My Quick Takes:
- 4.25/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Genre 📚 Action Thriller
- Language 🤐 mild/moderate, God's name in vain
- Spice ❤️🔥 fade to black
- Content 🤔 murder, violence, secular worldview, terrorism
Book Information
Title: Angels and Demons
Author: Dan Brown
Publication: 2000
Genre: Action Thriller
Series: Book 1 in the Robert Langdon Series
In Angels and Demons, readers follow the symbology professor, Robert Langdon, as he tries to decode an ancient trail left across Rome by the Illuminati. Its like National Treasure for adults, with a dose of secret society, a dash of religious cults, and a pinch of false prophets.
My Thoughts
I originally read the first 3 and a quarter books of this series in college and remember absolutely loving them. The plot is fast paced, with international, political, and religious intrigue paired with short chapters. I’m here for all of that. I recently re-read this book with my husband, Mr. Reads. He mainly reads the action/adventure thriller genre and I’ve been mentioning these books to him for a couple years now. I told him I wanted to re-read and the rest is history!
It’s interesting re-reading an old favorite. I’m always curious of a few questions, like: Does it stand the test of time? Does current Paris relate to and enjoy the book as much as past Paris? How much will my maturity and age affect my enjoyment of the title? Don’t worry, I’ll answer these questions for you!
Q: Did it stand the test of time?
A: Yes, I still did enjoy this title on a similar level as I did when I first read it.
Q: Did current Paris relate to and enjoy the book as much as past Paris?
A: While I did still enjoy the book, I think past Paris enjoyed it a tad more than I did on this re-read.
Q: How much did my maturity and age affect my enjoyment of the title?
A: I think my age and maturity was a big factor in my rating and review of this book. On one side of the coin, I still love this genre, and I am still interested and intrigued by themes of cults, religious sects, secret societies, and the likes. On the other side of the coin, as I now read more critically and have a fully developed brain (shout out to my teenage prefrontal cortex), the secular worldview that permeates the narrative felt a bit more “in my face” than it did when I first read it.
However, I’m not sure than any of this necessarily hindered or added to my reading experience, it was just inherently different, as is doing anything again after 10 (or 15) years. I still really enjoyed the pacing and the plotting. I did still remember a lot of the plot, the plot of this book specifically really stuck with me over the years, but that also didn’t hinder the reading experience for me.
I listened to this book on audio and the narrator was fine. My husband also did the audiobook. I usually read quite a bit faster than him, but he beat me by finishing out this title a couple of days ahead of me! He really enjoyed the pacing, action, and character plotting used throughout the narrative. The book is adapted as a move and we watched the movie after finishing the book. There is quite a bit that is accurate to the book, and there are some little small things that aren’t and easily could’ve been. It was fun to watch, especially because the main character is played by Tom Hanks. We are continuing on in the series and have already started book 2, The Da Vinci Code.
Biblical Worldview & Themes
As hinted above, the worldview in this title takes center stage. Christians should go into this title knowing it is secular and that it questions beliefs and church doctrine, specifically within the Catholic church. In some ways the author makes the reader wonder if religion is the answer in all of this, and in some ways he doesn’t. For a while it feels very one sided but the interesting juxtaposition remains between science and religion even through the final pages of the book. Knowing that this is a secular book and that Brown didn’t set out writing this book to convert anyone, really helped my mentality around this narrative. At the end of the day, this is a work of fiction and should be treated as such.
Who I’d recommend this to
Taking the above paragraph into consideration, I would NOT recommend this title to anyone who is a sensitive reader or easily offended by anti-christian language. However, if you are okay with being in the world, not of it, and are intrigued by the themes and genre, I think you’ll really like Angels and Demons!
Similar Reads
Blood and Treasure by Ryan Pote: If you want an action/adventure thriller with a side of religious conflict and military influence.
The Ghost City by Ryan Pote: If you want an action/adventure thriller that feels like National Treasure.
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