Reviews for Illuminated (August Adams Series #1)

The average rating for Illuminated (August Adams Series #1) based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-01-17 00:00:00 Linnea Hellberg S�derman Well this is what I get for randomly picking up a book off the library shelf. I feel like Bronleewe read a Dan Brown novel, and decided he could write one just like it overnight. This book was poorly written, weak storyline, and had contradictions. He said April was thin and would eat ice cream sandwiches for lunch without gaining weight while everyone else did, but three chapters down the line said she felt guilty for weeks for buying a pint of Haagen-daaz at the store. Um, why? At least Dan brown's novels are full of historically correct information. If you don't have the skills to imitate someone, then don't! What bugged me most sbout this book was how shallow the characters emotions were. If i was on a plane and the person next to me threatened the life of my child, i wouldnt just meekly sit there and be a Marvin Milktoast. There so were many examples of unrealistic reactions to situation. There should have been anger then fear, not just "okay dear". Another example of August having an unrealistic reaction was when a tooth was pulled out and he instantly responds with "Do your worst". Im sorry, that is just stupid. Maybe in 10 minutes you will have courage for that, but I'm pretty sure you will be bloody and screaming there for a bit. I felt completely disconnected from the characters. They felt like pieces of cut out paper to me. I was surprised to find out this is a trilogy. Maybe Bronleewe gets better, since this was his first book, but I am not willing to find out.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-12-14 00:00:00 James Barrett Illuminated is the tale of a archeobibliologist who must unravel clues found in multiple Gutenburg Bibles to discover some deep dark secret. This is your standard Dan Brown DaVinci Code or National Treasure formula book by first time author Matt Bronleewe. The story is formulaic, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I found that I enjoyed parts of the book and came away feeling like it was okay. There were a few scenes that felt as if they were tacked on to pad out the word count and didn't relate to the story. Several of the aspects required a larger suspension of disbelief than I was willing to give, such as solving the whole mystery that had withstood the test of time for hundreds of years within the space of a 1 hour airplane flight. Worst of all to me was the ending went out on a real whimper, with the book just pretty much ending without much action, fanfare, or strong conclusion to the mystery. What really drew me to this book was the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous and a brilliant design. You know how they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover? Well, this is probably a decent reason why. The cover is amazing and beautiful, but the story inside is only okay.