Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

L'Ombra Del Vent by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

51 reviews

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

The actual plot details may be dark but this book is FUN. Some predictable twists but some that are surprising, the story sprawls out in interesting ways. I will definitely continue the series.

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

"...this was a story about lonely people, about absence and loss,..."


It has been a while since a book has been so captivating and haunting for me. This book was profound and devastating, yet beautifully written.  Ruiz Zafón did a tremendous job.

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

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective 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

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kiah04's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 51%

Full of racism and oversexualisation of women plus it was boring except for the storyline about Julian Carax.
All the women in the novel have no personality outside of being attractive.

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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: Complicated

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slow-paced

This started so well, Barcelona, bookshops, The Four Cats bar, all these things I love. But eww. The misogyny becomes overwhelming. Every woman is objectified by the male characters, and usually also ravished. The violence is meted out to both sexes but the violence against women is described either offhandly..
the prostitutes who spend their weekends being burned by cigarettes is an 'amusing' aside
or is truly horrific
denied a cesarean and haemorrhaging to death in a locked room


I really didn't like the main character Daniel. He seemed so fickle. His best friend was a guy called Tomaz whom he spoke to twice in the novel. He fell in love with three pairs of breasts, and was  unbothered by whom they belonged to. I quite liked Fermin, and Jacinta, but otherwise I really didn't care about anyone.

 Overall, such a disappointment and really has a dated feel in its portrayal of women. 

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

"There are no second chances in life except to feel remorse."

When Daniel visits the Cemetery of Forgotten Books he picks The Shadow of the Wind to take custodianship of after it calls to him. Little does he know what an impact this will have on his life. We see the parallels between his life and the author's life as he tries to find out why someone wants to burn the book.

I have very mixed opinions on this book. While I loved the setting and idea and did enjoy parts, overall I wasn't all that invested. The author often over describes things and it started to feel repetitive. This didn't help with how similar Daniel and Carax (the author of the fictional Shadow of the Wind and their experiences) were an the plot sometimes got a bit lost in itself, especially with how many side characters and tangents were added in. I do know the style works well for others though! The discussion and treatment of female characters was also frustrating. Although large parts of this book were frustrating, I will say that I liked the final scene. I just wish we had gotten there a bit faster an more smoothly.

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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

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings