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A review by drjoannehill
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
4.0
I have been on an ultra marathon reading all the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in order, this autumn. This last one was a marathon in itself. Having been with these characters for so long brings interest and affection in their lives and the progress of the story. And the (very obviously stated, a few times) multiple entry points to the stories, playing with memory and retellings, is an interesting read. If you like Barcelona or books that are very much set in a city, these are great. But this one fell a little flat for me in the eventual story conclusion, how there's kind of a Mary Sue character, and the meta book-within-a-book-within-a-book chapters at the end, which didn't really add to the story.
You could read The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game and be happy and done with this series. The Prisoner of Heaven and The Labyrinth of the Spirits are not nothing books, but they didn't have the excitement for me. They change the storyline of the first two books and hence mess with how I remember what happened (maybe that's the point). I wish I had read them electronically, and been able to search for characters who I didn't think I had come across before, but who were suddenly crucial parts of the characters' lives despite never being mentioned in a previous book.
Plus, women are repeatedly objectified and sexualised all through this series. Don't tell me it's historically accurate.
You could read The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game and be happy and done with this series. The Prisoner of Heaven and The Labyrinth of the Spirits are not nothing books, but they didn't have the excitement for me. They change the storyline of the first two books and hence mess with how I remember what happened (maybe that's the point). I wish I had read them electronically, and been able to search for characters who I didn't think I had come across before, but who were suddenly crucial parts of the characters' lives despite never being mentioned in a previous book.
Plus, women are repeatedly objectified and sexualised all through this series. Don't tell me it's historically accurate.