Reviews tagging 'Incest'

La Sombra Del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

85 reviews

lydia_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Grief, Sexual violence, Incest, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

mariegatou's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Police brutality, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Excrement, Death, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, and Death of parent

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Barcelona in 1945 is a city slowly healing in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets— an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

If I said it didn't take me a while to get into the book, I'd be lying. But because of how flawlessly the novel unraveled, I believe it was worth it. This kind of literature was exactly what I was looking for because the plot felt so magical and transported me into an other kind of universe. I certainly enjoyed it. I don't read a lot of mysteries or historical fiction, but this author really outdid himself.

I was reluctant to read this book because it was written by a man, it was set in the post-war era (which isn't my cup of tea), and it was so much hyped.  Usually, praised books leave me unimpressed. This is mainly because the book was either poorly written, poorly executed, problematic, or the story wasn't engaging. But this one was so excellent that it often rendered me astonished. I hadn't intended to continue with the series within the first 100 pages, but I want to drop everything now and read the other novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent

crows_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

Minor: Lesbophobia and War

bookwormcat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a great book. Beautiful prose, compelling characters and a fascinating mystery. Dark and sad but with moments of real humour. I loved it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Cursing, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Incest, War, and Excrement

kell_xavi's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Torture, Misogyny, Incest, Violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, War, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, and Classism

Minor: Excrement

chrisljm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

1. this book would not pass the bechdel test.
2. the twist almost made me shit myself. 
3. “the day was turning out to be longer than The Brothers Karamazov” is so funny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Stalking, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Torture, Cursing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Bullying, Rape, Abortion, Classism, Racial slurs, and Adult/minor relationship

mikarala's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book was hard for me to rate. There are definitely some real strengths: I think the writing style is beautifully lyrical and engaging, the plot is overall really good, some of the characters are really entertaining, and I enjoy the setting of post-Civil War Spain. However, I do think there are some pacing issues (the first half is quite slow imo), there's no fresh takes of the themes or interesting messages, and I never really fell in love with any of the characters, or even really had strong feelings towards them. What got me really turning the pages in the second half of the novel (which was much quicker paced than the first) was just an eagerness to figure out what was going to happen. And while that's certainly not an issue, it's not what I look for from a book and it prevent me from rating it higher even though I highly recommend reading this.

Ultimately I feel like this is a story that follows the conventions of story-telling extremely well, but without any very interesting twists to make it unique.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting and War

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Incest

deedireads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

The Shadow of the Wind is a beautifully told, immersive, wonderfully bibliophilic mystery that takes place in Barcelona in 1945. I loved it.

For you if: You like books that hint at magic.

FULL REVIEW:

Despite the fact that The Shadow of the Wind has been recommended to me time and time again, I went in knowing very little about it except that it was a book about books. Well, it is that, but also so much more, and I (predictably) loved it.

The story takes place in Barcelona in 1945, shortly after the end of wartime. As a child, the main character, Daniel, visits the Cemetary of Forgotten Books with his father, a rare-book seller, and stumbles upon a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. That sets off a chain of events that lasts into Daniel’s young adulthood as he tries to learn more about the mysterious Carax, aided by a few friends and haunted by a chilling figure intent on stopping him.

While I’d say this book is first and foremost a mystery, it really has something for everyone: romance, humor, revenge, doomed love, hints of magic, and (of course) a story centered on books. The storytelling by Zafón and translation by Lucia Graves are just incredible — I was transported and enthralled. It’s not a quick read, but it was immersive, and it was the perfect companion over a few weeks while my life was particularly chaotic. (Also, the audiobook was very well done!).

This is just one book in the Cemetary of Forgotten Books quartet, which apparently can be read in any order. If you’ve read them, let me know which one you think I should read next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Incest, and Sexual harassment

kinddog2073's review against another edition

Writing was "pretty" though deeply mysogynistic, up to and including indelicate treatments of paedophelia, incest, and other minor, unnecessary descriptors exclusively applied to women. Horniest and most unreasonably stupid (even for a horny adolescent) main character I've read in a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Incest