You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Excrement
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
It was so craftily written and I would have to say that it is the best mystery/thriller I have ever read. I haven’t read that many but this one is by far the best.
The author obviously put so much thought into crafting the story and the way the author revealed how all the main players in the book are connected to each other is so well-written and planned out.
The build up freaked me out and got me curious at the same time. The climax of the story had me holding my breath in anticipation and got me questioning if I could speed up the audiobook anymore without me losing comprehension of the narration. The ending was satisfying and brought my heart down to normal again. And then, as much as I wanted to hate this book because I didn’t know going into it that it was from the gothic horror genre and I was got so frightened of the scary parts of this book that as I was reading/listening to them I told myself that I am not going to continue on with the series, I couldn’t and I had to give it 5 stars. This book did everything it was meant to do. It was that good. And now I need to catch my breath and calm down before I can read another book.
Will I continue on with the series? I still don’t know but one thing is for sure. I am curious.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual harassment
Some issues I had personally were that since the story takes place in Spain, street names and locations are mentioned rather often and as a native English speaker I had one hell of a time trying to pronounce them. Some phrases were also left in Spanish and certain references were made that I just didn't understand. Maybe I should brush up on some Spanish history. Halfway through I did end up switching to an audiobook to pick up the pace of my reading (I am a rather slow reader) and was heavily embarrassed at how I had butchered names and places pronunciation.
I plan to read the rest of the books in the series as well, but I highly recommend this book it is just amazing!
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Terminal illness, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Torture
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
🇬🇧 Written in the 1st person, past tense. Set in the 1st half of the 20th century, Franco's regime
Intrigue, mystery, books, Barcelona. What's there not to like? Or so I thought, but I ended with mixed feelings.
It's historical fiction. There are scenes that reflect the chauvinist times, things that happen to women that are part of plot points.
Except, there's language & violence used against women that doesn't add anything to the story, so it seems the author is taking pleasure out of tormenting women.
A male character is physically & s exually assaulted, yet it's told in a ridiculous tone. I was intrigued, which is why I kept reading, but I can't ignore these recurring themes.
Mc instantly falls in love with the women he's attracted to, no importance given to knowing them. These are all enigmatic, inscrutable, meaning they are as deep as a leaf.
Otherwise, they are a reason for ridicule.
Beware of Stereotype: blind person asks to touch strangers' faces 🙄
Mystery is almost entirely revealed in a letter conveniently left to the mc.
Writing plays with the frontier between beautiful & pretentious to the point of eyeroll.
🇵🇹 Escrito na 1ª pessoa, passado. Situado na 1ª metade do Séc. XX, Espanha Franquista
Intriga, mistério, livros, Barcelona. O que há para não gostar? Pensei eu, mas no fim fiquei dividida.
É ficção histórica. Há cenas que refletem os tempos machistas, coisas que acontecem a mulheres que fazem parte da trama.
Excepto que há linguagem e violência usadas contra mulheres que não acrescentam nada à história, parece que o autor tirou prazer de atormentar mulheres.
Um personagem masculino é agredido física & sexualmente, sendo tal contado em tom jocoso. Estava intrigada, por isso persisti, mas não posso simplesmente ignorar estes tópicos recorrentes.
Cuidado com Estereótipo: pessoa cega pede para tocar na cara de estranhos 🙄
Protagonista apaixona-se instantaneamente pelas mulheres que lhe são atraentes, e pouca importa conhecê-las. Essas são todas enigmáticas, imperscrutáveis, ou seja têm a profundidade de uma folha.
De contrário, são motivo de ridículo.
Mistério é revelado quase todo numa carta convenientemente deixada ao protagonista.
A escrita brinca com a fronteira entre bela e pretensiosa a ponto de rolar os olhos.
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence
“I imagined Julián Carax at my age, holding that image in his hand, perhaps in the shade of the same tree that now sheltered me. I could almost see him smiling confidently, contemplating a future as wide and luminous as that avenue, and for a moment I thought there were no more ghosts there than those of absence and loss and that the light that smiled on me was borrowed light, real only as long as I could hold it in my eyes, second by second” (147)
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, War
Ultimately though I got really tired with the portrayal of women. All the women are secondary/tertiary characters who are usually victims who serve to further the mens' plots or to reveal a man's vile abuse. Especially since
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Sexual harassment