggies, meat, and a few other odds and ends. You can have things like salt and oil to cook with, which helps a lot, too. The point is that you're avoiding added sugar, carbs and dairy (and, yes, alcohol too), completely getting them out of your system.  It's called Whole30 because you eliminate all of those "fake foods" for 30 days, but it's really like Whole50 if you do it right. That's because after the first 30 days, you're supposed to gradually add back in the foods you've been avoiding. If you really want to see how your body reacts to sugar (does it make you tired? overly emotional?), dairy (are there digestive problems? does your skin change?), and carbs (do you feel bloated? are you more or less full through the day?), you have to add them back in one at a time. For instance, you add dairy back ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bridge of Clay - Reviews Without Spoilers

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would. I've read three novels by Markus Zusak. My first was The Book Thief (2005) , the world-renowned bestseller about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. It quickly became one of my favorite books of all time because I'm intrigued by historical stories, moved by the characters, and inspired by the writing style. Because I liked it so much, I went back and read one of Zusak's older books, I Am the Messenger  (2002) - it was thoroughly disappointing. I guess, somehow in the three years between novels, Zusak found what it takes to tell a compelling, realistic story. I'm glad he did! I discovered The Book Thief  in 2013, so I was a bit behind the times, but I adored it nonetheless. In 2016, I went to see Zusak speak near my hometown, and it was just wonderful. He was insightful, purposeful and honest. He seemed to real...
Post a Comment
Read more