Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

97 reviews

barbarella85's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death

bookish_bry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.25

This book was very good when it was good, but honestly dragged a bit in some places. The story and mystery is great, but there felt like there was a lot of filler. Also, I was often ripped out of the narrative when we were listening to a part of the story from a particular character's perspective and suddenly zoomed out to third person omniscient giving us information that the character we were following could not know. Sometimes that sort of thing works, but it didn't really feel like it worked here. I also wish we'd spent a little more time getting to know Bea. There were also a few annoying loose ends.

Wasn't... Fermín wanted for murder? Clara just disappeared into nothing. even though I expected her to at least have some baring on the plot at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, War, Violence, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Misogyny

_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

pipn_t's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• 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

Surely the author could have set the historical scene without so many racist remarks and sexist attitudes.  Also got tired of everyone beating each other to a pulp.  It was an interesting story, which is why I read to the end, but one of the major plot points revolves aroundc content I don’t like reading about (

incest

) so I felt rather like I wasted my time on this whole thing as it kinda ruined my enjoyment of the book.

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Content Warnings

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

pricklybriar's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wonderful characters and evocative descriptions of the setting. The author does an amazing job of weaving all the ends of the mystery together.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

grace_may's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Incest, and Violence

desireewoodwhite's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Stalking

Moderate: War, Homophobia, and Incest

elisaviihde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Domestic abuse, and Violence

mariegatou's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Police brutality, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Excrement, Death, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, and Death of parent

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.75

Barcelona in 1945 is a city slowly healing in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets— an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

If I said it didn't take me a while to get into the book, I'd be lying. But because of how flawlessly the novel unraveled, I believe it was worth it. This kind of literature was exactly what I was looking for because the plot felt so magical and transported me into an other kind of universe. I certainly enjoyed it. I don't read a lot of mysteries or historical fiction, but this author really outdid himself.

I was reluctant to read this book because it was written by a man, it was set in the post-war era (which isn't my cup of tea), and it was so much hyped.  Usually, praised books leave me unimpressed. This is mainly because the book was either poorly written, poorly executed, problematic, or the story wasn't engaging. But this one was so excellent that it often rendered me astonished. I hadn't intended to continue with the series within the first 100 pages, but I want to drop everything now and read the other novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent