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A review by leahreadsalot
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
1.0
I had several issues with this letdown of a novel. This was my first Zafon novel and given that it is written for the A/YA group, I can't see too many teenagers interested in it, unfortunately.
1. Characterization is poor. It's too short to really appreciate any of the characters, so as a reader, I didn't feel involved in the story.
2. The premise started out eerily enough; twins persued by an evil force (person or otherwise) who are assisted by a secret society of friends created during time spent in the orphanage. But it goes downhill from there. Although it's set in the 1930s Calcutta, it reads more like a 21st century New England setting (minus the scorching heat). The plot fades by page 20 and doesn't really pick itself back up again. It was boring and not scary.
I am going to read something else by this author; he's won awards and there was lots of praise for other books, but this one misses the mark.
1. Characterization is poor. It's too short to really appreciate any of the characters, so as a reader, I didn't feel involved in the story.
2. The premise started out eerily enough; twins persued by an evil force (person or otherwise) who are assisted by a secret society of friends created during time spent in the orphanage. But it goes downhill from there. Although it's set in the 1930s Calcutta, it reads more like a 21st century New England setting (minus the scorching heat). The plot fades by page 20 and doesn't really pick itself back up again. It was boring and not scary.
I am going to read something else by this author; he's won awards and there was lots of praise for other books, but this one misses the mark.