A quick fix to make it easier to understand would be something like, “Alais’ heart was in her mouth. Example 2 from the typo list above perfectly highlights this – “ Alais’ heart was in her mouth that she would be seen at this last moment…” Even without the typo in the second half of this sentence, the first half is very hard to read. So, if anyone figures out the hidden message, let me know would you? Though be warned…it will probably have a typo in it.Īlong with the typos, there were often cases of clumsy or odd-sounding writing.

Seeing as this book is about uncovering secrets, that would be quite cool. If you’ve ever read A Series of Unfortunate Events, I’m envisioning the same type of puzzle that Aunt Josephine leaves for the Baudelaires. The only plausible explanation I have for the number of typos is that the corrected words must spell out a hidden message.

For example, “ Yet now it had finally come, he felt numb.” It really should have said, “Yet now that it had finally come…” However, reading this book felt more like the author had deleted all the “thats” without checking that it still made sense. One guideline in fiction is to drop the word “that” when possible to make the writing cleaner. The author also consistently refused to use the word “that” even when it’s needed. The labyrinth symbol, which is used to mark a change in time period, was missing at the beginning of a couple chapters. ‘Only now, as she stood staring at the chiselled names of one family, did Alice realize how very unusual it was that space had been found her for her aunt.’ ‘Alais’ heart was in her mouth that she would be seen at this last moment and her plan would ruined.’ ‘Only when the sun was full overheard did Viscount Trencavel lead them off the road…’ ‘reprintanding’ instead of ‘reprimanding’ on PG. I’m not exaggerating when I say there were at least a hundred mistakes, including missing or misspelled words – I ended up making a game out of it: spot the typo. I was absolutely astounded that a traditionally published book could have the sheer number of typos that Labyrinth has. Hopefully my review will convince you to save your time on this book. From the complete lack of editing, bland characters, and nonsensical plot, it ended up being a very disappointing read.

I’m very relieved I didn’t end up buying Labyrinth by Kate Mosse – even though the book was only a couple dollars at a thrift shop. “Labyrinth” by Kate Mosse is an interesting story buried beneath mounds of redundancy and typos, making the book more work than treasure.

Labyrinth kate mosse series