This is a piece of historical and magical fiction. It's about a boy named Luca who is the son of an Italian nobleman in the time of Crusades. Luca has apparently had issues with seeing demons and although he has told everyone around him that he's put all that behind him, he's still seeing demons and trying to figure out what to do about it. The story is pretty exciting, there is a romantic interest for him and a thrilling chase to try to cast out the most evil demon of all. I think this one would have some big followers in YA section of the library, particularly if it's part of a series.

Much more juvenile than I anticipated. I would categorize this as middle grade rather than Young adult. Still a good story and a great Into to the fantasy genre in general. I would recommend this for my older kids.

The premise was very interesting, I will say. A knight from the crusades and an “ugly nun” who have to find a way to stop the terrorizing demons poisoning the minds of people everywhere. Add in a magic book and you have me hooked. Yet there are various elements of the book and the style itself that just did not sit well with me. It could have been great, but I found it just okay. It was very entertaining and some points, where as it dragged on in others.. I was hoping for a more epic ending, however it fell flat to me. The setting in the time of the Crusades was fantastic though!

I'm a huge fan of Victorian England historical fiction, A believable combination of fantasy and historical fiction. I did find it a little slow though.

A Book of Whispers About How to Save the World
The Book of Whispers is a difficult book to describe, and to review. It is a sweeping story, spanning the medieval world from sun-drenched Italian olive farms, to the scorched deserts of the Middle East. It follows the exploits of Luca, a young knight on Crusade, as he discovers that perhaps the Saracens are not the evil scourge they are thought to be, and that his fellow Christians can be as just as depraved in battle and conquest as he expecst his enemy to be. Added to the moralistic back story, is the fictional ingredient of a demonic plot to overtake the earth and possess man-kind, which can only be thwarted by following the advice contained in a family heirloom, the Book of Whispers. Image result for Knight Templar CrusaderEnter the enigmatic Suzan, the only person who is able to read the book, since she grew up in a remote convent, and was taught the language by her mysterious (and mute) mother. And while these various ingredients may seem somewhat random, Kimberly Starr blends them together masterfully into a very special story.

The Book of Whispers does an excellent job of piquing a reader’s interest in the historical aspects of the Crusades, while also building in a nail-biting tale of demon hunting. Luca, the hero of the story, can see demons everywhere, and has even suffered through an exorcism as a child in an attempt to cure him of what was seen as a terrible affliction. For people of that time period, the workings of Satan and his minions were very real forces in the every-day physical world, but to admit that one could see them often carried a penalty of death. Along with his curse of seeing demons, Luca also sees the future in his dreams, which is what leads him on the Crusade in the first place, in an attempt to save his father. Image result for medieval knight kissing ladyAlong the way, he meets Suzan, who has also seen him in her dreams. They will become allies and love interests… and although their romance remains chaste and innocent, I found myself really rooting for them almost immediately. They are both very likeable, and very tortured by their circumstances, even as their chemistry leaps off the page.

At 400 pages this book is a bit of an undertaking, but it is one that I would highly recommend! It has history, romance, action, and paranormal elements, making it a thought provoking crowd pleaser and great conversation piece.

I've a serious issues with long world building and this one doesn't jump into the story till 100 pages or so. I found the pacing a bit slow to keep me gripped to it. However, once you get past through the glitch you will enjoy it. This was a 3 star read for me.

I very much enjoyed the Book of Whispers. Set in a time period I don't read much (The Great Pilgrimage, now known as the First Crusade), it definitely transported me into a different time and place. Luca can see demons, and when his father gives him the Book of Whispers, he soon discovers there's a lot more at stake. He goes against his father's wishes and joins the Pilgrimage to free the Holy Land, but his main goal is at first saving his father's life as he had a prophetic dream about his death. And then, Luca meets a young woman named Suzan, and together they uncover a plot by the demon Thanatos to possess hundreds of thousands of people.

I appreciated the research the author did about several aspects of the Crusades, and the terrible things that happened. The humans did enough terrible things even without the influence of the demons the author inserted into the story. All in all, it was a spellbinding story that kept me reading, wanting to find out what happened and what was in store for the characters.

My one problem is I felt the book ended a bit too abruptly. I wanted the falling action to be fleshed out a bit more. I wouldn't say it was a bad ending, but I think it could have been nice to see a bit more after the climax, as we spent years with this characters and then after everything, it just stops. It wasn't enough to put me off the book, and I enjoyed the book very much.

Thank you NetGalley for this book. The cover looked great and description sounded interesting.

Luca sees demons but can't tell anyone, his family has a secret book full of demon names and descriptions that they can't read.

Luca rescuses a damsel in distress in the desert and it turns out they are to set out on this journey together. The seceret demon book that Luca has, is in a language only Suzan can read.

I really wanted to like this but I just couldn't get it. I gave up part way through.
For me, I felt the story dragged and the pace was not fast enough.

I was given this book by NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book. It is an excellent teen or adult read. It takes place in the times of the first crusades and discloses some of the facts and realities of that time. It does include demons and magic, too, so it is an excellent fantasy book, too. I really enjoyed the book and would look forward to reading more by this author.

The only editorial note is that I sometimes got confused as to who was telling the story as it switched back and forth between two first person storytellers. Other than that---thumbs up!!!

Captivating from the outset.. The backdrop of the Crusades to the main demonic plot makes for an excellent read. Doesn't shy away from the atrocities committed in the name of religion either. A very well thought out plot and an engaging read - perfect!

I really wanted to like but by the time I was about 1/4 of the way through it I was so bored and started skimming. From what I can tell I didn't miss much because most of the book is just them wandering through the desert. I mean I understand that that's what most of the Crusades was, a lot of wandering around interspersed with killing people, but with a book you need to do some kind of time skip or invent a new problem because it gets really boring really quickly. Also I think the characters were supposed to be like late-teens but they acted like pre-teens so I kept going 'who is letting these children do this' only to remember oh yeah they aren't actually children. The characters in general and even the romance angle was severely underdeveloped, which there is just really no excuse for in a book that is almost 400 pages long.

I did like the concept that all of the fake religious relics actually had a demon attached to them, but then it seemed like it wasn't just religious relics it was literally any old thing that anyone had at all so I'm not sure if it was actually supposed to be a commentary on worshiping things that really have no value or not because it was never really expanded on except to say that hey there's a lot of demons around. Also we never really get any background on the book or just answers as to WHY for anything. I like the message that the Crusades were horrible and fueled by the greed of men and you know, not that God actually wanted them to kill all those people, but I felt like the plot wasn't fleshed out enough and it just couldn't hold my attention.

There is a story there but it was not for me. I like reading about demons but in this story they are talked about but not really developed. The boy can see them but his interaction is limited and nothing about them or why he can see them is explained, The characters personalities were rather shallow. Reading about the crusades, corrupt priests and people treating people poorly made me not want to finish reading this book. I only made it through about 50%. It was well written but it was not for me.

Set in the early 1900s, The Book of Whispers is the story of Luca and Suzan. Luca can see demons and that is fact that he keeps well-hidden after a childhood experience. His dreams are like premonitions and so when he sees his father getting murdered, he decides to follow his father on a journey in order to be able to prevent it. That is where he meets Suzan, a girl raised in the convent and on the run after a close call at the convent. The thing is that Suzan too can see the demons. So together they work towards stopping the demons from taking over with a little help from the Book of Whispers.

The Book of Whispers is something that Luca inherited. It is surprising to see a book with almost as many secrets and as much character as a person in the plot. Both Luca and Suzan make for interesting protagonists. There is just enough details given about them to make a reader get acquainted with their characters. I loved the setting quite a bit and how the author has sprinkled little details throughout the book.

The romance in the book adds another element to the plot though I am not very sure of it. It felt kind of instantaneous and then builds on it. It wasn’t really the kind of romance I enjoy, but then again, the romance is not the main focus of the book so it is pretty easy to look beyond it. The book has a slow start, but once all the elements are in place the pace does not lag at all. So, readers need be patient towards the beginning.

Overall, it is a YA Fantasy that will appeal to many.

Set during the First Crusade, The Book of Whispers follows young Luca, the son of a Tuscan Conte. Luca has the ability see demons and has premonitory dreams, which he must keep a secret for his own safety. He is given a strange and powerful book, which he can’t read, but with the help of the mysterious Suzan -who can- he’ll face men and demons who wish to destroy the world.

This book had me saying “Oh, my God! I can’t believe how cool is this book” to my husband several times a day. The author has so many great ideas and the talent to create a great story with them.

I was -well, still am- in the middle of an international relocation. This past month has been nothing but a big ball of chaos and stress. Under these circumstances, I would’ve dropped any other book in favour of comics or something more bite-sized, but it gripped me and I could not put it down. I had almost no free time and what little I did have, I spent reading this book. This is the only reason I didn’t read it in two sittings.

The characters are fantastic! Their stories are rich, original and made me wish the author had written a separate book for each of them. I haven’t read a book like this in quite a while.

What keeps popping into my mind as I write this and as I read the book, is how full of great ideas the author is! I’m in awe. It’s obvious that a lot of research went into writing this book, It really shows in the detailed descriptions of the places and events. I felt transported. The whole thing about demons and human nature was extremely interesting! And the story, except for a couple of exceptions, never went in the direction I expected. It surprised me until the very end.

This is clearly a book for Young Adults, but I’m in my 30’s and I enjoyed it immensely. It has magic, adventure, history, friendship & romance. What’s not to like? I may understand 4 star ratings, but I’m having difficulty believing anybody would give it less than that!

I’ll soon get started with other books by the author. If they are half as good as this one, I’ll love them.

PS: I’m so stressed at the moment and struggling with my own demon, let’s call it “hēmikranía”, that I feel I haven’t done this amazing book justice with this review. I apologise for that, especially to the author, who gave me several hours of great entertainment when I really needed it.

A very good book, I really liked this one a lot. Fast paced, good structure, and fascinating characters. Five stars!

So this book was actually really really interesting! I didn’t start it as soon as I got it and I went into it without knowing very much about it. I just knew that it was a book set in 1096 AD and that there were demons. That’s all I really needed to be sold on such an interesting looking book.

This book wasn’t very long and it was something I could just pull up when I had some time to chill out during school. I ended up finishing the last half of this book in one night because I kind of wanted to get through it but I did really want to find out what happened in the end.

This book had duel perspectives and it really did work for the book and I did appreciate being able to hear what was happening through both Luca and Suzan’s POV. I really enjoyed reading about both characters and they were both people I would enjoy being friends with. Suzan is, in fact, naive but she is incredibly eager to learn about everything which is amazing!

One big thing that annoyed me about this book was the writing style. I just couldn’t stand how the book was written and because of that, I doubt I would pick up another book by Starr. It wasn’t terrible but it just read like a draft and I thought certain parts were cringy and seemed really fake. I know this book is an arc and thus it technically is a draft but unless the writing style completely changes I don’t think that aspect will really change.

I don’t know if I would really recommend this book to anyone because of how the writing style is but it’s not a bad book. If a person can get past a writing style that can be a little lacking then I think the story would be a really interesting read. Some stories are worth pushing through a “bad” writing style but to me, this isn’t one of those stories.

Luca has always seen demons but has learned to not speak about it. When he looks in The Book of Secrets this ability increases. With the help of the mysterious book, Luca and his friend Suzane work towards defeating a very powerful demon. Set during the Crusades this books combines historical events with a magical fantasy world. I liked the setting of the Crusades, something only vaguely taught in school. To add demons was clever. It was creepy and believeable the way demons were attached to relics and how they influenced the actions of the people.

I had a hard time getting into the book as it started slow, but it did pick up as the story progressed. Unfortunately the story had moments of jumping ahead without developing reactions to events, leaving me confused because my mind was still in previous time/place/action. Also, the two characters of Luca's best friend and his non-betrothed seemed one-dimensional - I was never sure who they really were.

When reading books it frustrates me if characters have the affliction of "Great And Important Things Unsaid or Unasked" just to create suspense or confusion. To go days/weeks/months without addressing vital topics is so unrealistic. For example, why did Luca not speak to his father about his sister's betrothal in all the time it took to get ready to travel? Why didn't they discuss the book and why his father did not want it on the crusade? It also did not make sense to me that his father did not trust his judgement about his cousin's character - was he not his son and heir that he had raised to take his place?

Descriptions of battle and other events are very graphic and gory so I would not recommend for middle grades.

Wonderful book that will be popular among tweens. This would be a good selection for the OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) in an up coming year. There are lessons to be learned in this story. Very much enjoyed this one.

Not going to review as I did not connect enough with the book to go further than a few chapters.