Rating: 
Summary: My Followup to My First Review
Review: I felt bad discontinuing this book at 50 pages, so I read some more. It took FOREVER to finish because it was boring! It had so much to say, but redundantly made its point. I'd give it 3 stars as an overall review. Somehow I doubt that Grazia could just leave Judah and run off with Lord Pirro. Wouldn't that be fatally taboo in Christian society, and wouldn't the Jewish people sit shiva for her and take her son from her, Anna Karenina style? I also find it hard to believe that she could have sex so much throughout the book and get pregnant only once. It seems too convenient. Maybe I'll wait for Ms. Park to write more and then see if she's changed her plot structure to complement her rich writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent and engrossing book
Review: I found this book to be extremely satisfying. I would rush home from work so I could read more. I was sorry when it ended. I lent it to a friend and then bought another copy because I just had to still have it. Great details and unsentimental about many of the difficulties present in that era. Poetic, realistic, great characters.One of my all time favorites.
Rating:
Summary: excellent and engrossing book
Review: I found this book to be extremely satisfying. I would rush home from work so I could read more. I was sorry when it ended. I lent it to a friend and then bought another copy because I just had to still have it. Great details and unsentimental about many of the difficulties present in that era. Poetic, realistic, great characters.One of my all time favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Awwww this is sad =(
Review: I have a 50 page rule, where I don't put the book down or make any comments about it until 50 pages into the reading. This is a book that *should* be good. After all, the plot is excellent. I don't know what it is, though, but this book is just not appealing to me, and I usually love historical novels. The writing is too scientific and precise, and the use of Italian words for common words like "family" and "lady" is plain obnoxious. Is this a feeble attempt to appear cultured and multilingual? It's not working. I would love to see this work reworked, because it breaks my heart to write this review, especially considering someone sat down and took some effort to write this book.
Rating:
Summary: Awwww this is sad =(
Review: I have a 50 page rule, where I don't put the book down or make any comments about it until 50 pages into the reading. This is a book that *should* be good. After all, the plot is excellent. I don't know what it is, though, but this book is just not appealing to me, and I usually love historical novels. The writing is too scientific and precise, and the use of Italian words for common words like "family" and "lady" is plain obnoxious. Is this a feeble attempt to appear cultured and multilingual? It's not working. I would love to see this work reworked, because it breaks my heart to write this review, especially considering someone sat down and took some effort to write this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Heroine, Terrific Story!
Review: I loved Grazia. She is the type of heroine that you miss after you have finished the book. Looking forward to more books by J. Park!
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I loved this book! I only wish I had had more time to read it and was able to spend more time with it at any one sitting - I didn't want to put it down. Yes, on occasion it had the predictability and sappiness of a soap opera, but just knowing that it was loosely based on a real person's life made it intriguing and alittle more believable. The historical and religious inaccuracies (as some other reviewers were so eager to point out)were minimal and didn't take away from the actual story. The heroine was strong, powerful, intelligent and had an insight to life beyond her years; I kept having to remind myself that she was only a teen through most of the book. Remember, this is fiction!
While I definitely learned a lot about this time period (and especially Italian history), I must say that I found the storyline surrounding the wars alittle tedious (however relevant they might have been to the story) and often found myself confused as to the people and events involved.
And on one more note of negativity (there aren't many): the author liberally uses italian and hebrew words/phrases throughout the book, but without any reference as to their meanings. I wasn't always able to determine a word's meaning from the context in which it was used and felt like I was missing valuable information. A glossary would have been a nice addition.
I found the ending particulary moving and thought-provoking. While definitely sad (I'm not giving anything away), I felt a complete sense of closure and appropriateness by the ending the author chose. Too many times, I find that the endings of books are anticlimactic and leave me feeling cheated. Not so here.
I definitely recommend this book- to Italians, Jews and anyone else interested in a wonderful read! Definitely part of my permanent collection!
Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: I loved this book. From the moment I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it. Not only was it a page turner, but I learned a lot about Renaissance Italy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I loved this book. I found it to be fascinating historical fiction. But, the book is not for the faint at heart.
Rating:
Summary: "The Secret Book" earns a spot high on my favorites list
Review: I picked up this book because the name Rossi is a family name. I didn't expect to be all that into the book, though, because I didn't think I would be interested in a story that took place so long ago. This book proved me very wrong. Not only was captivated by the main character, Grazia, but i also would like to think that I absorbed some of the historical information and learned much about Renaissance Italy and events in that time. The book brought history alive for me in the days that I was reading it. Ms. Park should be thanked for doing such excellent research and presenting us with such a wonderful gift of literature. She writes in a sometimes sarcastic, very informative, and always friendly style and I hope to see some more books on the shelves by her.
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