Da Vinci's Tiger (edició 2015)

This book reminded me of the book The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier for a young adult audience. L. M. Elliott took the painting of Ginevra de' Benci, which is hanging in the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., and built a fictional story.
While I was reading the book, it returned to the days I was in middle school a couple of years ago. We have the assignment to take a Rennaisance picture, find the story behind it, and present it to the class.
I enjoy historical fiction, and I like to find books with different eras, and Da Vinci's Tiger had the potential, but it felt a little bit flat.
The storyline is about Ginevra meeting Leonardo Da Vinci and the portrait he made of her and some tensions in Florence at the time.
I didn’t completely connect to Ginerva. I didn’t feel that she was a character filled with the strength needed to compete with Da Vinci and his art. While she was his muse, I didn’t fully see how.
It seemed that there was a higher emphasis on the historical accuracy that it lacked the emotional pull to bring a scene or moment together.
I didn’t think anyone of the characters, in particular, stood out, which became a bit of a disappointment for me since this was about Da Vinci.
Often, I feel that character disconnects are based on my taste versus what the author is trying to relay. The writing was well done, and I felt it was that more than anything, kept me reading the story. The pacing was on par with what I thought this book needed. And overall, Da Vinci’s Tiger was just okay. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! I thought that Ginevra, the protagonist, was a little immature at times, but I had to keep reminding myself that she was just a child. During the times of the renaissance, women were married at very young ages and to much older men, so keep that in mind. From everything that I have learned about the history of the renaissance and also about the philosophical beliefs during this time period, it was very accurate. My main reason for only giving it 4 stars is simply because the main character slightly annoyed me at times, but like I said, Ginevra is a young character and more than likely lacks maturity that comes with age. ( )

I honestly thought I was going to enjoy this one because it seemed similar to The Girl With the Pearl Earring and The Last Unicorn (both by Tracy Chevalier) but alas, this was not the case. I was completely bored with this one and just wanted it to end. ( )

This book is based in the renaissance era -Florence, Italy. I love that the author was inspired to write this book based off an actual painting that Leonardo da Vinci made and the only piece of surviving poetry from the women in da Vinci's portrait.

The story is about a girl, Genevra de' Benci, and how she inspired the famous painter, Leonardo da Vinci and became his muse. Of course, there are other things that happen in her life than just that and she even touches on what it was like to be a women during that time, in a world controlled by men. L.M Elliot did a great deal of research for her writing and it shows; It was really cool learning about the renaissance culture and some of Italy's history. Da Vinci's Tiger is full of art, romance, inspiration, self expression and even has some political sides to it.

This isn't a book that I would normally pick up on my own ( I received it from a monthly book subscription box) but it was a very enjoyable read. I love how factual this story is ( of course its a fictional story but there's so much historical fact with in it) and I love how nicely it was written. The ending of this story was, in a way, surprising. The story didn't end how I thought it might and I'm glad that Genevra stayed true to herself. ( )

I really liked this book quite a lot. If I could have read it all in one sitting I definitely would have, but alas, it didn't work out that way. I found the characters captivating, the writing style easy to read, and the story went along at a good pace. It's a great shorter read and I would recommend is for sure! 4.5 out of 5 stars. ( )