Unfinished: The Rose Labyrinth

Title: The Rose Labyrinth

Author: Tatiana Hardie

ISBN: 0755344561

Pages: 352

Release Date: March 6, 2008

Publisher: Headline Review

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Copy

Rating: 0 Bookworms (Unfinished)

From Goodreads.com:

From bestselling British author Titania Hardie comes a mystical fiction debut that takes readers on a romantic journey from Elizabethan England to modern-day London where a centuries-old secret awaits.

Before his death in 1609, Queen Elizabeth's spiritual consultant, astrologer, and scientific advisor John Dee hid many of his most astonishing written works, believing that the world was not yet prepared to face the shocking truths that they revealed. For seventeen generations, his female descendants have carefully guarded the secret of his hiding place, waiting for the right moment to bring Dee's ideas to light. That time is now.

In The Rose Labyrinth, Titania Hardie masterfully blends historical fact and fiction as she introduces readers to Lucy King, a beautiful, young documentary producer based in London. With the help of a brilliant group of friends, Lucy races through London, France, and New York to decipher the clues that will eventually lead her to the hidden treasure of the Rose Labyrinth. Along the way she finds true love with Alex Stafford, the doctor who saw her through a life-threatening heart condition and transplant.

A sweeping adventure for readers who loved The Da Vinci Code and The Expected One, The Rose Labyrinth is a decadent, romantic novel with a historical twist. It features a wonderful mix of literary references, from Shakespeare, to the Romantic poets, to Gabriel Garcia Marquez; the folklore and history of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism; and of course, astrology and numerology, of which Hardie is an expert. As the Rose Labyrinth tells us, the world we think we know is not all that it appears to be.

Review:

I really wanted to like this book. I admit that I was drawn in by the pretty cover (I know, I know). The story seemed interesting from the inside cover as well but as I began to read I could already tell that this was not the book I hoped it would be. The pace was very slow and there was nothing that reached out and grabbed me. I read about half of the book before deciding to give up completely (which I absolutely hate to do!). I decided if, after reading half of the book, there was still nothing that made me want to know what happens at the end, there never would be. And so I swallowed my pride and decided it was time to move on. Sigh.

As I didn't actually finish the book, I don't feel right giving it a rating. I encourage you to give it a shot if you find the premise interesting. Lord knows there are books out there that I like and others don't, and vice versa!