Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

92 reviews

lovelessreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

What a book. It took me around 100 pages to get into the it because the pacing is excruciatingly slow, but it was absolutely worth it. The story was completely unpredictable and really fun, and nerve-wracking at certain parts, to read. 10/10 would reccommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Violence

tessduets's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so much. Lots of shocking plot twists and a completely unique story. While it was exciting and mysterious it was also a rather cozy read. It is beautifully written and is now one of my favorite books. I had the added fun of getting to read it while visiting Barcelona, definitely recommend that if you get the chance.  

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, Incest, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Infertility, Sexism, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

lidia138's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Incest, Murder, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Torture, War, and Terminal illness

kcbbooks0125's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Chronic illness, War, Violence, Transphobia, Torture, Police brutality, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Gun violence, Death of parent, Sexism, Murder, Lesbophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, and Cursing

kato_dg's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Grief, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

parkyparkpark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child death, Confinement, Vomit, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, War, Violence, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Dementia, Sexual content, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Stalking, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

diyashasen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow, I absolutely loved the drama of it all—what a mesmerizing story. I’m honestly so confused why I even liked this as much as I did, but boy is it a page-turner. I could not stop reading and was immediately drawn into Zafón’s world.

I may be super off-base, but for some reason this story had a similar energy to The Beautiful Ones (or just Silvia Moreno-Garcia vibes generally) and A Little Life—and in its lighter moments, my childhood favourite The Thief Lord.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, and Police brutality

annahelle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

i really really enjoyed this book! although it was a little cheesy at times and i wouldn’t compare it to gabriel garcia marquez (as advertised on the book cover), i still had FUN! there’s definitely something to be said about the treatment of female characters. like i’m pretty sure it wouldn’t pass the bechdel test lol. a bit manic pixie dream girl vibes. and i dont just mean fernin’s silly sexual, womanzing tirades , bc i took that to be satire. idk i’m dr*nk on vacation and i had FUN okay. and really loved the main characters even tho i wished the women weren’t just love objects ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Incest, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

cheyrohm's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Confused by the number of five star reviews on this. Did we read the same book? Although it has a couple of exciting parts, most of the plot is obscured by overly flowery prose. I just wanted the author to get to the point already! 

And the misogyny... Ugh. I get it's set in the 40s/50s but there is literally not one female character in here that is described by something other than their beauty, youth, or fertility. Gross. And they exist solely to develop the character of Daniel, of course.

Also, the mystery is finally revealed by way of...someone writing it all out in a letter? Now that's a cheap writing trick if I ever heard one. Seems like the author didn't know how to wrap it up so threw this in at the last quarter of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

toldinstories's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death

Minor: Incest