The Serpent and the Pearl

Borgias, Book 1

De: Kate Quinn

Narrado por: Leila Birch, Maria Elena Infantino, Ronan Vibert

Rome, 1492: The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous - or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous web....

Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the world at her feet: beauty, wealth, and a handsome young husband. But she is stunned to discover that her glittering marriage is a sham, and she is to be given as a concubine to the ruthless, charismatic Cardinal Borgia: Spaniard, sensualist, candidate for Pope - and passionately in love with her.

Two trusted companions will follow her into the Pope's shadowy harem: Leonello, a cynical bodyguard bent on bloody revenge against a mysterious killer, and Carmelina, a fiery cook with a past full of secrets. But as corruption thickens in the Vatican and the enemies begin to circle, Giulia and her friends will need all their wits to survive in the world of the Borgias.

©2013 Kate Quinn (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Epic, sexy.” (Publishers Weekly starred review)

“Deeply passionate.” (Kate Furnivall, New York Times best-selling author)

“A riveting plunge into an ancient world.” (C. W. Gortner, author of The Vatican Princess)

Nothing Happened til the end

I dont understand the great reviews of this book. it was pleasant enough and the narration from three different narrators and description of the food kept me listening but actually nothing much happens in this book til the end and then they leave you hanging. It wasnt awful as I did finish but not great. Certainly not a best seller. Read The Alice Network by this author a far superior book. couldn't put that one down. As some other reviews have stated the narration of Julia ( not spelled that way) was not a problem for me.

Great story!

What made the experience of listening to The Serpent and the Pearl the most enjoyable?

I loved the change in narrators and enjoyed the pace of the story

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's a tie between Carmalena and Lionello...theyre both wonderfully complex and I loved the way they played off of each other.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I thought the performers who were Carmalena and Lionello had great emotion and were easy to listen to. Guilia was a little harder to follow as she spoke very slow, but I still enjoyed it.

Who was the most memorable character of The Serpent and the Pearl and why?

Probably Lionello, as his character was really fun to follow

great story - not so great narration

I found all three narrators jarring to listen to, but not so bad that I didn't get wrapped up in the plot. simply turning the speed to 1.3x helped with the slow narrators, and the strange pauses didn't bother me--it added to the idea that English isn't the primary language. wonderful story, cliff hanger!!!

Great Story

Interesting take on the Borgia's. have lists ed to it more than ten times and will listen to it even more times!

Entertaining. Did not like the ending.

Did not like the narration of Gulia, but the narration.of the other characters was excellent.

A fast read and a slow pace, intriguing.

The narration is well balanced leading to more character development. Well done. Quiet is more powerful than loud demands, more powerful than politics. La Bella, young at heart and old of soul desired by all and only truly possessed by a few. Great story of Roman and Catholic politics, inside and outside of the Vatican. Very easy to listen to.

Interesting story with some caveats

I did not like the narrator for Guilia as she was hard to listen to. The story seemed only half finished but the characters were interesting. Some of the description was repetitive but overall I liked it well enough. Interesting era.

kept me hanging on every word!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

this book was MADE for audio - the descriptions brought you into the story fully.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes!

History comes alive

Good storytelling but again ruined by the narration of Julia’s chapters. Stilted, not flowing and awful all round except for Italian pronunciation. The other characters are well represented with flowing, considered narration.

Overall great story, but the performance could be better.

The story is wonderful and the detailed descriptions of the food were mouth-watering. I thought the story was an interesting take on Borgias. Only complaint is the narrator for Guila was a little weird, I never got used to her, she had terrible voice for any male characters. The other two narrators were fabulous. Loved Leonello’s character.