Review by Lizzieitalia -- The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio

[Lizzieitalia]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio" by Belle Ami.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio (Out of Time Thriller Series Book 2), by Belle Ami, is a fast-paced thriller and romantic mystery. The book is about a psychic art historian named Angela Renatus who can see into the past and observe the lives of great artists like Caravaggio. In the book, Angela works with her wealthy art detective fiancé Alex Caine to solve the mystery of what happened to the "Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco," a painting created by Caravaggio in 1609. The painting was supposedly stolen by the Sicilian mafia from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo in 1969 (which is all based on fact). Angela uses her psychic abilities mixed with her expertise as an art historian to solve the mystery.

Angela and Alex live together in Florence, which makes it convenient for them to take on the case. As the pair discover more about Caravaggio's past, they embark on a dangerous path that leads to interactions with the Sicilian mafia and Russian spies.

This was a really fun book and I enjoyed it even more than the first in the series. The author has clearly done her research as it was full of interesting facts about art history and topography of various European cities like Rome, Florence, London, and Palermo. Much of the book takes place in Italy, which is personally one of my favorite places in the world, and I think it did a fair job of portraying the country and culture. I really enjoyed all of the tidbits of history and the author did a nice job of working them into the narrative in ways that made sense. The equally colorful descriptions of Italian food and cuisine were delicious and had my mouth watering. The characters were well-developed and the dialogues were believable.

There is frequent mention of scenes and characters from the first book in the series, so it is helpful to have read that in advance, although I do not think it is overly necessary to enjoy this book. I didn't understand why Angela doesn't really speak Italian, since she lives in Florence and is continually eavesdropping on Italians from her past lives (how would she have understood what they were staying?). Maybe it is one of those things that must be left unquestioned (like the entire notion of a psychic time-traveler and reincarnation)! There just didn't seem to be any reason for her not to speak Italian and it would have made more sense in the end anyway.

There were very few grammatical errors and the book was well-written with a fast pace that reminded me a bit of Dan Brown novels. I would highly recommend this book (and series) to readers who enjoy art history, Italian history, time travel, romance, and mystery, among many other genres. There was a fair amount of swearing (both in English and in Italian) and some moderate erotic content, which make the book not well suited to younger audiences. In sum, I am happy to give this book 4 out of 4 stars. I look forward to future installments of this series!

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The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio
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[Bianka Walter]

I love when the second in the series surpasses your love of the first. That makes me a happy person.
This is a great review - thanks!

[Ria710]

It sounds like a very interesting book. Thank you for the review.