Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

31 reviews

_qwert's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Police brutality, and Suicidal thoughts

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

bookwormcat's review

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

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

chalkletters's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

The Shadow of the Wind is one of those books that seems to always be featured in book shops. I must have picked it up a dozen times to read the blurb or the first page but never quite got around to actually buying it. It’s a book about books, and while those appeal to me as a reader in theory, they are often slightly disappointing in practice.

Such was the case with The Shadow of the Wind. While the cemetery of forgotten books is a fascinating concept, Carlos Ruiz Zafón spends hardly any time there. The Shadow of the Wind isn’t so much a book about books as a book about one author and his mysterious backstory. Except, some of the mystery, specifically Lain Coubert’s identity, could be guessed hundreds of pages before it was officially revealed.

Daniel and Julián simply aren’t that interesting as characters, unless you find adolescent male romances particularly compelling. Sadly, the women they fall in love with aren’t very well fleshed out, they exist mostly as aloof and unattainable examples of femininity, which is tiresome. Carlos Ruin Zafón does much better with the minor characters: Daniel’s father is sympathetic, Fermin’s story is unexpected, Bernada is sweet, and I could go on. In terms of building a large and interconnected cast of characters, Carlos Ruin Zafón has succeeded, but the story he chooses to tell with them isn’t all that inspired.

The Shadow of the Wind’s prose is very nice, there were several poetic descriptions of Barcelona, usually at the beginnings of chapters, as well as some lovely atmospheric moments throughout. It does veer towards pretension at times, but not enough to ruin the reading experience.

Overall, The Shadow of the Wind is solidly written, and has good moments especially in Carlos Ruin Zafón’s minor characters, but the main story wasn’t something I’d especially recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Violence, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Child death, Animal cruelty, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

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

flysick's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, and War

tessduets's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much. Lots of shocking plot twists and a completely unique story. While it was exciting and mysterious it was also a rather cozy read. It is beautifully written and is now one of my favorite books. I had the added fun of getting to read it while visiting Barcelona, definitely recommend that if you get the chance.  

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, Incest, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Infertility, Sexism, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

lidia138's review against another edition

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

parkyparkpark's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child death, Confinement, Vomit, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, War, Violence, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Dementia, Sexual content, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Stalking, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury