The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan Review

 Happy Friday Everyone :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

Today I'm here to share with you all my review of a highly anticipated historical fiction novel. I'd heard mainly great things about it, and the synopsis intrigued me, so I couldn't wait to dive right in.

Keep reading down below for my full review to find out if it lived up to all the hype surrounding it.

The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: March 15th, 2022

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

From author Rachel McMillan comes a richly researched historical romance that takes place in post-World War II Europe and features espionage and a strong female lead.

Lady Sophia Huntington Villiers is no stranger to intrigue, as her work with Alan Turing’s Bombe Machines at Bletchley Park during the war attests. Her wartime marriage of convenience to Simon Barre, the eighth earl of Camden, granted her the independence she craved and saved his estate. Now, as part of his covert team in postwar Vienna, she uses her charm to uncover a lethal double agent immersed in the world of relics—including the long lost death mask of Mozart. 

Simon is determined to gather any information he can to end the Cold War before it becomes as devastating as the war Britain has just won. He has been secretly in love with Sophie Villiers for years, and their work together in Vienna leads him to hope for genuine romance in their marriage. Until a mission in Prague drives Sophie to a decision that will brand her not only a traitor to her country but also to her husband.

With Sophie’s allegiance in question, Simon is torn between his duty to the crown and saving the woman who might have betrayed his cause and his heart. 

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

The period around World War Two is always one of my favorite historical fiction eras to read about. As someone who also loves stories of espionage and mysteries surrounding history, I was really expecting to love this one. Unfortunately, that ended up not being the case. I ended up feeling like I'd read a different book than the majority of the other reviewers, and this one definitely was not for me.

While I greatly appreciate the insane amount of research that Rachel McMillan put into The Mozart Code, I ended up finding it hard to follow, and incredibly boring. The characters were extremely lackluster, and made really immature decisions, and they failed to ever illicit any kind of response from me. A lot of the story seemed to get bogged down by historical details that were hard to muddle through, and the important pieces seemed to be skimmed over quickly, and left me feeling like I'd missed big plot pieces that were never really explained.

I had already figured out the big plot reveals earlier on in the story, and yet, since I failed to really distinguish most of the secondary characters from one another, it didn't really have the effect on me that it was intended to. There's a lot of tragic events that happen throughout the story, especially in the later half of it, and yet it felt like nothing was portrayed realistically, and the characters reactions to everything were just plain weird.

I got to about the ten percent mark of this one and was already tempted to dnf it, but kept pushing through cause I was certain I would end up enjoying it at some point. Unfortunately, that point never came, and I've just had to accept the fact that this book was not for me. I never connected with the characters or the story, and didn't find anything written in a way that interested me. A lot of the story seemed jumbled together, and by about the halfway point I was resorting to skimming (which I honestly never do), just to try and finish it.

Final Rating: 2/5.

I don't personally recommend this one, but if you're a fan of cleanish historical fiction it may be one that you'd enjoy.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this title!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your weekend :)