Reviews

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

guenifhar's review

4.0

I liked this very much but am sad to say I did think it paled in comparison to "Shadow of the Wind", although perhaps I am being unfair to compare the two. I love the Faustian overtones throughout, and the weaving of the fantastic with the real that Zafon does so well.

jennie1970's review

3.0

I would easily give 4 stars to the first half but I hesitate to even give 2 stars to the last half. It was almost as if the author lost interest mid way through. The story line became such a convoluted mess that I pretty much gave up hope in trying to figure things out. So many things left unanswered for me. That being said, I still plan to read the next book because I SO loved The Shadow of The Wind.

susanbrooks's review against another edition

3.0

Alternately intriguing and confusing tale of love, murder, mystery. A disappointment after being fully swept up by Zafon's previous book -Shadow of the Wind.

dknippling's review against another edition

4.0

The sad tale of a pulp writer abused and ripped off first by his newspaper employer, then by his employers at a pulp novel company, and then by a mysterious figure who promises to give him his deepest desires...if only he will write one more pseudonymous book.

The prequel to "The Name of the Wind."

I liked this one, but still ended up skimming a bit toward the end. The plotlines were all set up well, but they didn't finish as prettily, and it felt like a few things didn't get resolved that should have, and a few other things got introduced at more or less the last moment, just to be "mysterious." A fun read, but no Foucault's Pendulum or Club Dumas.

b_e_stuart's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Amazing mix of mystery, noir, and magic realism.  There are a lot of characters to keep up with and the first half is a bit slow, but it all comes together in a spectacular ending. The pacing and the set up makes a lot more sense in the context of the overall story. 

lacytelles's review

5.0

Zafon has a way with words that makes me fierce with envy. Or maybe he just has a talented translator. Either way, I wish I had come up with some of the sentences in this novel.
Dark. Creepy. Maybe somewhat predictable, and that's ok. Read book: The Shadow of the Wind first.

likethesolid's review

4.0

For the most part, I loved this book more than Shadow of the Wind, Zafon's first translated book. It offers less by way of historical details which I found motivated most of the characters of the first book. This book is steeped in literary ideas. It almost asks you to believe anything you can write, you can live. I'm not sure the book needed the epilogue for it to make sense to me.

Zafon's style of writing is gorgeous. He always has a turn of phrase that makes me wonder what it was like in the original Spanish, although the translation is brilliant. He never sacrifices the story or the characters in the search for beautiful sentences. It would be easy for any working writer to fall in love with the first paragraph.

aleahlitt's review

4.5

I feel as though I can’t rate this one with stars…I am haunted lol. This book was infuriating & heart wrenching & creepy & it haunts me. There were some quotes that I can’t get out of my head. The violence and gore was almost too much for me but I was completely taken in with the story. Having read the third book & having had more time to mull over it - I feel that there really was a lot of depth and mastery in it. I loved the spiritual & political conversations it explored.

joylesnick's review

4.0

Chicago book club book for August

brk_32's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5