A real 5 star thriller. Excellent! - Rated 
I was unsure about this book and it was not until I saw it in my local bookshop that I succumbed, possibly due to the attractive packaging and intriguing 'puzzle cards'.
I was ready for the old adage about 'judging a book by its cover' to come true, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The subject matter is not one that I am familiar with, and learning all about John Dee and the period was fascinating to me. However, the biggest thrill for me was how Titania Hardie managed to take a story that spans almost 500 years and still make it feel relevant to todays society.
I found myself wondering where fact ends and fiction begins, and I really enjoyed the characters, who seemed to leap off the page; I was actually inventing lives for them between chapters - always a good sign!
I see that the Amazon reviews have been mixed, but I for one, am glad that I gave this excellent book a chance.
Over-rated and badly written - Rated 
I was really looking forward to this book. The reviews have been amazing. Emperor's suit of clothes more like. The writing is incredibly childlike, cliched and clumsy and the narrative... well, it's like a very poor second world war he's-about-to-go-off-to-the-war book, old fashioned and of another era. I found myself startled at the mention of mobile phones, text messages and 9/11, it just didn't fit with the style of writing. As for the love scene OMG!!! No - p-l-e-a-s-e no, no NO!! It's muddled, pretentious, clumsy and just plainly badly written. I didn't believe in any of the characters and frankly didn't care about the riddle, the plot or the outcome of any of it. As for the separate, reproduced pages. Why?Nothing but a clever marketing ploy and, in fairness, it obviously worked because it sold the book. Very, very disappointing.
Boring & unintersting - Rated 
I'm sorry, I had such high hopes for this book. And I was really dissapointed! It's a bit like a clichè doctor-romance, with a little "I want to be Dan Brown" thown in...
Really, dont bother... The book LOOKS incredible (hence 2 stars instead of one) but never had "dont judge a book by its cover" fittet better!
sorry....
"In other words, it's a swizz" - Rated
Lucy felt like a disappointed child...................and so do I.
To quote Lucy, "So in other words, it's a swizz"
The first handful of chapters, when the mystery is being revealed, are interesting and promising and I thought I was in for a good read. But it's clear early on that if you don't know your Shakespeare, Dante, the Bible, Hermetic texts, the Medici...and, and, and...then you'll find it really hard to 'connect' with any of the characters. It seems that every single person to grace the pages have an inordinate amount of knowledge of these very things (and more). If you do have extensive knowledge of these things, you'll probably love the book though. For the ordinary Joe Public however, it's a stretch of the imagination to believe that everyone from stylists and photographers to 7 year old boys have a firm grasp of these things.
The last few chapters try to draw you back again and it seems interesting (if you make it that far), but the conlcusion leaves the heroine with the thought "it's a swizz", so what hope have we ordinary mortals? The ending is a huge let down and really, really vexed me.
Oh, and if you don't speak (or read) French, you'll miss a bit of the early story because it's assumed you DO and no translations are given for French passages of converstaion.
All in all, the book was disappointing for me. The author is clearly very well read and has put in countless hours in research, but if you're looking for a gripping page turner in the style of Dan Brown, you'll be disappointed too.
The book looks fabulous and the cards that come with the hardback edition make it seem special, but it really isn't.
At last!!! - Rated
Finally a book that lives up to it's reviews, I agree wholeheartedly with'Lorenzo', especially with regard to Ms Mosse's offering. This is a beautifully written,lyrical book, the scents and descriptions transport one into the story. Thank you Titania Hardie, you have restored my faith that true storytelling and imagination are still alive and well, I look forward to your next book.
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