Rating: 
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing
Review: After much hype and many people telling me what a deep and interesting book this is, I was ready for a wonderful read. Instead I found a silly mystery that could be solved by my cat, insipid and vapid chacter development and a title some editor came up with to sell the book. Don't even bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I expected
Review: With all of the hype I expected this to be plausable, gripping and exciting. It was none of the above. I am in the religion business and to believe this you have to suspend a lot of "belief" and accept things that are really outlandish. Despite the Catholic Church's checkered past, this is so beyond belief that no matter how much I tried I just could not accept its premise. Not only that but the ending is a real letdown. I found myself saying "So......." There are better things out there to read.... far more interesting and believable.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting! Suspenseful! BUT...
Review: I really enjoyed so much about this book! The history (although some not 100% accurate), the suspense, the scenery, the writing style and a lot more made this book really really good BUT the ending fell a little bit flat for me. I had fun all the up until the end! I guess I'm used to so many other great writers out there coming up with better endings that maybe I was expecting too much out of this book. Then again that could be the point (ie The Holy Grail).
Rating:
Summary: Gripping From the Git-Go
Review: I wish I could say that Dan Brown's novel was gripping from the git-go, but it isn't. The beginning is gripping. The curator of the Louvre is murdered, but his murderer allows him enough time to die that he can form his body into a *symbol.* Next the police are rousing from a too short sleep the protagonist of the story who happens to be a renouned professor of *symbology* from Harvard University. So far, so good.Then the novel bogs down. Key to Brown's story is his interpre-tation of Da Vinci's "Last Supper." Each participant at the Supper has his own goblet. Supposedly this means that Da Vinci did not mean that the Holy Grail was a goblet. Brown does not mention that there are other historical discrepencies such as Jesus and the Disciples are sitting rather than reclining. The Disciple to the left of Jesus supposedly has the figure of a woman. If so, this Disciple is not the bustiest. Jesus and this Disciple supposedly wear the same colors of clothing. However many characters in the painting wear blue and red. The reader needs to allow Brown some latitude to tell his story. However it is distracting to read that (p 245) one of the characters pulled a book called _The Gnostic Gospels_ off the shelf and proclaimed that it contained "photocopies (really?) of the Nag Hammadi and the Dead Sea Scrolls." Enjoy the mystery, but don't get get caught up with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: This was the best book I have read in years! Educating and exciting. Didn't want it to end. Would highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Real Page-Turner
Review: I found this book a real page-turner, complete with compelling characters and a plot that kept me turning the pages. I think I read it in about 3 sittings. The characters were good and the information about the Goddess, The Priory of Sion, Templars etc. certainly held my interest. The only down side was a sense of having read much of it before.
Rating:
Summary: You HAVE to read this book!
Review: Wow! This is an absolutely breathtaking book. I read it in just ONE sitting the other night. I could not put it down! I was ignorant about Da Vinci's symbolism and "inside jokes" as well as those of Boticelli and other masters whom Brown mentions. But after reading this book, I am planning on delving further into these issues! And that's saying something, because I am the least religious person you'll ever meet. Dan Brown has an incredible gift for storytelling as well as an impressive handle on the facts. That's what makes this book so compelling: the story itself is fictional, but the foundation of it (the symbols, stories, and organizations) is real and historically accurate and well researched. Just because this book deals with religious symbols, please do NOT be turned away if you are not religious. It's not preachy or heavy or any of that other nonsense. Believe me. It's fused with mystery, suspense, and historical facts. (The epilogue will make you smack your forehead and say "of course! It's so obvious!")
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Read
Review: Great book with an intriguing premise. It makes you think.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible style and characterization
Review: The DaVinci Code is a terribly written book. Halfway through, I started turning down the corners of pages with egregious errors of style or usage; I probably turned down a dozen pages, and if I'd been wiser, I would have turned down the entire book in the first place. The characters have the depth of puddles. The plot unfolds in real time, which is for the best, since I strongly doubt the author could have handled anything more complex. The protagonists break the DaVinci code by figuring out a series of puzzles. Several of the puzzles are unbelievable, and one is painfully obvious. ("It's like no language I've ever seen before!") What is of interest in the DaVinci Code is not due to the author. He draws on a changing view of Mary Magdelene, as not a prostitute but someone equal to the other apostles, and perhaps even the wife of Christ. He imagines that some of the hidden symbolism that does in fact exist in Leonardo's Last Supper and in his other works refers to Magdelene's true identity. The historical material is fascinating, reminding us that history is indeed written by the winner. It's only too bad that a better writer didn't elect to make use of this compelling historical information.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: Although it reads like a suspense novel, it's underlying message is that of the secrets of the church. No big surprise there. Anyone that has read anything by Elaine Pagels or read the Nag Hammadi will see the connection. Anybody who is a true seeker, already knows the answers from within. No religion has it right when it comes to the feminine and how important it is to the whole picture. The suggestion that Jesus was mortal and married is not something new. He was a great master and teacher but people still do not hear his true message and that we are ALL from God. If all things were revealed to the world by the right scources, there would be still be millions of people who would not be able to take the truth. Besides that, who would support the church if their "flock" should ever know the real story of creation and the nature of our God? Women would no longer be second class citizens in a man's world which was created by man and still controlled by man.
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