Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

97 reviews

crows_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

Minor: Lesbophobia and War

amhud1030's review

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

martharosen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Blood, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Grief, Antisemitism, Child death, and Death of parent

alice_sherwood12's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Violence, and Torture

kell_xavi's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Torture, Misogyny, Incest, Violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, War, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, and Classism

Minor: Excrement

chrisljm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

1. this book would not pass the bechdel test.
2. the twist almost made me shit myself. 
3. “the day was turning out to be longer than The Brothers Karamazov” is so funny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Stalking, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Torture, Cursing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Bullying, Rape, Abortion, Classism, Racial slurs, and Adult/minor relationship

district_of_jyoti's review against another edition

The book was a bit too convoluted in plot, and I struggled to find sympathy for any of the characters, except maybe the father, because they were all creepy men who only knew of one reason for women to exist.  I wanted more of the disappearing book and author plot, and the mysterious man, but it was taking too long to get there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Rape

ling_prof's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Sexism, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Violence, and Gore

fleural's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

A particularly excellent book for bibliophiles, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a book about the love of a book and the search for its author, his life and the lives surrounding the reader (the narrator) and writer both during and in the wake of war. It features strong character development and elements of magic realism with beautifully poignant story lines and memorable, distinguishable characters all with their own lives and losses. The book is not without its humor, but it´s also deeply emotional and addresses a slough of humans rights issues relevant to its setting, so be aware there is some heavy content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Incest

Set during and in the wake of the war with a diverse cast of characters with hard lives, this book delves into a great deal of issues which is why I´m putting the content warnings but most are handled with great humanness and compassion.