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shooper's review against another edition
It's really a pity. It's especially hard for me to dnf this right now because I just dnf'd another book. The writing in this book was exquisite- it would've got 4 stars. However, the author degrades women at almost every step of the way. I later learned that in the latter half of this book there are instances of homophobia and even ableism. I honestly can't get myself to read something like that and then give it any stars. I'm so upset because I had such high expectations. Oh well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia
theunexpectedamphibian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
half_bloodreader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Bilingual Review/Crítica Bilingue (🇬🇧 & 🇵🇹)
🇬🇧 Written in the 1st person, past tense. Set in the 1st half of the 20th century, Franco's regime
Intrigue, mystery, books, Barcelona. What's there not to like? Or so I thought, but I ended with mixed feelings.
It's historical fiction. There are scenes that reflect the chauvinist times, things that happen to women that are part of plot points.
Except, there's language & violence used against women that doesn't add anything to the story, so it seems the author is taking pleasure out of tormenting women.
A male character is physically & s exually assaulted, yet it's told in a ridiculous tone. I was intrigued, which is why I kept reading, but I can't ignore these recurring themes.
Mc instantly falls in love with the women he's attracted to, no importance given to knowing them. These are all enigmatic, inscrutable, meaning they are as deep as a leaf.
Otherwise, they are a reason for ridicule.
Beware of Stereotype: blind person asks to touch strangers' faces 🙄
Mystery is almost entirely revealed in a letter conveniently left to the mc.
Writing plays with the frontier between beautiful & pretentious to the point of eyeroll.
🇵🇹 Escrito na 1ª pessoa, passado. Situado na 1ª metade do Séc. XX, Espanha Franquista
Intriga, mistério, livros, Barcelona. O que há para não gostar? Pensei eu, mas no fim fiquei dividida.
É ficção histórica. Há cenas que refletem os tempos machistas, coisas que acontecem a mulheres que fazem parte da trama.
Excepto que há linguagem e violência usadas contra mulheres que não acrescentam nada à história, parece que o autor tirou prazer de atormentar mulheres.
Um personagem masculino é agredido física & sexualmente, sendo tal contado em tom jocoso. Estava intrigada, por isso persisti, mas não posso simplesmente ignorar estes tópicos recorrentes.
Cuidado com Estereótipo: pessoa cega pede para tocar na cara de estranhos 🙄
Protagonista apaixona-se instantaneamente pelas mulheres que lhe são atraentes, e pouca importa conhecê-las. Essas são todas enigmáticas, imperscrutáveis, ou seja têm a profundidade de uma folha.
De contrário, são motivo de ridículo.
Mistério é revelado quase todo numa carta convenientemente deixada ao protagonista.
A escrita brinca com a fronteira entre bela e pretensiosa a ponto de rolar os olhos.
🇬🇧 Written in the 1st person, past tense. Set in the 1st half of the 20th century, Franco's regime
Intrigue, mystery, books, Barcelona. What's there not to like? Or so I thought, but I ended with mixed feelings.
It's historical fiction. There are scenes that reflect the chauvinist times, things that happen to women that are part of plot points.
Except, there's language & violence used against women that doesn't add anything to the story, so it seems the author is taking pleasure out of tormenting women.
A male character is physically & s exually assaulted, yet it's told in a ridiculous tone. I was intrigued, which is why I kept reading, but I can't ignore these recurring themes.
Mc instantly falls in love with the women he's attracted to, no importance given to knowing them. These are all enigmatic, inscrutable, meaning they are as deep as a leaf.
Otherwise, they are a reason for ridicule.
Beware of Stereotype: blind person asks to touch strangers' faces 🙄
Mystery is almost entirely revealed in a letter conveniently left to the mc.
Writing plays with the frontier between beautiful & pretentious to the point of eyeroll.
🇵🇹 Escrito na 1ª pessoa, passado. Situado na 1ª metade do Séc. XX, Espanha Franquista
Intriga, mistério, livros, Barcelona. O que há para não gostar? Pensei eu, mas no fim fiquei dividida.
É ficção histórica. Há cenas que refletem os tempos machistas, coisas que acontecem a mulheres que fazem parte da trama.
Excepto que há linguagem e violência usadas contra mulheres que não acrescentam nada à história, parece que o autor tirou prazer de atormentar mulheres.
Um personagem masculino é agredido física & sexualmente, sendo tal contado em tom jocoso. Estava intrigada, por isso persisti, mas não posso simplesmente ignorar estes tópicos recorrentes.
Cuidado com Estereótipo: pessoa cega pede para tocar na cara de estranhos 🙄
Protagonista apaixona-se instantaneamente pelas mulheres que lhe são atraentes, e pouca importa conhecê-las. Essas são todas enigmáticas, imperscrutáveis, ou seja têm a profundidade de uma folha.
De contrário, são motivo de ridículo.
Mistério é revelado quase todo numa carta convenientemente deixada ao protagonista.
A escrita brinca com a fronteira entre bela e pretensiosa a ponto de rolar os olhos.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
francine_is_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail
sherbertwells's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
On the streets of fascist Barcelona, a boy unravels the mystery behind his favorite book. Some stories can survive the fact that their authors don’t really understand women; in this one the plot threatens to buckle under its own accumulated misogyny.
“I imagined Julián Carax at my age, holding that image in his hand, perhaps in the shade of the same tree that now sheltered me. I could almost see him smiling confidently, contemplating a future as wide and luminous as that avenue, and for a moment I thought there were no more ghosts there than those of absence and loss and that the light that smiled on me was borrowed light, real only as long as I could hold it in my eyes, second by second” (147)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, and War
cewritespoems's review against another edition
This book is just jarringly sexist and once the narrator turns 16, I couldn’t read more than a page and a half before running into another description along the lines of undressing a woman is “like peeling a sweet potato on a winter’s night” or lengthy descriptions of breasts. At first I thought the author was just trying to characterize a few characters as womanizers… but every single man except one minor character in this novel can’t speak one sentence without objectifying every woman around them. I just want to read the actual mystery and the gothic elements but it’s impossible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia and Mental illness
Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Excrement
bestnarryever's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
RATING: 2
And once again, a book everyone loves that I hate
This was one of the worst reading experiences I've ever had (note: emphasis on "EXPERIENCE", because it reflects only my experience and not the quality of the book)
Yes, I'm that annoyed and revolted comment among several 5 stars and why didn't I like it? Because books have different effects on people!
“Why didn't you DNF it then?" Honestly, because I wanted to know if I'm crazy for being the only person I know who couldn't stand to read this book. I only finished it because I found an audiobook on Scribd.
I do have to admit that the book’s elements are well connected and that Zafon's writing is beautiful (but not stunning), but that was only worth a 2-star pity rating. The book isn't bad, but it's definitely not for me.
Starting at the core of the problem: the book lean towards a genre I don’t like - mystery. I can't stand it when the author purposefully hides something during the entire book to reveal it only at the end, and in the case of “The Shadow of the Wind”, this book is a big nothing in between, and throws all the information you wanted to know at the end, when everything could have been told to you at 20%.
“But the book also brings atmosphere and historical fiction." Okay. However, the beautiful writing came mostly in moments of total digression, with some irrelevant information or even talking about characters that we never saw again. I also hated the “journey” structure of going here and there asking people things. It was STALLING. Also, the historical fiction elements - which is one of my favorite genres - got lost with so much shallow characters. I would say 25% of the characters are relevant. I was extremely disappointed that a character like Nuria, super intriguing, is just a spokesperson, and Daniel's father looks like a mannequin who only questions the boy. Oh, and Daniel is also shallow, no one can convince me otherwise. To finish it off, one of the characters we know best is rotten when it comes to personality, he is racist and sexist - despite it being a characteristic of the time, he trivialized the comments to a point of changing the focal point of my reading into that in a book that is not even about these prejudices. Some scenes are even heavier than heavy scenes in historical fiction books about prejudice I've read.
I end the review by saying: yes, read it. I know that I can't stand mystery, I just didn't expect to be so disappointed, considering that I liked the first 10%. Also: my opinion is not the absolute truth, so here's one more reason for you to read and draw your own conclusions. But for me, it sucked.
And once again, a book everyone loves that I hate
This was one of the worst reading experiences I've ever had (note: emphasis on "EXPERIENCE", because it reflects only my experience and not the quality of the book)
Yes, I'm that annoyed and revolted comment among several 5 stars and why didn't I like it? Because books have different effects on people!
“Why didn't you DNF it then?" Honestly, because I wanted to know if I'm crazy for being the only person I know who couldn't stand to read this book. I only finished it because I found an audiobook on Scribd.
I do have to admit that the book’s elements are well connected and that Zafon's writing is beautiful (but not stunning), but that was only worth a 2-star pity rating. The book isn't bad, but it's definitely not for me.
Starting at the core of the problem: the book lean towards a genre I don’t like - mystery. I can't stand it when the author purposefully hides something during the entire book to reveal it only at the end, and in the case of “The Shadow of the Wind”, this book is a big nothing in between, and throws all the information you wanted to know at the end, when everything could have been told to you at 20%.
“But the book also brings atmosphere and historical fiction." Okay. However, the beautiful writing came mostly in moments of total digression, with some irrelevant information or even talking about characters that we never saw again. I also hated the “journey” structure of going here and there asking people things. It was STALLING. Also, the historical fiction elements - which is one of my favorite genres - got lost with so much shallow characters. I would say 25% of the characters are relevant. I was extremely disappointed that a character like Nuria, super intriguing, is just a spokesperson, and Daniel's father looks like a mannequin who only questions the boy. Oh, and Daniel is also shallow, no one can convince me otherwise. To finish it off, one of the characters we know best is rotten when it comes to personality, he is racist and sexist - despite it being a characteristic of the time, he trivialized the comments to a point of changing the focal point of my reading into that in a book that is not even about these prejudices. Some scenes are even heavier than heavy scenes in historical fiction books about prejudice I've read.
I end the review by saying: yes, read it. I know that I can't stand mystery, I just didn't expect to be so disappointed, considering that I liked the first 10%. Also: my opinion is not the absolute truth, so here's one more reason for you to read and draw your own conclusions. But for me, it sucked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Death of parent
aydaybay's review against another edition
There are more problems than I realized upon a first read. I couldn't get past how misogynistic the main character was and how much he fantasized about the women he encountered. And it was EVERY woman. Also, the fact of the underaged sex when he was 19 years old grossed me out. Even if Bea was unhappy with her fiance, he did everything possible to coerce her rather than trying to help her. I couldn't get past the line about her being 17 right before they had sex. The people aren't as dynamic as I had remembered. The good people were basically angels in Daniel's eyes while the villains were as evil a person as you could possibly get. I understand why I enjoyed it before. But there are things upon further reread that I just can't look past.
First Read (2018):
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is my favorite book of all time. I have never felt this passionately about a book before in my entire life. There were so many twists and turns. The characters had so much depth and I never wanted this book to end. I'm so happy that I read this book and that I can now recommend it to others. This book is absolutely beautiful.
First Read (2018):
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is my favorite book of all time. I have never felt this passionately about a book before in my entire life. There were so many twists and turns. The characters had so much depth and I never wanted this book to end. I'm so happy that I read this book and that I can now recommend it to others. This book is absolutely beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality
distilledreads's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really struggled with this book. I went into it with really high expectations, and therefore for the first two-thirds of it I was anxiously anticipating what makes this such a highly acclaimed read. The answer, for me at least, was the ending. The last third, and really the shift into Nuria’s perspective, saved this book for me and I found myself finally enjoying the story. While I could appreciate the writing and the plot up until that point, I wasn’t particularly entranced by the mystery and it felt like I was just plodding along; for that reason, I would give this book 3 ½ stars.
The perspective is that of a teenage boy and is told in first-person, which at least partially was the reason I found it so hard to get sucked into this book. Since I felt distanced from the characters and the goings-on, it didn’t take much to jar me while reading and throw me out of the plot. Every asinine opinion on women, the fetishization of a “mulatto” woman, or the dismissive way sexual assault was casually sprinkled throughout the book was enough to disrupt my reading and fuel my distaste.
Again, like I said, I can appreciate what Zafón was trying to achieve here in a literary sense. I would love to have properly analyzed this book in a classroom setting to better understand the nuance of mid-twentieth century Spain, rather than rely on my own haphazard understanding and research.
“Wars have no memory, and nobody has the courage to understand them until there are no voices left to tell what happened, until the moment comes when we no longer recognize them and they return, with another face and another name, to devour what they left behind.”
This is a multi-generational story, with the actions of 20/30 years ago affecting and mirroring a younger generation. At its heart, there is a cautionary tale of second chances and the destruction that hate and prejudices carry. As well, there are beautiful and evocative lines. This is a book largely about a book, which naturally leads to beautiful phrases about storytelling, reading, and human nature.
“The words with which a child’s heart is poisoned, through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul.”
Despite my mixed experience of it, I am glad that I finally read The Shadow of the Wind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
texassizedreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
The story is beautiful, but I felt like certain anecdotes were unnecessary and dragged the book on for too long. Also, I was kind of weirded out by the whole incest thing, so a star was taken off for that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy