Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
A fantastic read in line with his previous book The Shadow of the Wind. A dark, gothic thriller set in Barcelona full of mystery and surrealism. Anyone who has read The Shadow of the Wind, and enjoyed it, should read this book.
This book was an absolute mess. I so love Zafon's writing style, but he really needs to tighten up his plots. This book was barely cohesive. Terrible characters, romances that make absolutely no sense, and a jumble of plot lines that all made no sense made this book a very difficult book to get through. I enjoyed Shadow of the Wind, for the most part, but this was just not good.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A lonely boy grows up loving words, becomes a writer, loses his heart and soul -- one to a woman, the other, perhaps, to a fallen angel. Include melodramatic coincidences and inevitabilities, the best used bookstore ever imagined and the fearsome Cemetery of Lost Books, and this couldn't be anything except the work of Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Ever since The Shadow of the Wind swept across the world with its story of love and loss, set against the backdrop of war-weary Barcelona and the threat of totalitarianism, readers have been clamoring for another visit to the cemetery.
The Barcelona of The Angel's Game, Barcelona exists years before the first novel. David Martin, an aspiring young journalist, is given the chance of a lifetime when there is no one else to fill empty newspaper columns. His dashing stories of derring-do, with titles such as City of the Damned, soon make him popular and bring him to the notice of a mysterious publisher. But he also has a worldly mentor in Pedro Vidal, who has closer ties to David than he realizes.
Both David and Vidal love Christina, daughter to Vidal's driver. But is she the one for David, or will the eventual winner of his heart be the plucky Isabella, daughter to a neighborhood grocer who grew up idolizing him and determined to be a writer just like him?
David eventually overdoes it writing the equivalent of penny dreadfuls and, while seriously ill, makes a dangerous bargain with the mysterious publisher, one Andrea Corelli. Good thing David has his dear friends, Senor Sempere and his son, at that used bookstore. And an eventual introduction to that most marvelous of places that should exist, the Cemetery of Lost Books. Because it's not exactly coincidence that Corelli wears a pin that looks like an angel, and that his Paris office does not exist. So when he demands David make good on his end of the bargain, young Martin risks more than a publishing contract.
Although the plot climaxes in cinematic excess as OTT as anything in David Martin's own penny dreadfuls, the love that Zafon has for love, art and literature shines in every heartfelt exclamation of his earnest characters. Some readers will not appreciate David's exploits as much as they did the earlier novel, but with the fullness of time both stories feel like different parts of a continued story. A story that may possibly continue to be told today.
Ever since The Shadow of the Wind swept across the world with its story of love and loss, set against the backdrop of war-weary Barcelona and the threat of totalitarianism, readers have been clamoring for another visit to the cemetery.
The Barcelona of The Angel's Game, Barcelona exists years before the first novel. David Martin, an aspiring young journalist, is given the chance of a lifetime when there is no one else to fill empty newspaper columns. His dashing stories of derring-do, with titles such as City of the Damned, soon make him popular and bring him to the notice of a mysterious publisher. But he also has a worldly mentor in Pedro Vidal, who has closer ties to David than he realizes.
Both David and Vidal love Christina, daughter to Vidal's driver. But is she the one for David, or will the eventual winner of his heart be the plucky Isabella, daughter to a neighborhood grocer who grew up idolizing him and determined to be a writer just like him?
David eventually overdoes it writing the equivalent of penny dreadfuls and, while seriously ill, makes a dangerous bargain with the mysterious publisher, one Andrea Corelli. Good thing David has his dear friends, Senor Sempere and his son, at that used bookstore. And an eventual introduction to that most marvelous of places that should exist, the Cemetery of Lost Books. Because it's not exactly coincidence that Corelli wears a pin that looks like an angel, and that his Paris office does not exist. So when he demands David make good on his end of the bargain, young Martin risks more than a publishing contract.
Although the plot climaxes in cinematic excess as OTT as anything in David Martin's own penny dreadfuls, the love that Zafon has for love, art and literature shines in every heartfelt exclamation of his earnest characters. Some readers will not appreciate David's exploits as much as they did the earlier novel, but with the fullness of time both stories feel like different parts of a continued story. A story that may possibly continue to be told today.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
After the first book in the series, this is rather dull and desultory and disappointing.