The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

 

 The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: April 10, 2012

Summary(GR)
It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.
 My Thoughts:
This book is essentially The Da Vinci Code for Young Adults.  It has everything that you would expect, adventure, intrigue, puzzles, religion, and murder.  Even though my brain is still trying to catch up, I really did enjoy the wild ride.
Nora is a high school senior and wanting to add something exciting to her college applications she agrees to work with her friends who are in college transcribing old letters.  What she doesn’t expect is to have her senior year plagued with murder and overseas run for our life adventures.
I felt like the story dragged a little in the middle and I did get lost with all the knowledge that was thrown at you.  I am not a history buff so most of all that sadly went over my head.  That is why I have such a low rating for this book.  I enjoyed it but for me personally this was not a me book.   I honestly wasn’t invested in Elizabeth’s story or the whole search for the “very important item”.   I enjoyed the puzzles and mystery but Nora and Eli were the only reason why I kept reading.  I wanted to know what happened with them and I also wanted to  make sure I was right about the bad guys.  I am very happy to say that I was!  The clues were there and even though I wasn’t completely sure I am proud of myself that I picked up on them early on.  My heart did break for Chris and I kept hoping that certain events would have been righted.  I think I have read too much paranormal because I really did wait until the very last sentence lol.
I think the author did a fantastic job with the story as a whole and fans of The Da Vinci Code will devour this one.
3 Snowflakes