Confessions of a Bookaholic



review: the shadow of the wind

 tháng 8 10, 2012     No comments   

book info:
ages: 14 and up (younger audiences are OK, but I think mature readers will really appreciate it more)
grades: 9 and up (years: 10 and up)
on sale: now
copy from: library
pages: 512

title: The Shadow of the Wind (El cementerio de los libros olvidados #1)
author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón (translator: Lucia Graves)

photo: goodreads
Barcelona, 1945—Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes one day to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a book from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the book he selects, a novel called The Shadow of the Wind by one Julián Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Before Daniel knows it, his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness, and doomed love, and before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julián Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly




First thoughts: brilliant. I sometimes (often) skip pages or jump paragraphs when reading books, because a lot that I've been reading has just been mediocre, but by the first few pages, I knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't miss a single amazing word that's written. When I got further in the book, I skipped around a bit, but not too much.

The life of the main character, Daniel, is very believable, and also magical at the same time (magical meaning the way he's portrayed). I think because he lives in the beautiful city of Barcelona, that has a lot of character and charm, and because this is set in a completely different time period where young people behaved much more differently than nowadays: I like it.

The pace of the steady, and follows Daniel over many years. And I like the way it's done like this, because basically, this is a mystery novel and I've seen shows where it happens in a week, but the story works best under the many years tactic.

The story itself is beautiful in the sense that it has this lovely, romantic air and the language...well, Ms Graves has done a lovely job. One can tell that this book was written in Spanish just by the way it reads in English.

The only thing I didn't like was how it seemed to drag out a bit near the middle-to-end, where I got a bit annoyed and flipped around a bit, skimming. But I wasn't disappointed, and the ending was shocking and brilliant! I absolutely loved it! Now I don't usually like mysteries: in fact, I hate them. Yet this doesn't read like a typical mystery (the ones that I've read) so I didn't even realise it was a mystery until the middle (the summary sounds like an adventure more than mystery) and it is. I enjoyed so much, the parallelism between Daniel and Mr Carax, and watching all the characters grow.

I'll give this novel 4.5 trees, marking down because of dragging near the end. I recommend this to more mature readers, as I think they'll appreciate it more. I know when I was younger, I would've just tossed this book aside. But it's lovely, and if you like how it sounds, read this!

  • Share This:  
  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Google+
  •  Stumble
  •  Digg
Gửi email bài đăng nàyBlogThis!Chia sẻ lên XChia sẻ lên Facebook
Bài đăng Mới hơn Bài đăng Cũ hơn Trang chủ

0 nhận xét:

Đăng nhận xét



Giới thiệu về tôi

ana018
Xem hồ sơ hoàn chỉnh của tôi

Popular Posts

  • review: the picture of dorian gray
    book info: ages: 15 and up (recommended, 13 and 14 is OK but...elder teens are preferred) grades: 9-10 and up years: 11 and up on sale: now ...
  • review: rooftops of tehran
    book info: on sale: now copy from: public library pages: 348 review written: 21.12.17 originally published: 2009 edition read: Penguin NAL ...
  • review: nausea
    credit: Josh Olins book info: on sale: now copy from: Amazon pages: review written: 16/8/13 edition read: New Directions Paperback originall...
  • Thursday Oldie: Being Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram
    Being Jamie Baker   by  Kelly Oram Series: Jamie Baker #1 Source:  own paperback & Kindle version Publisher:  Bluefields Publication Dat...
  • Discussion: Embarrassing Reads!
    Today we're here to talk about an important issue in the book world: self-consciousness, or embarrassment about whatever you're read...
  • Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry
    Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry Series:   Thunder Road #1 Source:  Kindle Version Publisher:  Harlequin Teen Publication Date: June 1st ...
  • topic: kindness
    I will eventually relate this to books, but for now. Today's topic to start off the week is kindness. kindness I believe that being k...
  • February Round Up
    Books I Read Portrait in Death | Spy Glass | Meant to Be | The Woman Who Rode Like a Man | The Wild One | All Lined Up | All Broke Down...
  • Landline by Rainbow Rowell
    Landline by Rainbow Rowell Series: N/A Source: Bought Publisher: St. Martin's Press Publication Date:  July 8, 2014 Georgie McCool know...
  • the kindness project: july
    As you know, I've been writing a lot about kindness and compassion and all the things to make one a better person. Well, I'd been br...

review: rooftops of tehran

book info: on sale: now copy from: public library pages: 348 review written: 21.12.17 originally published: 2009 edition read: Penguin NAL ...

Tìm kiếm Blog này

Được tạo bởi Blogger.

Lưu trữ Blog

  • tháng 1 2018 (1)
  • tháng 4 2017 (1)
  • tháng 3 2017 (1)
  • tháng 7 2016 (1)
  • tháng 6 2016 (1)
  • tháng 5 2016 (2)
  • tháng 3 2016 (1)
  • tháng 1 2016 (1)
  • tháng 11 2015 (3)
  • tháng 10 2015 (4)
  • tháng 9 2015 (5)
  • tháng 8 2015 (8)
  • tháng 7 2015 (8)
  • tháng 6 2015 (8)
  • tháng 5 2015 (8)
  • tháng 4 2015 (7)
  • tháng 3 2015 (11)
  • tháng 2 2015 (16)
  • tháng 1 2015 (18)
  • tháng 12 2014 (9)
  • tháng 11 2014 (4)
  • tháng 10 2014 (10)
  • tháng 9 2014 (16)
  • tháng 8 2014 (19)
  • tháng 7 2014 (1)
  • tháng 5 2014 (1)
  • tháng 4 2014 (1)
  • tháng 2 2014 (1)
  • tháng 1 2014 (4)
  • tháng 12 2013 (2)
  • tháng 10 2013 (1)
  • tháng 9 2013 (1)
  • tháng 8 2013 (1)
  • tháng 6 2013 (3)
  • tháng 5 2013 (4)
  • tháng 4 2013 (2)
  • tháng 3 2013 (2)
  • tháng 2 2013 (6)
  • tháng 1 2013 (5)
  • tháng 12 2012 (10)
  • tháng 11 2012 (2)
  • tháng 10 2012 (8)
  • tháng 9 2012 (12)
  • tháng 8 2012 (19)
  • tháng 7 2012 (23)
  • tháng 6 2012 (23)
  • tháng 5 2012 (5)

Nhãn

  • 1 Star
  • 1.5 Stars
  • 13 Little Blue Envelopes
  • 1800s
  • 2 Stars
  • 2.5 Stars
  • 2012
  • 2013
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2015 Contemporary Challenge
  • 2017
  • 3 Stars
  • 3.5 Stars
  • 3.5 stats
  • 4 Stars
  • 4.5 Stars
  • 5 Stars
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty
  • A Hidden Fire
  • A Little Something Different
  • A Monster Calls
  • A Second Chance
  • A Thousand Pieces of You
  • A.B. Westrick
  • Abbi Glines
  • Abby Gaines
  • Abhorsen
  • Abuse
  • Ace
  • Adult
  • Adult Crossover
  • Adventures of a Graveyard Girl
  • age gap
  • Alanna: the First Adventure
  • Alfred A. Knopf
  • All About Love
  • Allison & Busby
  • Amanda Hocking
  • Amanda Sun
  • Angelfall
  • Angelfire
  • Angels
  • Angie Stanton
  • Anna and the French Kiss
  • Anne Bishop
  • Arcs
  • assassin
  • Assassins
  • Atheneum
  • Atria Books
  • Author bios
  • Ava Dellaira
  • AWD Publishing
  • awesome authors
  • Axel
  • Bad Boy
  • Balzer + Bray
  • Beautiful Creatures
  • Being Jamie Baker
  • Best Book Ever
  • best mc
  • Black Dagger Brotherhood
  • Black Swan
  • Blog Tour
  • Bloomsbury
  • Blue Lily Lily Blue
  • Bluefields
  • Book Blitz
  • Book Boyfriend
  • Book Discussion
  • Book Review
  • Book Shelf Tag
  • Brandon Sanderson
  • brb dying
  • Broken Hearts & Revenge
  • Broken Hearts Fences and Other Things to Mend
  • Brotherhood
  • cancer
  • Candlewick Press
  • Cannie Shapiro
  • Carmilla
  • Carrie Jones
  • Cassandra Clare
  • Cassie Mae
  • Challenges
  • Challenges Re-Cap
  • Charley Davidson
  • Chick Lit
  • children
  • Chinese
  • Chosen for Power
  • Chronicles of Ixia
  • Cinder
  • Cinder & Ella
  • City of Bones
  • classic
  • Claudia Gray
  • Cleaning My Paid For
  • Cleaning My Shelves
  • Clockwork Angel
  • college life
  • Coming of Age
  • comments
  • Contemporary
  • Corgi
  • Corps Security
  • Courtney Allison Moulton
  • Cover Reveal
  • Crush
  • cultural
  • Cyborgs
  • Cynthia Hand
  • Dark Hunter
  • Dark Lover
  • Darynda Jones
  • Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
  • David Levithan
  • Dead Witch Walking
  • Death
  • December
  • Deerskin
  • Delacorte
  • Delirium
  • demons
  • Destiny Binds
  • Dial Books
  • Dimensions
  • disability
  • Disappointment
  • Discussion
  • DNF
  • Do you read books you know you're going to hate?
  • Dogs
  • Doing it Fore Love
  • Dragons
  • Drama
  • Dutton Books
  • Dystopian
  • E.L. James
  • Eleanor and Park
  • Ellora's Cave
  • Ember
  • Emily Hainsworth
  • emotional
  • English
  • Excerpt
  • Existence
  • explicit
  • faeries
  • family
  • Famous
  • Fantasy
  • Farrar Straus and Giroux
  • Favorite
  • favourites
  • February
  • Fiewel & Friends
  • film
  • Firebird
  • First Grave on the Right
  • five stars
  • Flame Moon
  • flawed main characters
  • Flight of Fantasy challenge
  • Forever
  • freebie
  • friendship
  • Funeral Crushing
  • Futuristic
  • gang
  • Garth Nix
  • Gay
  • Gemma Doyle
  • Gentleman Bastard
  • Gifly round up
  • gifs
  • Giveaway
  • Glass
  • Gods
  • Gollancz
  • Gone
  • Good in Bed
  • goodbye
  • Grave Mercy
  • Great
  • Greenwillow Books
  • Grey
  • grim reaper
  • Hardcover
  • Harlequin
  • Harlequin Teen
  • Harper
  • Harper Collins
  • Harper Sloan
  • Harper Voyager
  • HarperTeen
  • hating books
  • Heart-Shaped Hack
  • Heather Leigh
  • Heidi Joy Tretheway
  • Hemlock
  • Henry Holt and Co.
  • hiddleston
  • high fantasy
  • His Fair Assassins
  • Historical Fiction
  • Hodder Children's Books
  • Holocaust
  • horror
  • Houghton Mifflin
  • How to Unbreakup
  • illness
  • Indies
  • Indonesian
  • Ink
  • insta love
  • interview
  • Is Mediocre Worse Than Bad?
  • Isla and the Happily Ever After
  • Issues
  • Italian
  • J. Sheridan Le Fanu
  • J.K Jackson
  • J.R. Rain
  • J.R. Ward
  • James Dashner
  • Jamie Baker
  • Janine Infante Bosco
  • January
  • Japan
  • Jasper Ridge Press
  • Jay Kristoff
  • Jennifer A. Nielsen
  • Jennifer Echols
  • Jennifer Weiner
  • Jessica Sorensen
  • Josephine Angelini
  • Joss Stirling
  • Justine Avery
  • Kami Garcia
  • Kate and Ian
  • Katherine Allred
  • Katherine Tegen
  • Kathleen Brooks
  • Kathleen Peacock
  • Katie Finn
  • Katie McGarry
  • Katja Millay
  • Keary Taylor
  • Kelly Oram
  • Kerry Reichs
  • kick ass heroine
  • Kim Harrison
  • Kimberly Derting
  • Kindle
  • Kiss of Crimson
  • KKK
  • knights
  • Kody Keplinger
  • Korean
  • Lacey Weatherford
  • Landline
  • Lara Adrian
  • Last Breath
  • Last Sacrifice
  • Lauren Oliver
  • Laurens Publishing
  • Leafmarks
  • Leigh Bardugo
  • Libba Bray
  • Lindsay Buroker
  • Loki
  • Love
  • Love Letters to the Dead
  • Love Triangle
  • Loveswept
  • Macmillian
  • Maggie Stiefvater
  • magic
  • Magic Bites
  • magical realism
  • Magonia
  • male pov
  • Margaret Stohl
  • Maria Dahvana Headlet
  • Maria V. Snyder
  • Marissa Meyer
  • Markus Zusak
  • Marriage
  • Marriage before love
  • Married by Mistake
  • Mature YA
  • Maureen Johnson
  • Mediocre
  • Megan
  • Megan Whalen Turner
  • meme
  • Mercy Thompson
  • Michael Grant
  • Michael Scott
  • Middle Grade
  • Midnight Breed
  • Milda Harris
  • Mindy Raf
  • Mira Ink
  • monsters
  • Moon Dance
  • Moonstruck Media
  • movie
  • Mystery
  • Mythology
  • Naomi Novik
  • Need
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Netgalley arc
  • New Adult
  • Nitzan
  • No Interest in Love
  • no rating
  • Norse
  • Novella
  • Now YOU See It
  • Nowhere but Here
  • Of Beast and Beauty
  • Oldie Book Review
  • Oldies Challenge
  • On the Island
  • on the run
  • Orbit
  • Oxford University Press Children's Books
  • Paper Gods
  • Paranormal
  • Patricia Briggs
  • Patrick Ness
  • Penguin
  • Penryn & the End of Days
  • personal
  • Piatkus
  • Pieces
  • Pocket Books
  • Poison Study
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Prequel-Sequel Challenge
  • Projects
  • Puffing Books
  • Pushing the Limits
  • Question
  • Rachel Caine
  • Rachel Cohn
  • Rachel Hartman
  • Rainbow Rowell
  • Random House
  • Rant
  • Razorbill
  • Re-Cap
  • Re-Read Challenge
  • Read Your Freebies
  • Rebekah Purdy
  • recommendation
  • Relatively Famous
  • Retelling
  • Revenge
  • review
  • reviews re-cap
  • Richelle Mead
  • River Marked
  • Road Trip
  • Robin LaFevers
  • Robin McKinley
  • Roc
  • Rock and a Hard Place
  • Rock Star
  • Romance
  • Romanian
  • Round Up
  • Rules of Attraction
  • russia
  • Sabriel
  • Samantha Shannon
  • Sandy Hall
  • Sara Benincasa
  • Sarah J. Mass
  • Sarah Ockler
  • Scarlet
  • Scholastic
  • Science Fiction
  • Science Geek Appreciation Week
  • Science Squad
  • Scion
  • Scott Lynch
  • Scott Westerfeld
  • Sea Glass
  • Self Published
  • Seraphina
  • Serbian
  • Series
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Shadow and Bone
  • Shadow Study
  • Shapeshifting
  • Shelbyville Publishing
  • Sherrilyn Kenyon
  • Shifters & Seers
  • Shiver
  • Short Animated Film
  • showbiz
  • Simon and Schuster
  • Simon Pulse
  • Simone Elkeles
  • SincerelyMe
  • Sins of the Night
  • Skyscape
  • Smolder
  • Sneak Peek
  • Song of the Lioness
  • Soulfinder
  • Special agents
  • spies
  • Spirit Bound
  • Spoilers
  • Spy Glass
  • St. Martin's Griffin
  • Stacey Jay
  • Stacking the Shelves
  • Standalone
  • Starcrossed
  • Steampunk
  • Stephanie Perkins
  • Stephen Chbosky
  • Stormdancer
  • Struck
  • Study
  • Stung
  • Such a Rush
  • Super Powers
  • Superheroes
  • Supernaturals
  • survival
  • Susan Ee
  • Sweet
  • Sweet Evil
  • Switched
  • Swoon Reads
  • tag
  • tags
  • Take Me On
  • Tammy Blackwell
  • Tamora Pierce
  • Tattoo Thief
  • TBR
  • TBR Challenge
  • Teaser
  • the Alchemyst
  • The Art of Commenting
  • The Ascendance Trilogy
  • The Avery Shaw Experiment
  • The Best Day of Someone Else's Life
  • The Body Finder
  • The Bone Season
  • The Book Buying Ban
  • The Book Gif Tag
  • The Book of Broken Hearts
  • The Book Thief
  • The Coincidence of Callie and Kayde
  • The DUFF
  • The Emperor's Edge
  • The False Prince
  • The Final Empire
  • The Great Gatsby
  • The Grisha
  • The Hollows
  • The Infernal Devices
  • The Jamieson Collection
  • The Libby Garrett Intervention
  • The Lies of Locke Lamora
  • The Lotus War
  • The Lunar Chronicles
  • The Maze Runner
  • The Morganville Vampires
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane
  • The Others
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower
  • The Queen's Thief
  • The Raven Cycle
  • The Red Ballon
  • The Riverdale
  • The Scorpio Races
  • The Sea of Tranquility
  • The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
  • The Sweet Gum Tree
  • The Symptoms of My Insanity
  • The Thief
  • The Timber Wolves Trilogy
  • The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
  • These Broken Stars
  • thief
  • thieves
  • Thomas Dunne Books
  • thriller
  • Throne of Glass
  • Through to You
  • Thunder Road
  • Too Cute
  • topic
  • Tor
  • Tracey Gravis Graves
  • Trilogy
  • Trylle
  • Tsu
  • Tsu. Social Media
  • Types of TBR
  • Uglies
  • underrated
  • Unearthly
  • Uprooted
  • V.E. Schwab
  • Vampire Academy
  • Vampire for Hire
  • Vampires
  • Vicious
  • vote
  • Waiting on Wednesday
  • Walker
  • Walker Books
  • warriors
  • Washington Square Press
  • Web Series
  • Wendy Higgins
  • Werewolves
  • What I Didn't Say
  • Which TBR Matters
  • Whispered Visions
  • Who Wore it Better
  • William Morrow Books
  • Witches
  • Women of Power
  • Written in Red
  • YA
  • Yay or Nay
  • Young Adult

Báo cáo vi phạm

Copyright © Confessions of a Bookaholic | Powered by Blogger
Design by Hardeep Asrani | Blogger Theme by NewBloggerThemes.com | Distributed By Gooyaabi Templates