Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Oct 13, 2007

Beth rated it:

As I was reading this I greatly disliked it at some times and was really into it at other times. It was hard to get into, but overall I liked it more than not.

Mosse's writing made me cringe at times. So much unnecessary description. (Who did her editing? They should be ashamed.) And the passiveness of characters telling each other the story while the reader "listens in" bugged me.

I would have preferred just to have the historical storyline. But I understand wh More...

0 comments like (17 people liked it)

Jun 16, 2009

Jim rated it:

For a long time, The Da Vinci Code put me right off books about the Cathars or the Holy Grail, so I was hesitant to pick up Kate Mosse's book. Still, I gave this book a chance, as I'd been impressed with Kate Mosse's work as an interviewer on the BBC's Radio 4. I'm glad that I read it.

This book focuses on the Cathars, a gnostic sect centered in the Pays d'Oc, (modern southwestern France). Several legends have been told about the Cathars, including that they practiced ancient mystica More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2008

Kristen rated it:

Most of the other reviewers have compared Kate Mosse's "Labyrinth" favorably to The Da Vinci Code. I didn't read The Da Vinci Code, but given that it was impossible to avoid or ignore, I understand both books tackle some similar themes. The strongest aspect of "Labyrinth" is that the plot is well-paced and engrossing. The back-and-forth between the medieval era and the present day generally works nicely, and the transitions are smooth, or make sense in their placement and tim More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2007

Laurel rated it:

Book Description from Amazon.com
In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 24, 2007

Rachel rated it:

I've read a lot of books on the Holy Grail in my time (some may say an obsessive amount, I prefer to think of myself as thorough) from Le Morte D'Arthur to The Da Vinci Code and sadly this falls into the latter category.

The main difference between Kate Mosse and Dan Brown is that Kate appears to have done her research. Her story's relationship to legend and even actual historical events is a little less tenuous that Brown's, her grasp of English is infinitely better (not hard), as More...

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Shovelmonkey1 rated it:

Oh the inner turmoil. Did I enjoy Labyrinth by Kate Mosse or not?
Hold on... what Kate Moss the supermodel lady has written a book?
No, Kate Mosse the author, not THE Kate Moss ... come on, keep up people.

My two inner voices have clashed over this story and so I've given this book a middling 3 out of 5. Here is what my chatty inner voices are bickering over:

LUMPEN ADVENTURE SEEKING BOOK LOVING WEEKEND SOFA SURFER BRAIN
Brilliant. Archaeology ladies get int More...

5 comments like (11 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2008

Renée rated it:

ugh... this one promised to be slow.I couldn't get past ch.4.The premise has been over used lately.

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2010

Alex rated it:

LABYRINTH BY KATE MOSSE: If only Kate Mosse had published her novel not in 2006, but shortly after the astonishing success of the Da Vinci Code, it perhaps would’ve received the literary respect it deserves, instead of coming last in a slew of novels involving the subjects of the Holy Grail, the Knights Templar, and what they mean in the present day. The quote on the back of the paperback edition from the Kirkus Review really says it all: “A quickly paced adventure that wears its considerable l More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2009

Lizzy rated it:

This book combines all of the elements that seem to have become the rage for adventure/thriller fiction within the last few years. A Templar-esque secret society, mysterious archaeological discoveries, and drawn out cookie-cutter action scenes make up one half of this novel. the other half takes us back to medieval France where events that are the precursors of the modern story take place. The historical part is far more interesting, seeing as how the modern part consists of hardly anything but More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2009

Célia rated it:

Andava com este livro debaixo de olho desde que saiu, mas só há pouco o comprei por 10€, aproveitando uma promoção. Tanto as opiniões que li, como o próprio livro, comparam-no com o Dan Brown, com a referência que este é mais bem escrito e baseado numa pesquisa mais bem feita. Se é certo que o livro versa sobre a já eterna questão do Santo Graal, tal como "O Código Da Vinci", não é menos verdade que é muito mais histórico que o livro de Dan Brown.

Tal como indica a sinopse, More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Andrew rated it:

One of the biggest UK fiction sellers of 2005, it was part of a 3 for 2 offer in Borders, what the hell, might as well give it a try.

Having finished it, I was slightly disappointed. The story moves at a cracking pace, and it does grab you - I was up at 1am a couple of times, absolutely engrossed. The characters are slightly two-dimensional, but the author does seem to know her stuff when describing the various French locations and history of the region. There are some slightly annoyi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2008

Lisbeth rated it:

This pulled at me and repulsed me simultaneously. As a medievalist and amateur historian, I was addicted to learning how Mosse laid out this Grail fantasy. She treats the Cathar subjects well, clearly having spent at least a few hours on Wikipedia researching the matter. My repulsion was, however, centered on the regrettably mediocre writing. Mosse relies on heavy exposition and tosses adjectives and adverbs in like my grandmother does salt. Her characters are poorly developed, largely one-dime More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Sheila rated it:

I have to reluctantly admit that I bought this book (at a thrift store) mainly because of the title and cover page. I was intrigued by the idea of an historical fiction book geared towards adults. But after reading the first two chapters I threw it away. I am not certain why as I don't remember any specific details. I do remember that I thought it was better written than many New York Times best sellers but that it wasn't for me.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2008

Kristen rated it:

The inside cover stuff instantly intrigued me. I'm all about mysterious/secret, lesser-known histories. And the story of the Grail is one of the most well-known of the lesser-known histories. Or even myths. While this one doesn't go into my favorite theory, it's such a page turner.

You learn of both Alice and Alais in alternating chapters, and I really have to give the author credit, for both the creativity and the amount of research that went into this book. The language, the history More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Schnaucl rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 17, 2011

Nanna rated it:

The book, for me, really developted in the last 300 pages. It took me a long time to get past the first part of the book (mainly because of all the not so important descriptions of everything), but after that an amazing and mysterious story was created, which was what I expected when I started to read the book. I would love to give it five starts, but because of the first part I must give it four.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 22, 2007

Letitia rated it:

Though this novel starts off promising, drawing the reader into the mystery and tantalizing us with fascinating secrets, scandalous relationships, secret societies, a fantastic archealogical discovery...the intrigue pretty much ends in the first few chapters. The reader reaches the end of the book and realizes that the most exciting events in the story have been narrated through conversation of the character, denying the reader the opportunity to "experience" the climaxes of the book. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 14, 2009

Laurie rated it:

This was very disappointing, it's at least 250 pages too long and the writing leaves much to be desired. The chapters in the past are much better than the ones in the present because things actually do happen and the history of the Cathars & daily castle life in the 1200s is interesting. It starts off intriguing and the landscape descriptions towards the end are quite lovely, but I wasted way too much time on this one. I also thought it was strange to see Mosse's next book looks & sounds iden More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 30, 2009

Maribel rated it:

Although I was a little dissapointed by some stinted writing and bad editing, Labyrinth still had me sitting on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what is going on. The characters tend to be two dimensional but they draw you in nonetheless. Ms. Mosse sometimes went too far with certain details (Noubel's profusive sweating - what is that about? too much info fer sure, and the sex scenes seemed to have been copied & pasted from a harlequin novel) and then did not give enough detail where w More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2009

Shannon rated it:

This is a grail mystery. There was a time not so long ago that that was all you could find in the new fiction department and so I put off reading it for a while. Thinking it was just a copycat. Having read it - I cant say that it isn't riding the coat tails of DaVinci Code but an acceptable read nonetheless!

It is the story of 2 young womens lives. One is 13th century France and one, a young British woman vacationing in modern day France. It includes mystery, betrayal, rituals and kni More...

0 comments like

Dec 19, 2008

melydia rated it:

(unabridged audiobook read by Donada Peters): A word of warning: if you're sick of books about the Holy Grail, it'd be best to skip this one. The sad part is that this really didn't need to be about the Holy Grail at all. It could have been called anything. Like so many other recent interpretations, this Grail isn't the cup of Christ, and indeed has nothing to do with Jesus at all. The closest you get is the story of the Crusaders versus the Cathars in 13th century France, whose narrative is int More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2008

Ann rated it:

I have mixed feelings about this book. Having heard it compared to The Eight by Katharine Neville (which I loved 20 years ago) and The Da Vinci Code (not so much), I decided to read it. A ruthless editor's pencil would have made it much better; crisper writing would have moved the plot along and made it less confusing. The parallel story lines (1209 and 2005 in Languedoc) that converge deal with the Holy Grail, the Crusade of 1209 (northern France against 'heretics' in Southern France and al More...

0 comments like

Nov 22, 2008

Sarah rated it:

This book is too long, too slow and takes itself way too seriously! I got about halfway through the book and i was still waiting for something to happen! The author was still developing the characters 200 pages into the book.

This book had the potential to be historical fiction, suspense or romance and the wuthor's wrtiing style leaned a little too close to the romance genre for my tastes. Her characters were too typical and too perfect. They were either perfect good people or per More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2011

Sue rated it:

Favorite Quotes:

"He had no intention of dying on the alter of other men's beliefs."

"...they were treating Jeanne with particular care. Their sympathy, no doubt genuine, was mixed with concern at how she would cope with the shock. He gave a grim smile. The young always forgot Jeanne's generation had seen and experienced more than they ever had. War, the Occupation, the Resistance. They had fought and killed and seen their friends die. They were tough. More...

0 comments like

Nov 05, 2011

Susan rated it:

I didn't know anything about the Cathar "heresy" in southern France and the brutal way the Albigensian Crusade was used to wipe out the Bons Hommes who believed in it and to seize the lands of any local ruler who practiced tolerance. So the entire background of this book was new to me, and that made it fascinating.

But what was even more intriguing was the interplay among the characters. Events took place in the same location, in two different times -- the 13th century and t More...

0 comments like

Aug 26, 2011

Pockets rated it:

I picked this book up on a whim. The premise sounded very interesting and so I thought, what the hell. It took me a while to get into the novel, and even when I did it didn't suck me in completely. I put it down about three quarters of the way through and read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in like two sittings. I figured that I was so close to the end that I would follow through and see where it took me.

All in all, it was an okay story. I got slightly frustrated by the prevalenc More...

0 comments like

Aug 22, 2011

Karen rated it:

(I heard an audiobook version of this book which affects my rating.)

I love mystical adventures involving the past, but this book was a disappointment. Just before I started reading it, I caught a review headline somewhere that said it was full of clichés. I had to agree. The term "purple prose" came to mind, too. This is not really a romance, however, but you could say it was a fantasy purple prose, perhaps= This seems to be the perfect book for an airplane trip. Nothing deep More...

0 comments like

Jul 22, 2011

Renee P rated it:

I thought this was a really crap book. I feel like she only set it in France because she is enamored with the language, which she uses way too often. To justify this, Mosse stuck in a lot of explanation for "Why France?" that didn't make all that much sense. All the surprises the author had in store were painfully obvious, and she used cliches to describe everything. All the women had beautiful legs (shapely, tan, thin, milky, whatever- they were gorgeous). Almost all of the characters More...

0 comments like

Jul 16, 2011

Lauren rated it:

This book was a struggle to get through. :(

I felt absolutely no connection to any of the characters. None of them struck me as particularly real-- all the leading women are young beauties, while the men have more variance. It's like the darn television... all the women must be perfect while the men can look like whatever. Sure there are women on the sides who aren't perfect, but of course it's the elderly potion lady or the gossipy nasty servants. Arg! Don't we get enough of this on TV?

What

More...

0 comments like

May 19, 2011

Chris rated it:

I read this before it was acclaimed The Viewers' Choice in a TV Book Club shortlist at the 2006 British Book Awards but, frankly, remained unimpressed. I had high expectations for an out-of-the-ordinary modern take on the holy grail written by a successful reviewer and sponsor of new writing, but was deeply disappointed at the result.

Kate Mosse has mixed up a cocktail of familiar elements (Cathar heretics, reincarnation, grail, medieval archaeology) and somehow turned it into a romance More...

0 comments like

reviews