Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

60 reviews

clemounette's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

justabridge's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

 I am really sad to have not liked this one - I’d heard such good things about it, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I’m finding I really don’t enjoy protagonists in gothic novels; of the ones I’ve read, they tend to be bystanders, quite inactive in terms of the plot, and quite limp in terms of personality and internal drive. Daniel really hit these boxes, and so I struggled reading from his perspective.

I also found the story quite confused - did it want to be Daniel’s story? Or did it want to be Julian Carax’s? The book was trying to be both separately instead of blending the two, and so you ended up with huge chunks of exposition (sometimes 30-50 pages (ish) at a time), and it didn’t really feel like the characters had to work for the mystery or the payoff.

What really made this hard to enjoy for me though, was the relentless violence and constant oversexualisation of women. It was all the time, in pretty much every chapter, and felt so unnecessary. I think the only woman whose breasts and general sexual allure weren’t discussed in detail was Daniel’s mother, and she was dead prior to the book starting. And the casual beatings, the sexism, the slut-shaming, and other much heavier violence sprinkled throughout...it really didn’t feel like the female characters in this were allowed to be people, and it completely alienated and exhausted me while I was reading. Perhaps to some extent the attitudes were ‘historically accurate’, but I think that parameter was hit and bulldozed through very early on.

It is a shame, because the writing style in this was beautiful, the descriptions of Barcelona were so evocative, and I loved the setting of the Cemetery or Forgotten books. These things we just overshadowed by everything else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

kelseak96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

A love letter to books, heartbreak, grief, Barcelona, and community. The characters are so well developed that I want to read a book about every single one of them. Zafón weaves a tapestry of lives that is devastating and beautiful and deserves to be read a second time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Torture

andreeanz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Gun violence

Minor: Blood and Death

megarowsey's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Child death

TW: incest, death of a baby

alyse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, and Child death

gwynsvan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Grief and Sexual content

Minor: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, and Torture

juph's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Infertility, Incest, Homophobia, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Bullying

sailanie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death

laurenleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I don’t even know what number reread this is, but it hits me every damn time. This is one of the most powerful pieces of literature ever.  I dare say it’s my favorite book of all time. Like if my desert island library could only have one book, I can’t think of anything I’d pick over this one. Can you tell how much I love this novel? I don’t think I’ve talked much on Insta about how this book changed my life, but in short, it set me on the path that brought me to Cal and the Bay Area. Which brought me to Ben! I’m forever in debt to Zafón. This book has everything I love. Mysterious intrigue, gothic settings, characters that jump off the page, a bit of heartfelt romance, friendships that become family, and above all, a true devotion to the magic of storytelling. The reason this story changed my life is because it reminded me of the power of books. The written word can uniquely touch the heart in a way unlike any other art form. My number one dream destination for almost a decade now has been Barcelona, because of this book. Fingers crossed I finally get to visit next spring! You better believe I’m dedicating at least half a day to the Barcelona walking tour included in the back of the US print edition. If you haven’t read this, what are you waiting for?? For this one, I recommend print or ebook over audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Murder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Death of parent