Instruct: Classify the given review into positive or negative sentiment.
Query: Way too long

I agree with many of the other reviewers on two points: 1) Ms. Kostova's editors could have done a more thorough job editing her novel, and 2) The characters are superficial and insufficiently compelling to drive the story. The plot twists were predictable. The strength of the novel is its ambitious and fairly successful attempt to blend historical fact with just the right touch of fiction to engage the reader's imagination. I think that part of the difficulty is that the search for various & sundry historical documents which drive the central mystery is not terribly suspenseful because it's very distanced for the reader. You're essentially reading about someone reading/translating a document. I did come away with a much firmer grasp of Eastern European history from that era. I left wondering why I lugged such a heavy tome to and from the airport.