Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

11 reviews

amhud1030's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual content, Violence, War, Classism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Torture

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, and Sexual harassment

ka_cam's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I read this while I was sick with covid which maybe impacted my experience, but I didn’t love it. It was too slow and exposition-heavy to be a compelling mystery for me, and the constant misogyny and violence against women characters (and their flatness in development) was a big turn-off for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Violence, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Stalking, Torture, Chronic illness, 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

okarenhelena's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Child death, Homophobia, Stalking, Blood, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, War, Excrement, and Forced institutionalization

frenandjen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Torture, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

lidia138's review

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

jeanniea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Great storytelling. Similar storytelling style to that of erin morgenstern. Story picks up about halfway thru. I enjoyed the ending of the book! There were a few unexpected surprises in the plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Gun violence

florafauna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Incest, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Death, Homophobia, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Chronic illness, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Outing, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Torture, and War

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit