3 out of 4 stars
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The Girl Who Knew da Vinci by Belle Ami melds together the supernatural, romance, and historical fiction genres into one package. The way the author describes art and architecture from different areas of the Europe is enough to make even the most steadfast reader think about taking a trip.
Angela Renatus is an intern at the Getty Museum, where she deals with long hours, and a boss who has a nasty habit of sexually harassing the women who work for him. What she initially believes to be insomnia, brought on by stress, turns out to be something much more. Why is she starting to lose time during her waking hours? When she does have dreams, why are they of Leonardo da Vinci and his dearest friend, Fioretta? And why does she find herself drawn to Alex, a man she barely knows, and yet feels compelled to be with?
While romance novels are not for everyone, there are several aspects of this story that may make it appealing to those who normally avoid the genre. The supernatural ideas of past lives and reincarnation keep the book from becoming another run-of-the-mill romance novel. The references to well-known pieces of art and classic architecture add a level of realism to offset the supernatural aspects. This creates a wonderful mix of fantasy and reality for the reader.
There were a few aspects of The Girl Who Knew da Vinci that I feel had room for improvement. The antagonist was revealed very early on in the story, as were his villainous intentions. It took quite a bit of the mystery out of the rest of the book. I was also not a fan of how easily all the main characters accepted the supernatural phenomena occurring all around them. There was almost no doubt, denial, or attempt to rationalize the occurrences. This seemed rather unrealistic, especially when none of the characters had any previous experience with the supernatural.
I did come across quite a few grammatical errors while reading, which led me to question how carefully the book was edited. There were several instances of missing or misplaced quotation marks. There were also several missing commas, either when directly addressing someone in a sentence, or after introductory adverbs.
Overall, I rate The Girl Who Knew da Vinci 3 out of 4 stars. Even though there were parts of the book I did not like, that does not mean other readers will have the same opinion. It does seem like the target audience is women, but I think most men will enjoy the story as well if they give it a chance. I would not recommend it for teenagers or younger kids.
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The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci
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