"Eight" 3.7 / 5

It is a journey that weaves together the author's exploration between history and various sciences such as physics, mathematics, and archaeology. Kings, officials, leaders who conquered lands, cities, and countries are intertwined in a game of seeking the truth and a mystery that changes you.

This element that all of humanity has been seeking throughout the ages, trying to overthrow the natural evolution...

The approach regarding historical events was nice. It had excitement, mystery, and a manhunt, but the numerous details in some parts were tiring. Also, I expected a more revolutionary ending. I think the ending of a 767-page book did not satisfy me. Nevertheless, it is worth a reading effort for the lovers of this genre.

The story, in general, was not overly bad. It did have some quite contrived elements, yet there were also a few interesting twists that managed to hold one's attention. However, the writing style was rather laborious. For instance, instead of simply stating that someone walked into a room, it was described as "entering the room lit by the amber glow of an oversized fireplace, in front of it were arrayed couches in a floral fabric and overstuffed pillows strewn on an leather ottoman." I mean, in reality, sometimes you just walk into a room without all that excessive detail. The overuse of such flowery and overstuffed language actually got in the way of the plot's smooth progression. Additionally, I found myself constantly waiting for the "Velis = Lives" anagram to surface, but it never really did in a significant way. Moreover, there was nothing provided about the characters' origins. This left a big open mystery at the end of the story, which was a bit disappointing as it would have added more depth and understanding to the overall narrative.

It seemed that the author was perhaps more focused on creating a certain atmosphere through elaborate descriptions rather than fully developing the story and its characters. While the descriptions were at times quite vivid, they detracted from the essence of the plot and left the reader with a sense of incompleteness.

Overall, the story had potential, but it was hindered by its overly complicated style and lack of crucial information regarding the characters. With some refinement and a more balanced approach, it could have been a more engaging and satisfying read.

4 Good Good Good Stars (out of 5). Finally! I finished it! After a month of reading! What can I say about this book?? The words are redundant! Very good! Thrilling! Hard to put down at the end. I loved it in a few words. However, you might ask me why 4 stars since I loved it. Well, let me start my detailed review of this book:

Positives:

+ Very good plot/story. Very nice scenes. With suspense and a lot of action. I really liked the main heroine. One of my favorite characters in this book. And the other characters were also good.

+ I especially liked that the author, just as she started each chapter, would mention some quotes (I don't know how else to refer to them) that either related to life, or to chess, or to some theories, or came from fairy tales and myths. Some of these confused me a little. And some became my favorites.

+ Fortunately, there was also a bit of romance/love otherwise it wouldn't have come out so crazy. Neither "darling" nor just referring to the protagonists and what they did in relation to this mysterious chess.

Negatives:

- Many pages! (767!) This was the whole volume! Not an encyclopedia I was reading! It dragged on a lot as a story. At one point I even said to myself to put it down because of the many pages. Fortunately, however, I didn't. I wonder how much inspiration this author had and wrote sooooooooo many things.

- Very detailed in some points. And I was trying to focus a lot to catch them all, so as not to lose the thread of the story.

Observations: I really liked how she connected the characters with each other. Both those who lived in reality and those who were fictional (created for the needs of the book). The good thing is that I also learned a few more things about chess. From where I knew almost nothing about it and how it is played (just like the main heroine, that is), I learned something. Anyway, I have one thing to say. It could be made into a TV series or even better a movie. I would be one of the first to go and see it. All in all, it was an amazing book. I recommend it to those who like adventure and action and deep mysteries. Now I can't wait to read the second book. I hope it's as good as the first. And even better…