A Great Audio Book

Since I listened to snippets of this book over a couple of weeks commuting here and there,I can't testify to the writing as much as to the well-read presentation of the audiobook. I enjoyed the novel's 1890s sections more than the present-day story that overlaps setting and plot. Many times I lifted an eyebrow at the contrived plot or why characters did what they did, but the book kept me engaged enough that even when I wasn't in the car, I sometimes thought of the protagonist, More...

Thank goodness it's over.

Léonie has to be one of the most irritating female characters I've read in a while: she wants to be considered an adult (being a 17-year-old girl in France in 1891) and yet consistently behaves like a child. When she is caught and (rightly) chided, she throws a tantrum worthy of a toddler. Every time, up until the last 50 or so pages, only a chapter is devoted to her actual emotion growth--which would have made a far more interesting story. Even Léonie's aunt Isodel had More...

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Kate Mosse's Sepulchre is a historical fantasy -- historical fiction with fantastic elements. I enjoy both genres, and this novel features a female graduate student (somebody I can relate to) as one of the main characters, and it's available on audiobook, so I thought it would be good entertainment on my commute. I got about ten chapters in before quitting.

The book seems well-researched, is competently written, the tone switches easily and successfully fro More...

Although I found Labyrinth a bit of a struggle, I enjoyed the basic idea of it (two stories, seperated by time, linked in mysterious ways). Which is lucky, as this is more of the same, but - in my humble opinion - better written and more compelling. Gone is Labyrinth's constant repetition - that, I imagine, was symbolic of the story repeating through the ages but which, quite frankly, got on my nerves.

France is gloriously and passionately evoked, and the characters of the 1891 story are rounded More...

This one has a good story even though some of the characters are annoying and what happens to them would have been completely avoidable had it not been for their own stupidity. One such matter is how one of the main characters, Leonie, is treated like a child but tries to prove she is not a child by asserting her independence, and then is berated for "acting like a child." No, she is acting like a young woman who has not been told her family is in mortal danger.
Also, Kate Moss uses a lot of r More...

The things I didn't like about this book far oughtweighed the good that there was in it for me, I liked how it was based around a fictional tarot, characters included a violinist and an archaeologist (I like reading about what I do, then who doesn't?). I got it in easons on the 7.99 table on the premise of it being cheap, & that I liked the idea of it. Quelle erreur! the description at the back was misleading.

Characters contradiciting themselves frequently; there were many instances that su More...

What a disappointment! I bought this at Heathrow for the flight back from the UK full of high hopes and anticipation. I raced through Mosse's first page-turner, Labyrinth, in a couple of days last year. It was a brilliant evocation of personal drama during the religious wars of ancient times, coupled with an archeological dig in the modern era. With the Grail legend thrown in for good measure. At the end, the connection between the two intercalated stories was a tad improbable, but never mind -- More...

I am one third into the book and am pretty sure that I will finish it. But I have to say that at the moment all the characters are pretty one dimensional and not particularly interesting. Mosse is more apt at describing what the characters are wearing than giving them flesh as real human beings. I am not convinced. I enjoyed Labyrinth, fine for a short weekend of relaxation. Sepulchre so far is not up to that standard.

Finished the book now. It is passable, but not a book I would recommend. It i More...

This is the first book I have read by Kate Mosse so didn't really know what to expect. I'm interested in anything out of the ordinary i.e. Tarot cards, fate etc. so this was definately my cup of tea! Although saying that, at first, I felt that it was a bit like reading a French Dictionary. The author would be writing away in English and then suddenly a french word would pop up and I would wonder why, for example "He wore a 'bleu' shirt" which in most cases I found quite unnecessary. I found I ha More...

After reading, and really enjoying, Mosse's first novel, Labyrinth, I was worried about Sepulchre being too similar to hold my interest. However, whilst set in the same location and written in the same style i.e. two stories intertwined, one from the past, the other from the present, I found Sepulchre to be an enjoyable read, if not quite as good as Labyrinth. I loved the era she chose to set it in and the characters in the past were all captivating and I really enjoyed their story, if a little More...

Ok - The last book was a success, so lets repeat the formula - time sleep novel, fate is pre-ordained, mystery, ghosts, historical fiction, carcassonne, myths etc.

In the past - we have Leonie - 17 years old and her brother Anatole. they are in Paris at the turn of the century at a staged funeral.
The early stages of the book are exceptional - the riots at a musical performance and beautifully evoked but by the the time you finish this behemoth, you will have forgotten them.

All is not as it seemed More...

“Sepulchre” tells double story – one set in 1791, other in 2007

From the author of the bestseller “Labyrinth” (which I have not read), comes a chubby novel that mixes many elements of lost treasures, a crazed jilted lover bent on revenge, supernatural dabblings, romance, and a search for roots.

Meredith Martin is the modern-day researcher who is working on a biography of the French composer Debussy. Martin travels to Paris to acquaint herself with the places Debussy lived. She is especially inter More...

Interesting. Surprising. Really good. Just shy of excellent...,

I looked forward to this 2nd novel (sort of, there are 2 other books no longer in print) from Mosse having read & enjoyed Labyrinth, her 1st. I wanted to read this based on Labyrinth & because one of the main characters was writing a biography of Claude Debussy, my favorite composer. Concerns of the French in the book didn't give me trouble after 4 years in high school, enough to help me through.

This is set up like Mosse's 1s More...

I'd classify this as a thriller more than a mystery, and as a literary novel as much as either.

The story starts in Paris in 1891. Leonie Vernier and her older, very protective brother, Anatole, head to the south of France to visit a relative by marriage, Isolde Lascombe. Her estate, the Domaine de la Cade, is a spooky place surrounded by much myth and legend, not least those connected to Rennes le Chateau, just up the road.

Soon the story moves to Paris in 2007, where Meredith Martin, who is writ More...

I truly believe in fate. I found this book when I was looking for something great to read and I got it almost for free! The story was fantastic and the cover was excellent...

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Λοιπόν. Τί να πρωτοπώ γι' αυτό το βιβλίο? Το βρήκα εντελώς τυχαία στο σουπερ μάρκετ μονο 5€. Στην αρχη θεώρησα ότι για να είναι τόσο φθηνό θα είναι καμιά μπαρούφα. (Πριν καταχωρήσω το βιβλίο εδώ, είδα ότι κανονικά κοστίζει 25,48€ !!) Όμως με "τράβηξε" το εξώφυλλο και η περίληψη στο τέλος του βιβλίου. Ήμουν λιγάκι απελπισμέν More...

This is the first book I have read by Kate Mosse so didn't really know what to expect. I'm interested in anything out of the ordinary i.e. Tarot cards, fate etc. so this was definately my cup of tea! Although saying that, at first, I felt that it was a bit like reading a French Dictionary. The author would be writing away in English and then suddenly a french word would pop up and I would wonder why, for example "He wore a 'bleu' shirt" which in most cases I found quite unnecessary. I found I ha More...

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Sepulchre by Kate Mosse was handed to me by my brother last week when I was lamenting not having enough books to read. Immediately I was drawn in by the cover. Red and gold with swirls and points, it looks like an old rust-covered gold-leafed plaque. There is a symbol on the front, mysterious to me, and on the inside covers are tarot cards. That's it. I'm in.

It took me a little while to work my way through S More...

Just finding out that this is the second in a series...a bit frustrating. I'm just in the 200s pages - and am still uncertain as to where this is headed. I'm a bit worried that it might be a bit scarier than I thought'd be. Woo hoo!


I enjoyed the book - wasn't scary, though, but still a good read! NOW - I'll be reading the first book of the series. :)

Okay. I would not have picked up this book, except for the fact that I'm currently in Cambodia and reading materials are thin on the ground, so one is forced to make do with whatever crosses one's path.

First of, be warned that this book contains a beautiful heroine whose "silken hair" falls to her "slender waist" - I generally take beautiful, slender-waisted, silken-haired heroines as a warning that there will be very little character development. Also that the writing will probably be trite, b More...

Kate Mosse writes about France, and noteably about historical France, and what could be more appropriate? Living in France, history is an unavoidable fact of life mostly taken for granted by the French. So, I'm right on Kate's page with her desire to portray life in France of days gone by, mixed up with some contemporary daily life. She also adds in a dose of the mystical which is also quite present in rural French life. evry village has it's "rebouteux" or "conjureur du feu" who works in parall More...

I have to admit I am a bit overwhelmed with writing my review of Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. Luckily I am on vacation so I have all the time I need to give it a go. Sepulchre is over 735 pages long not including the Reader's Notes and Sepulchre Tour pages. Very daunting number of pages to any reader I should imagine...and then writing a credible review that encompasses all the themes...well you can see why I'm daunted! The book was very seductive though and breezed by on a tense plot, shortish chap More...

Sepulcher is a good book. I was part way through before I realized it was part two of a series, but I suspect it won't matter. As horror (the way some categorize it) it falls flat, but as a supernaturally influenced suspense and gothic novel, it is successful indeed. I liked the past / present interplay, though I thought the connection was a little forced at the end. Both Leonie and Meredith were engaging, making me anticipate the return to each woman's respective time period. I applaud Mosse fo More...

I gave this book a 2, although maybe a 2.5 as, in comparison to Labyrinth and Winter Ghosts, I was not nearly as aggravated by the style and characters. By the way, although the books are touted as a trilogy they are really unrelated except for location and, what some others have called, time-slip. So the order read, or even not reading at all, is no actual loss to the reader. In fact, this story itself was weakened by the forced inclusion of the entire time-slip attempt, as there was plenty of More...

Não li o primeiro volume desta trilogia. Li boas críticas sobre ele mas, não sei muito bem porquê, não me chamou a atenção, ou não se sobrepôs a outros títulos que à época lhe faziam concorrência na minha lista de livros a adquirir. Não senti que tal fosse indispensável para a leitura deste segundo volume, fiquei, isso sim, com uma tremenda vontade de ler o primeiro quando treminei esta leitura.
Neste livro há muitas histórias que se entrelaçam, formando uma espécie de tapeçaria que permite ao le More...

This is my first go at a Kate Mosse novel. A friend of mine was over the moon about this book, I thought that I would step away from my usual kind of genre and give it a try, (sometimes, I DO get wild-and-crazy and read other genres than sci-fi/ horror/ stempunk and the works). I so wish I could say I liked it as much, but unfortunately not.

I occasionally read a bit more heavy historical novels, but I’ll normally stick to my comfort zone which is the time period around 10th to 15th century. But More...

This highly atmospheric and entertaining mystery spans two centuries, involves a deck of hand-painted Tarot Cards from the late 1800s, magic rituals, and a modern day woman who, while on a trip to France to gather material for a a book about the composer Debussy, stumbles upon clues to a mystery about her own family ties.

A parallel story set amidst the grandeur and superstition of the "fin de siècle" revolves around the young Parisienne Leonie and her brother Anatole as they flee to the country More...

I'm sorry, but this is a bad book. I have tried not to be influenced by the audio version I have been listening to, with phoney French accents and sprinkled with Americanisms, even though by a British writer, but it doesn't work. Which is a pity, because one feels it could have been much better. The book is probably 3 times longer than it should be. The characters are thin and stereotyped, one never feels one has got to know them as people. I never felt worried or concerned about what was going More...