The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark
Published December 30th 2008 by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Hardcover, 400 Pages
Review Copy
Book Synopsis
"It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance, and Venice teems with rumors of an ancient book that holds the secret to unimaginable power. It is an alchemist's dream, with recipes for gold, immortality, and undying love. Everyone, rich and poor alike, speculates about the long-buried secrets scrawled in its pages and where it could possibly be hidden within the labyrinthine city. But while those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it." "As a storm of intrigue and desire circles the republic that grew from the sea, Luciano, a penniless orphan with a quick wit and an even faster hand, is plucked up by an illustrious chef and hired, for reasons he cannot yet begin to understand, as an apprentice in the palace kitchen. There, in the lavish home of the most powerful man in Venice, he is initiated into the chef's rich and aromatic world, with all its seductive ingredients and secrets." Luciano's loyalty to his street friends and the passion he holds for a convent girl named Francesca remain, but it is not long before he, too, is caught up in the madness. After he witnesses a shocking murder in the Palace dining room, he realizes that nothing is as it seems and that no one, not even those he's come to rely on most, can be trusted. Armed with a precocious mind and an insatiable curiosity, Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing open the shutters of his mind, inflame his deepest desires, and leave an indelible mark on his soul..........(Goodreads)
Review
The Book of Unholy Mischief made me want to eat a luxurious dinner in a small little Italian restaurant….besides the beautiful mentions of recipes, food and banquets that thrilled me…. I have some pretty deep conflicting emotions about the theology surrounding the book.
Luciano, a teen orphan scraping by on the streets of Venice, gets the chance of a lifetime when he is offered to work along side a Venetian chef. He quickly becomes this man’s cooking apprentice and is taught mouth-watering recipes, the secrets to spices and flavors and helps make the reader viciously hungry. Had the novel been purely about this topic (the love of cooking) I may have liked it…..but quicker than corn flakes get soggy in milk, in walks the main part of the story that brings us into the world of Davinci conspiracies and Dan Brown yammering. The city is in an uproar due to a particular book that’s hidden somewhere within the city’s walls. Rumor has it, the book contains secret recipes to make gold, love potions, immortality and other alchemical secrets. As you can probably guess, everyone in the story is after it and when Luciano is witness to a murder over the relic, he’s plunged deep into the twisted mystery, so much for the fabulous cooking.
Turns out the “BOOK” is a compilation of secret Catholic gospels, recipes and thoughts that the church was trying to destroy because they contradicted the gospels in the actual Bible. Basically the book states Jesus was a good guy trying to get the men (mainly Jewish men) to take responsibility and live respectable lives and that the whole start of Christianity was because Paul disobeyed Jesus and took the teachings to the gentiles. And this is why I had a problem with the novel, that concept contradicts what Jesus actually taught, one of the reasons Jesus caused so much controversy within the religious establishment of His time was because He extended the grace and promises of God to the gentiles. He commanded Paul to share that news along with the other disciples.
Without knowing to much about the novel before agreeing to review it, I didn’t realize the significance of bad theology that was going to ensue throughout the story. In my opinion the author has misrepresented Christ and the Church in order to advance her personal agenda of animosity towards Christianity.
Rating
Not Recommended by me but perhaps for readers who enjoy Dan Brown. Contains, violence, murder, language, religious conspiracies and cooking.
1/5- Fiction
Thank you to Pump up Your Book for Review Copy
The Book of Unholy Mischief made me want to eat a luxurious dinner in a small little Italian restaurant….besides the beautiful mentions of recipes, food and banquets that thrilled me…. I have some pretty deep conflicting emotions about the theology surrounding the book.
Luciano, a teen orphan scraping by on the streets of Venice, gets the chance of a lifetime when he is offered to work along side a Venetian chef. He quickly becomes this man’s cooking apprentice and is taught mouth-watering recipes, the secrets to spices and flavors and helps make the reader viciously hungry. Had the novel been purely about this topic (the love of cooking) I may have liked it…..but quicker than corn flakes get soggy in milk, in walks the main part of the story that brings us into the world of Davinci conspiracies and Dan Brown yammering. The city is in an uproar due to a particular book that’s hidden somewhere within the city’s walls. Rumor has it, the book contains secret recipes to make gold, love potions, immortality and other alchemical secrets. As you can probably guess, everyone in the story is after it and when Luciano is witness to a murder over the relic, he’s plunged deep into the twisted mystery, so much for the fabulous cooking.
Turns out the “BOOK” is a compilation of secret Catholic gospels, recipes and thoughts that the church was trying to destroy because they contradicted the gospels in the actual Bible. Basically the book states Jesus was a good guy trying to get the men (mainly Jewish men) to take responsibility and live respectable lives and that the whole start of Christianity was because Paul disobeyed Jesus and took the teachings to the gentiles. And this is why I had a problem with the novel, that concept contradicts what Jesus actually taught, one of the reasons Jesus caused so much controversy within the religious establishment of His time was because He extended the grace and promises of God to the gentiles. He commanded Paul to share that news along with the other disciples.
Without knowing to much about the novel before agreeing to review it, I didn’t realize the significance of bad theology that was going to ensue throughout the story. In my opinion the author has misrepresented Christ and the Church in order to advance her personal agenda of animosity towards Christianity.
Rating
Not Recommended by me but perhaps for readers who enjoy Dan Brown. Contains, violence, murder, language, religious conspiracies and cooking.
1/5- Fiction
Thank you to Pump up Your Book for Review Copy
It's been months since I read this book - which I loved - and I have to wonder if we read the same book. That's not what I recall as being the "secret book" that everyone was after.
ReplyDelete***SPOILER*** As I recall, the secret book was a book of recipes NOT a secret book of gospels at all.
Hmmm I remember the book being recipes and the secret messages contradicting the gospels of the bible. I read this last month but remember the main thing being about the Catholic Church cover-up
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I had no idea.
ReplyDeleteIt actually sounds like something I might enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Unholy Mischief now ~ almost finished it in fact ~ and I don't recall any Jesus bashing. On the other hand, the Church was definitely one of the villains, but it really deserves the lambasting it received in the book for the nefarious things it was doing then.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am enjoying it, for the most part, and will be reviewing it tomorrow at my blog, for anyone who's interested.
Hola,
ReplyDeleteDe dуnde eres? їEs un secreto? :)
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