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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
I'm giving this one 3 stars because, as far as teen-lit goes it was pretty good, the second half more so than the first half. It was truly dark and spooky.
However, the writing was a bit spacey. If the story and the writing were filled in a bit better with more detail and more background on the characters, this would be a fantastic book. As it was, it was difficult to feel and relate to anyone, especially the protagonists. The bad guy was the only person I felt like I knew at all.
The truth is, if I could give it 2 1/2 stars, I would probably do that.
However, the writing was a bit spacey. If the story and the writing were filled in a bit better with more detail and more background on the characters, this would be a fantastic book. As it was, it was difficult to feel and relate to anyone, especially the protagonists. The bad guy was the only person I felt like I knew at all.
The truth is, if I could give it 2 1/2 stars, I would probably do that.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Surprisingly this was way better than its predecessor [b:The Prince of Mist|7128341|The Prince of Mist (Niebla, #1)|Carlos Ruiz Zafón|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1261604683l/7128341._SY75_.jpg|1044059]. It didn't even feel like the same author cause the writing style was totally different. At first I thought its due to a huge time gap between the publishing of these books but they are only a year apart.
Sooo. Suddenly Zafon learned how to write. And the story is so much more thrilling and capturing but for me theres still a lot missing. Again with the big chops of information are being given through story times. And Im not even complaining cause these have been the best parts of the books. Why I have to suffer through the other pointless jumps to here and there to get to those is puzzling.
When "The Prince of Mist" shined thanks to its crazy magic this book didn't have it as much. Did the author exchange his fantasy for the gift of writing? All the explanations and the magic itself felt lacking and boring and I didnt feel the drive behind it. But still an okaish read.
Sooo. Suddenly Zafon learned how to write. And the story is so much more thrilling and capturing but for me theres still a lot missing. Again with the big chops of information are being given through story times. And Im not even complaining cause these have been the best parts of the books. Why I have to suffer through the other pointless jumps to here and there to get to those is puzzling.
When "The Prince of Mist" shined thanks to its crazy magic this book didn't have it as much. Did the author exchange his fantasy for the gift of writing? All the explanations and the magic itself felt lacking and boring and I didnt feel the drive behind it. But still an okaish read.
2 stars. Disappointed.
First I want to start my review by saying that Zafón is one of my favorite authors and I have read his other works and totally loved them. And I hope someone who has never read any of his works won’t start with this book, because this book doesn’t show what kind of author is Zafón.
It started very interesting, I was very much into the storyline. Then, I noticed that it was way too fast paced, there were a lot of things that were wishy-washy, I could tell that Zafón had an idea, but wasn’t able to fully explain to the reader. And I’m all for us, readers, to use our imagination, but I don’t want to imagine your whole book, honey.
I have so many questions.... like why did Isobel decide to go to the Jheeter’s gate by herself and why did she think it was any of use? What was the point?!
Also, it was like “we need to find this person” boom, that person was right there. “We need this information” book the info is right there. Basically, they found out everything within two days. And some things would not add up. Just this book was messy.
If he took more time to explain what and why this book would have been a masterpiece. It had such a great potential and I’m left disappointed.
This book felt like a draft. He should have never published this book.
First I want to start my review by saying that Zafón is one of my favorite authors and I have read his other works and totally loved them. And I hope someone who has never read any of his works won’t start with this book, because this book doesn’t show what kind of author is Zafón.
It started very interesting, I was very much into the storyline. Then, I noticed that it was way too fast paced, there were a lot of things that were wishy-washy, I could tell that Zafón had an idea, but wasn’t able to fully explain to the reader. And I’m all for us, readers, to use our imagination, but I don’t want to imagine your whole book, honey.
I have so many questions.... like why did Isobel decide to go to the Jheeter’s gate by herself and why did she think it was any of use? What was the point?!
Also, it was like “we need to find this person” boom, that person was right there. “We need this information” book the info is right there. Basically, they found out everything within two days. And some things would not add up. Just this book was messy.
If he took more time to explain what and why this book would have been a masterpiece. It had such a great potential and I’m left disappointed.
This book felt like a draft. He should have never published this book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed the first two thirds more than the final third. The ending was not as satisfactory as the build-up and the tension waned for me. The main plus is Carlos Ruiz Zafon's wtiting and storytelling, which keeps you engaged
This one reads like classic Zafon, of whom I am a big fan. The atmosphere of this book, while set in Calcutta, is not too far off from his later books set in Barcelona (Shadow of the Wind, Angel's Game). It's a bit dreamy, a lot creepy and maybe even a bit magical. The story opens with a British soldier delivering infant twins from imminent danger. The twins are separated by their grandmother to keep them safe from those who might wish them harm. The boy twin, Ben, is raised in an orphanage where our story resumes nearly 16 years later.
Ben and his closely-knit group of friends, all orphans, are nearing the end of their days in the orphanage and preparing to move on to the outside world. One night an old woman and her granddaughter arrive and things start to get strange. Slowly but surely, the granddaughter, Seere and Ben realize that they are siblings. Not only that, but that both of the lives appear to be in danger from a mysterious entity that is somehow connected to their later father, a brilliant engineer responsible for building the train system connecting major cities in India. The father, however, passed on in a horrific fire at the grandiose Jheeter's Gate when the train, also carrying 300 orphans, caught fire and destroyed the train, the station and the lives of everyone aboard. Now, a mysterious stranger calling himself Jawahal is after the twins, but Ben and his friends are determined to get to the bottom of the whole affair before anyone gets hurt.
I must say, I did figure out the "who dunnit" element long before the book was nearing completion, mainly because it's a totally "Zafon" thing to do. If you've read his stuff and read this, then you'll probably know what I mean. What I did need to figure out was the why, which is what kept me going. The setting for the book is almost a character in and of itself as are several of the locations throughout, including the titular "Midnight Palace". A fun and haunting read.
Note: I received the ARC of this book from the publisher. I am not in any way compensated for this review (shucks).
Ben and his closely-knit group of friends, all orphans, are nearing the end of their days in the orphanage and preparing to move on to the outside world. One night an old woman and her granddaughter arrive and things start to get strange. Slowly but surely, the granddaughter, Seere and Ben realize that they are siblings. Not only that, but that both of the lives appear to be in danger from a mysterious entity that is somehow connected to their later father, a brilliant engineer responsible for building the train system connecting major cities in India. The father, however, passed on in a horrific fire at the grandiose Jheeter's Gate when the train, also carrying 300 orphans, caught fire and destroyed the train, the station and the lives of everyone aboard. Now, a mysterious stranger calling himself Jawahal is after the twins, but Ben and his friends are determined to get to the bottom of the whole affair before anyone gets hurt.
I must say, I did figure out the "who dunnit" element long before the book was nearing completion, mainly because it's a totally "Zafon" thing to do. If you've read his stuff and read this, then you'll probably know what I mean. What I did need to figure out was the why, which is what kept me going. The setting for the book is almost a character in and of itself as are several of the locations throughout, including the titular "Midnight Palace". A fun and haunting read.
Note: I received the ARC of this book from the publisher. I am not in any way compensated for this review (shucks).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This books follows the story of a group of friends who are supposed to leave their orphanage to start adult life this summer. Things get complicated when a girl and her grandma on the run appear, the main character Ben has a vision of a train full of small children dying in a big fire, and a mysterious man wants to kill Ben and the girl. It is in the hands of Ben and his friends to discover the mysteries of Kolkata while trying to preserve their lives.
What Zafón does great is creating a mysterious and dark atmosphere while keeping the tension very high. Even though this is a young adult series, the stakes are high and there is no promise that the characters will actually make it out alive. The mysteries are also well-created, though I wish there were less scenes where some characters just tell their stories and instead they piece them together from other clues and their findings. But it seems like Zafon just really likes that storytelling method, so whatever. I also really like his characters. Zafon’s only fault is being so hetero lol (But on a serious note, he always puts some straight romance to his books and while it’s usually cute, some of his characters have gay energy and then they came out as straight. Disappointing.)
What Zafón does great is creating a mysterious and dark atmosphere while keeping the tension very high. Even though this is a young adult series, the stakes are high and there is no promise that the characters will actually make it out alive. The mysteries are also well-created, though I wish there were less scenes where some characters just tell their stories and instead they piece them together from other clues and their findings. But it seems like Zafon just really likes that storytelling method, so whatever. I also really like his characters. Zafon’s only fault is being so hetero lol (But on a serious note, he always puts some straight romance to his books and while it’s usually cute, some of his characters have gay energy and then they came out as straight. Disappointing.)
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced