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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have no idea why I bothered with this. No, I actually know. I have to give it to Zafon, he knows how to keep you in suspense, offering you one mystery after another. There were moments of action which were cliched and overdone, in my opinion, but they kept me entertained enough, so who is complaining? The atmosphere was nicely dark and gothic, but it too relied too much on the common props of the genre and did not add anything new.
The biggest problem with this - and, I must put a large SPOILER warning, the next part of the review will reveal details you might not want to know beforehand if you want to read the book. The main problem, as I was saying, is the complete lack of resolution. By the end you don't really know what happened. Yes, there is the Faustian bargain, but even that is not that well explained, just as you have no idea why Marlasca and Corelli chose the narrator for this task, or what the whole deal of creating a new religion was about. Other stuff are also not explained - the night Martin spends with the character he invented himself, only to find out the next day he had been in a place that was burned down, I waited almost 500 pages for an explanation to that and got none, the whole conspiracy with the lawyer and the actress is poorly resolved - dropping a lot of bodies does not offer the reader answers, it's just the sign of a lazy writer who thinks killing off characters one by one spares the need of actually tying off loose ends and plot holes. It doesn't. And let me not say anything about the epilogue. Seriously? I'm usually lenient when it comes to fiction, but how disturbing and creepy can you get? So there is this guy who brings back Martin's dead girlfriend as a child and tells him: oh, you have a chance to watch her grow and fall in love with her again, and we're supposed to clap and say: gee, how romantic? Instead of being creeped out and disturbed?
That being said, I'll keep on trying to read Zafon, maybe his other books are better. The story was not bad, it just could have been better if it had not been so convoluted, melodramatic, and without a clear resolution.
The biggest problem with this - and, I must put a large SPOILER warning, the next part of the review will reveal details you might not want to know beforehand if you want to read the book. The main problem, as I was saying, is the complete lack of resolution. By the end you don't really know what happened. Yes, there is the Faustian bargain, but even that is not that well explained, just as you have no idea why Marlasca and Corelli chose the narrator for this task, or what the whole deal of creating a new religion was about. Other stuff are also not explained - the night Martin spends with the character he invented himself, only to find out the next day he had been in a place that was burned down, I waited almost 500 pages for an explanation to that and got none, the whole conspiracy with the lawyer and the actress is poorly resolved - dropping a lot of bodies does not offer the reader answers, it's just the sign of a lazy writer who thinks killing off characters one by one spares the need of actually tying off loose ends and plot holes. It doesn't. And let me not say anything about the epilogue. Seriously? I'm usually lenient when it comes to fiction, but how disturbing and creepy can you get? So there is this guy who brings back Martin's dead girlfriend as a child and tells him: oh, you have a chance to watch her grow and fall in love with her again, and we're supposed to clap and say: gee, how romantic? Instead of being creeped out and disturbed?
That being said, I'll keep on trying to read Zafon, maybe his other books are better. The story was not bad, it just could have been better if it had not been so convoluted, melodramatic, and without a clear resolution.
Wow. Este es un libro muy especial, fácil de encariñarse, pues regresa el Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados y cualquier lector, escritor y amante de libros se sentirá muy identificado, porque al final es eso: un libro sobre el alma de los libros.
El Juego del Ángel tiene un ambiente muy sombrío, nunca descansa de esa oscuridad penetrante. Como en La Sombra del Viento, hay mucho misterio, muchas dudas y todavía más cosas por descubrir. Tiene buen ritmo, con ganas de no querer dejar de leer, por lo mismo, es una lectura que se te resbala.
A mitad del libro, noté que la historia carecía de relaciones afectivas y pensé que no tendría romance ni amistades; me equivoqué, a pesar de que éstas sean medio retorcidas, ahí están presentes. Creo que fue una buena representación de la complejidad de las relaciones cuando se presenta una persona como David Martín.
Lo que me fascinó es que volvemos a encontrar la Barcelona de Carlos Ruíz Zafón, que pude conocer a Isabella, que regresé a la librería Sempere e Hijos, y lo intrigada que estuve durante toda la lectura. Sin embargo, no me encantó que todo fuera oscuridad en este libro, sobre todo porque en unos momentos sentí terror e incomodidad por la presencia de Andreas Corelli (supongo que la capacidad de generar ese sentimiento con letras, es de admirarle a Zafón). También me quedé con ganas de más en ese final, que si resolvió dudas pero dejó muchísimas más inconclusas. Es un libro fascinante, pero personalmente no creo que supere a La Sombra del Viento.
El Juego del Ángel tiene un ambiente muy sombrío, nunca descansa de esa oscuridad penetrante. Como en La Sombra del Viento, hay mucho misterio, muchas dudas y todavía más cosas por descubrir. Tiene buen ritmo, con ganas de no querer dejar de leer, por lo mismo, es una lectura que se te resbala.
A mitad del libro, noté que la historia carecía de relaciones afectivas y pensé que no tendría romance ni amistades; me equivoqué, a pesar de que éstas sean medio retorcidas, ahí están presentes. Creo que fue una buena representación de la complejidad de las relaciones cuando se presenta una persona como David Martín.
Lo que me fascinó es que volvemos a encontrar la Barcelona de Carlos Ruíz Zafón, que pude conocer a Isabella, que regresé a la librería Sempere e Hijos, y lo intrigada que estuve durante toda la lectura. Sin embargo, no me encantó que todo fuera oscuridad en este libro, sobre todo porque en unos momentos sentí terror e incomodidad por la presencia de Andreas Corelli (supongo que la capacidad de generar ese sentimiento con letras, es de admirarle a Zafón). También me quedé con ganas de más en ese final, que si resolvió dudas pero dejó muchísimas más inconclusas. Es un libro fascinante, pero personalmente no creo que supere a La Sombra del Viento.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was the perfect follow up (technically prequel) to The Shadow of the Wind. The Angel's Game was a compelling, creepy and gorgeous read. Zafon is such a brilliant author. His characters are so distinct, heartbreaking, and creepy in turn. His plot is intricately woven in a way that kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat, and his descriptions of Barcelona make me want to visit Spain immediately. I will be returning to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books very soon.
I've accumulated a considerable amount of questions while I was listening to this and I hoped that as it drew closer to the end I'd get answers.
I did not. I still liked it though, and it kept me engaged till the end.
I did not. I still liked it though, and it kept me engaged till the end.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amé... Qué libro más tremendo, que historia que no me ha dejado soltarlo ni un momento.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes