Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

31 reviews

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

kiana_hi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Murder, Homophobia, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, and Bullying

amhud1030's review against another edition

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

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

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

mikarala's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was hard for me to rate. There are definitely some real strengths: I think the writing style is beautifully lyrical and engaging, the plot is overall really good, some of the characters are really entertaining, and I enjoy the setting of post-Civil War Spain. However, I do think there are some pacing issues (the first half is quite slow imo), there's no fresh takes of the themes or interesting messages, and I never really fell in love with any of the characters, or even really had strong feelings towards them. What got me really turning the pages in the second half of the novel (which was much quicker paced than the first) was just an eagerness to figure out what was going to happen. And while that's certainly not an issue, it's not what I look for from a book and it prevent me from rating it higher even though I highly recommend reading this.

Ultimately I feel like this is a story that follows the conventions of story-telling extremely well, but without any very interesting twists to make it unique.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting and War

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Incest

narsere's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Murder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Incest, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content

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.

okarenhelena's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Child death, Homophobia, Stalking, Blood, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, War, Excrement, and Forced institutionalization

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