You are considering whether to buy a product. You look at the reviews. Would the following review decrease or increase the chances of you buying the product?
Review title: overzealous and disappointing
Product review: I had high hopes for this book given the rave reviews, but was sadly disappointed by an author who tries so hard to mesh too many historical characters in such a cursory fashion. Add in the fantasy/mystical angle for the plot, and the book leaves you with the sense that absolutely nothing is authentic. The references to historical figures actually becomes tedious.In other "semi-historical" books the characters are fictional and the time period pseudo-accurate (e.g., the Alienist, Angels & Demons). Or the characters are as close to what one would imagine (e.g., The Great Train Robbery). In this case neither is true.Finally, I won't spoil the ending, but the resolution of the plot is horribly disappointing. The whole 600 pages talks about discovering a formula. Well?Overall, the writing style isn't bad, and the author has a way of keeping you reading. But, too many times I'd put the book down and say to myself, "oh no, here comes another misused historical figure".
