Book Review: Dan Brown’s Origin

Good morning to all my YAYY-its-finally-Saturdayyy readers!

Today, I want to share one of my greatest sources of joy with all of you- books. I love to read. I picked up reading when I was about 12 years old, and was visiting England at the time. I was staying with my aunt and uncle for over 2 months, and sensing how bored and lost I was feeling, they introduced me to the local library in Cardiff. Soon enough, I had put my hands on the most loved series, and began to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While my reading speed and reading level was way below my peers, I persisted and patiently gave myself encouragement that I will be able to read these books. And sure enough, before I left Cardiff, I had read all the four Harry Potter books that were published until then. Since that day, I have never put books down… they are my most beloved companions.

In addition to my love for reading, I am an absolute hoarder of information- I like to know at least something about everything. My curiosity drives me crazy to the point, that if I do not know that answer to something, I have to find out immediately. (Thank God for Google and an iPhone!)

So it goes without saying, that someone who loves to read fiction and loves collecting information, I love Dan Brown! Yes, there are critics who think his writing is not praise-worthy, but I think his plot is so brilliant, that a reader never gets a chance to critique his writing at all. Maybe only in hindsight. Dan Brown’s writing style simply attempts to connect his readers to him in a way, where you can easily finish off a 400-500 page novel without putting it down!

I picked up the latest Dan Brown book, Origin, a few days ago, and just like his previous books, I was completely, 100% hooked to the story. I read all of the 465 pages in just two days, because Dan Brown has this knack of developing and heightening the mystery and suspense to the point, where the reader needs to know what happens next.

Without giving away any spoilers, this story is primarily based on the long-thought-over questions of life, “Where did we come from? Where are we going?” Mixing codes, religion, technology, science and suspense all in one entertaining thriller, Dan Brown has successfully delivered yet another bestseller. There are murders, there are rumors, there are computers who think and talk, there are priests who will go to any lengths to save the reputation of their religions, there is royalty that is bound by the shackles of their own limitations, and then there are eccentric scientists who have made claims that can change everything about our world. And ofcourse, nothing goes as planned. And ofcourse, Robert Langdon is involved. And ofcourse, Langdon runs around in Europe with a charming, female side-kick, trying to solve the mysteries that are encrypted in codes and symbols.

And ofcourse, I loved the book. However, even though the rising action and climax in the story builds suspense at each step, the main revelation in the climax is a little anticlimactic. You can almost see it coming. And when you reach the end, all you’re thinking is, “well… is that it?”

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a book they feel compelled to read through to the end. In addition to that, if you haven’t read Dan Brown before, be prepared to have an enormous amount of information dumped on you.

Overall, I would rate it 3.5 on 5!

Thank you for reading my first review! Lots more to come. 🙂

Lots of love,