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covergirlbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book is creepy. It’s gothic in atmosphere and tone, and at times feels like a man on the run story, but then the horror elements start to stack up on you the further you go in the novel. It get’s shockingly violent. I think that’s part of the reason why it’s been called maze-like.
This is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, but I find most blogs recommend reading it second. I think having the context of some of the places and next generation of the cast put me in a good place for the read.
In this story, we’re following the budding writer David Martín. David began by writing sensational serialized stories for a demanding publisher under a pseudonym. His dream is to write a novel of his own. But when he finally gets the time to commit to the endeavor, his grueling writing habits are self-destructive. At the novel’s completion, his health is wrecked, and the publisher trashes the release, greedy for him to resume the lucrative serials once more.
Desperate to live and for his writing to live on in memory, David accepts a mysterious book contract from a sinister figure. Later, when he grows suspicious of his new boss, and reluctant to complete the work, David starts to pick up the trail of the previous writer who struck the same bargain. This turns out to be a dangerous game, because the closer he gets to the answers, the tighter the conspiracy draws around David and those he holds dear.
The male gaze is still a factor in this book, and the female characters are either in a state of need or malicious toward the main character. This is softened in contrast to The Shadow of the Wind, ever so slightly, by the friendship David develops with Isabella.
This is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, but I find most blogs recommend reading it second. I think having the context of some of the places and next generation of the cast put me in a good place for the read.
In this story, we’re following the budding writer David Martín. David began by writing sensational serialized stories for a demanding publisher under a pseudonym. His dream is to write a novel of his own. But when he finally gets the time to commit to the endeavor, his grueling writing habits are self-destructive. At the novel’s completion, his health is wrecked, and the publisher trashes the release, greedy for him to resume the lucrative serials once more.
Desperate to live and for his writing to live on in memory, David accepts a mysterious book contract from a sinister figure. Later, when he grows suspicious of his new boss, and reluctant to complete the work, David starts to pick up the trail of the previous writer who struck the same bargain. This turns out to be a dangerous game, because the closer he gets to the answers, the tighter the conspiracy draws around David and those he holds dear.
The male gaze is still a factor in this book, and the female characters are either in a state of need or malicious toward the main character. This is softened in contrast to The Shadow of the Wind, ever so slightly, by the friendship David develops with Isabella.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
seasonedreadings's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death
doppy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
eleanorrosecugal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
_grmlin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
i absolutely adore this series and though this isn’t as good as the first one, i still enjoy it a lot!!
i love that it’s set before the first book, i think that makes it really interesting and we get a lot of backstory for some of the characters in the first one ( daniels dad for one! )
i love that it’s set before the first book, i think that makes it really interesting and we get a lot of backstory for some of the characters in the first one ( daniels dad for one! )
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
gelslitreviews's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent
erinreadswhat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
12dejamoo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So when you're in school and you're writing book reviews, they always say that it's the worst sin to say 'it made the reader want to read on' but like that's the best way I could describe this book. I can't explain why, but it was insanely compelling. It didn't feel like 500 pages at all. I really did not expect to like this, whether it is because of a big book fear, or the blurb or whatever. It's far from my favourite book ever but it's definitely going to stay in my mind for quite some time.
I will say there wasn't much in the way of resolution. It probably deserves closer to 3 or 3.5 stars because of this, but I remain overly forgiving of flaws so I'll leave it at 4. I do think you get a lot of build-up, and a general creepy atmosphere for a slightly unsatisfying ending. You never really get an explanation for anything, and whilst some things were better (in my opinion) left unexplained (for instance, the identity of Andres Corelli), there could have been more in the way of just wrapping things up and letting the reader know the intention behind things.
There were also a lot of creepy and/or mysterious details which served to build the atmosphere, but which did not actually contribute to the plot and were not brought up again. A good example of this is the scene near the beginning in the brothel, which is never mentioned nor thought of again. The only reason I even remember that it happened is because of a review on the back by the Mail on Sunday which states that this book contains 'great sex' to which I say, did you even read past that scene where they kissed and then it faded to black, or did you just assume that that promised 'great sex' to come and added it to the review? This is irrelevant to the book, but I just had to put that thought somewhere.
I do like the whole idea of the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books' and I'd be intrigued to read some other books in this series to get more of it. This whole book feels like, as well as a creepy mystery, an ode to books and those who love them, and that is really wonderful to read.
All in all, I don't know why I liked this book so much but I did.
I will say there wasn't much in the way of resolution. It probably deserves closer to 3 or 3.5 stars because of this, but I remain overly forgiving of flaws so I'll leave it at 4. I do think you get a lot of build-up, and a general creepy atmosphere for a slightly unsatisfying ending. You never really get an explanation for anything, and whilst some things were better (in my opinion) left unexplained (for instance, the identity of Andres Corelli), there could have been more in the way of just wrapping things up and letting the reader know the intention behind things.
There were also a lot of creepy and/or mysterious details which served to build the atmosphere, but which did not actually contribute to the plot and were not brought up again. A good example of this is the scene near the beginning in the brothel, which is never mentioned nor thought of again. The only reason I even remember that it happened is because of a review on the back by the Mail on Sunday which states that this book contains 'great sex' to which I say, did you even read past that scene where they kissed and then it faded to black, or did you just assume that that promised 'great sex' to come and added it to the review? This is irrelevant to the book, but I just had to put that thought somewhere.
I do like the whole idea of the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books' and I'd be intrigued to read some other books in this series to get more of it. This whole book feels like, as well as a creepy mystery, an ode to books and those who love them, and that is really wonderful to read.
All in all, I don't know why I liked this book so much but I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
edu_caldelas's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
irene_dlcp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Es el peor libro que he leído recientemente.
Al principio me estaba gustando mucho, de hecho me llegó a parecer que me estaba gustando más que La Sombra del Viento, el primero de la saga. Pero el entusiasmo empezó a decaer con la tercera parte del libro. En vez de resolver todos los misterios e incógnitas que se habían planteado (que no eran precisamente pocos) se añaden más, de forma que cada vez queda menos tiempo para explicarlos -alerta spoiler-, obviamente no lo hacen.
A mí personalmente no me gustan los libros en los que suceden cosas paranormales que no se pueden explicar, o que precisamente la explicación de lo que sucede es algo paranormal -para no tener que explicarlo-, porque me siento como si me hubieran estado engañando durante todo el libro debido a que no había explicación posible de lo que estaba ocurriendo. Bueno, pues no hay ni un solo misterio de todos los planteados a lo largo del libro cuya explicación sea algo no paranormal, de forma que he perdido todo mi tiempo leyéndolo.
Además, otra cosa que tampoco he entendido es el personaje de Isabella. No encuentro qué aporta a la trama ni que añade, por no hablar de que las circunstancias en las que se introduce a este personaje son completamente fabricadas para que aparezca en la lectura, vaya, que sale de debajo de una piedra. Y además no se da ningún tipo de 'background' que nos permita conocer qué tipo de persona es, cuál es su historia, etc. Además tampoco he entendido el rollo raro que se traía con David (en especial en el momento en el que se besan).
En definitiva, este libro ha sido completamente horrible y no pienso perder más mi tiempo leyendo el resto de libros de la saga, y espero y deseo que nadie más lo haga, pues no merece la pena, ni siquiera La Sombra del Viento.
Al principio me estaba gustando mucho, de hecho me llegó a parecer que me estaba gustando más que La Sombra del Viento, el primero de la saga. Pero el entusiasmo empezó a decaer con la tercera parte del libro. En vez de resolver todos los misterios e incógnitas que se habían planteado (que no eran precisamente pocos) se añaden más, de forma que cada vez queda menos tiempo para explicarlos -alerta spoiler-, obviamente no lo hacen.
A mí personalmente no me gustan los libros en los que suceden cosas paranormales que no se pueden explicar, o que precisamente la explicación de lo que sucede es algo paranormal -para no tener que explicarlo-, porque me siento como si me hubieran estado engañando durante todo el libro debido a que no había explicación posible de lo que estaba ocurriendo. Bueno, pues no hay ni un solo misterio de todos los planteados a lo largo del libro cuya explicación sea algo no paranormal, de forma que he perdido todo mi tiempo leyéndolo.
Además, otra cosa que tampoco he entendido es el personaje de Isabella. No encuentro qué aporta a la trama ni que añade, por no hablar de que las circunstancias en las que se introduce a este personaje son completamente fabricadas para que aparezca en la lectura, vaya, que sale de debajo de una piedra. Y además no se da ningún tipo de 'background' que nos permita conocer qué tipo de persona es, cuál es su historia, etc. Además tampoco he entendido el rollo raro que se traía con David (en especial en el momento en el que se besan).
En definitiva, este libro ha sido completamente horrible y no pienso perder más mi tiempo leyendo el resto de libros de la saga, y espero y deseo que nadie más lo haga, pues no merece la pena, ni siquiera La Sombra del Viento.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Mental illness and Death of parent