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ari5scythe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Police brutality, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Confinement, War, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
corrin_takara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Sexism, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Hate crime, Murder, Death, War, Racism, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Rape, Antisemitism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Dementia
pipn_t's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Incest, Violence, Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Torture, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Antisemitism, and Ableism
chrisljm's review against another edition
- 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
2. the twist almost made me shit myself.
3. “the day was turning out to be longer than The Brothers Karamazov” is so funny.
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
astrocate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Ci sono stati dei passaggi e delle idee narrative particolarmente interessanti, come quello della biblioteca dei libri dimenticati, che però non sono stati approfonditi a dovere.
La storia di Juliàn Carex sarebbe stata di certo più avvincente se raccontata in modo diverso e più breve.
Il libro è descritto come un mistery, ma in realtà il lettore si ritrova con ben pochi elementi, e vengono svelati colpi di scena impossibili da prevedere e a tratti forzati, come
Un'altra cosa che non mi ha convinto è la questione delle età: alla fine del libro
Non mi è parso particolarmente realistico, così come non mi è parsa realistica la faccia tosta del protagonista nell'andare a chiedere a sconosciuti informazioni su Carax, e la disponibilità dei suddetti nel fornirgliele.
In sintesi, i presupposti del romanzo sono molto avvincenti, con uno sviluppo che, a mio parere, lascia un po' a desiderare.
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Racism, Ableism, and Homophobia
shooper's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Homophobia and Ableism
florafauna's review against another edition
- 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
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
obviousthings's review against another edition
Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny
texassizedreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Confinement
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Torture, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Child death
abomine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Rather than the reader solving the mystery alongside the protagonist, or having details slowly unfold over the course of the book, a lot of the information and 'clues' are fed to readers via long-ass flashbacks in which characters are privy to information they could not possibly have known. Considering how well-written the rest of Shadow of the Wind is, that felt like especially lazy writing.
I would also complain about how stereotypically-written the women characters are (they can all be boiled down to essentially flighty maidens, frigid bitches, or straight-up whores), but the men characters aren't particularly compelling either, so all of the characters, regardless of gender, are equally two-dimensional. The protagonist, Daniel, has potential to be an interesting lead (he's creative and full of big dreams, but also horny and cowardly, all of which frequently get him in trouble), but he doesn't get any real character development until the very last chapters, and by then it's too little, too late.
This book's villain, Fumero, was also pretty poorly handled. Imagine Robbie Rotten combined with Heath Ledger's version of The Joker, and then give him the basic-bitch backstory of "he was a weird kid growing up and probably has an undiagnosed mental illness and his mother abused him and he's just plain crazy", and you'll have a pretty accurate characterization of him. I'm never a fan of media portraying mental illness as monstrosity, especially with such a ludicrous character, so this docked Shadow of the Wind major points for me.
Really, the only good things going for this book are the writing and the setting, but I can't speak from personal experience for either. I have not read this book in its original Spanish, only an English translation, and I've never been to Barcelona. Still, these were the only two aspects of Shadow of the Wind that compelled me to finish it, and that should speak volumes.
Graphic: Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Police brutality
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexism