Review: David

Title: David
Series: Stand Alone

Author: Mary Hoffman
Publish Date: Oct 11, 2011

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: Young Adult, New Adult, Historical Fiction
Started Reading: March 8, 2016
Finished Reading: March 10, 2016

Book Summary from Goodreads:

Michelangelo's statue, David, is famous around the world. Millions flock to Italy every year to admire the physical perfection of the young man captured within the marble. But the identity of the model has never been known . . . until now.

In this epic tale, acclaimed author Mary Hoffman imagines the story of Gabriele, a naive but incredibly handsome young man who is hired as Michelangelo's model, only to find himself drawn into a world of spies, political treachery, and murder. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Florence in its most turbulent times, this rich, colorful, thrilling tale gives life to one of the world's greatest masterpieces.

My Two Cents:

Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars (I loved it)

If you enjoy Assassin's Creed, specifically Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, then you are likely to enjoy this book. This book takes the same idea of putting a fictional story in the middle of real events and runs with it.

David is set in the same time period as Assassin's Creed, but is located in Florence, rather than Rome. We follow a fictional character through the political turmoil that held the city captive during the years it took Michelangelo to carve his master piece - the marble David.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a nice meander through a bygone time, but told in a way that you felt was non-fiction. More than anything, I found myself learning more about Michelangelo and Florence than any history class or art class had taught me. I actually looked up more information about Michelangelo to see if there was a person that the main character was based on.

I really liked the fact that it didn't skirt around some of the more unsavoury aspects of the time. I think this book would lean more toward New Adult than Young Adult, but that would depend on the teen.

This is not a book I would have picked up on my own, I read it for a challenge on Goodreads, and I am very glad I did. 

Now I'm going to go pull out Assassin's Creed again.

To Sum Up: A fantastically written historical fiction that feels like non-fiction. Definitely one I'll read again.