Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

L'Ombra Del Vent by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

55 reviews

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

There are definitely some unnecessary outdated terms,; it was set in the 1940s and 50s but published in 2001, so he could have skipped over the heroes saying those couple of words. And he somehow thought you know someone is pregnant only a day after sex? With those two caveats, it was a pretty intriguing read. I thought I knew where it was headed, but it was very wrong. So there were a lot of twists and turns in there. There were some slow moments, but overall, the web that he weaved was pretty intricate. And also, the villain was one of the most despicable of all time, so
I'm very glad he got what he deserved.
 

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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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 rounded up. I really loved this! The writing is just fantastic. The dialogue is so unique and witty and I really enjoyed Daniel’s narrative voice. I felt it gets a biitt bogged down in the plot towards the end of the book and loses some of that sparkle of the writing, but still all in all this is a fun, yet serious mystery that pays homage to the role literature plays in the lives of readers who truly connect with a story. Would love to one day be able to read this in Spanish to compare the translation because the writing is just so unique.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: No

Atrocious. “The Shadow of the Wind“ is nothing but a series of horrible events. The plot seems like a competition between the characters: “Whose misfortune is the worst?”

There is barely a content warning to be found that does not apply to this book. The story is full of graphic portrayals of all kinds of violence and abuse. None of the characters are likeable. In the case of “The Shadow of the Wind“, this is a blessing, since everything that happens to the characters is bad. 

The sexism and misogyny is blatant throughout the book. It would have been one thing to portray these as part of the era in  which the book is set, but “The Shadow of the Wind” contains multiple characters whose only role is to enact and spew sexist, misogynist poison. This is taken so far that several characters introduce themselves through bigoted statements, as if this philosophy was the most important and first thing you need to know about them. This book does not pass the Bechdel test. The book is barely worthy of the phrase “portrayal of women”, since there are only portrayals of objects of desire, self-sacrificial lovers and devout mothers. 

Before you read this book, please take a look at the content warnings to see how vile it is. I’m shocked and disappointed to see that the average rating is above 4 stars. The content of the book deserves zero stars, however, the well-constructed mystery and beautiful writing elevate it to one or two stars.

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

what started as an intriguing mystery novel soon gripped me completely with its characters and setting and writing. I loved every moment of it, even the parts I didn't like. 

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings