Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

19 reviews

theglossreview's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

Atrocious. “The Shadow of the Wind“ is nothing but a series of horrible events. The plot seems like a competition between the characters: “Whose misfortune is the worst?”

There is barely a content warning to be found that does not apply to this book. The story is full of graphic portrayals of all kinds of violence and abuse. None of the characters are likeable. In the case of “The Shadow of the Wind“, this is a blessing, since everything that happens to the characters is bad. 

The sexism and misogyny is blatant throughout the book. It would have been one thing to portray these as part of the era in  which the book is set, but “The Shadow of the Wind” contains multiple characters whose only role is to enact and spew sexist, misogynist poison. This is taken so far that several characters introduce themselves through bigoted statements, as if this philosophy was the most important and first thing you need to know about them. This book does not pass the Bechdel test. The book is barely worthy of the phrase “portrayal of women”, since there are only portrayals of objects of desire, self-sacrificial lovers and devout mothers. 

Before you read this book, please take a look at the content warnings to see how vile it is. I’m shocked and disappointed to see that the average rating is above 4 stars. The content of the book deserves zero stars, however, the well-constructed mystery and beautiful writing elevate it to 2 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, War, and Classism

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Abortion

remytherat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

what started as an intriguing mystery novel soon gripped me completely with its characters and setting and writing. I loved every moment of it, even the parts I didn't like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: War

lepulus's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

calathean's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Torture, Death of parent, and War

corrin_takara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

At times was a struggle to read partly because of the slow pace as well as a long list of possible triggering topics which lead to hard to read passages. Picked up towards the end and grabbed my attention with a satisfying twist 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury

krysley's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Incest, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent

cass_lit's review against another edition

4.0

I think I overhyped this in my head, unfortunately. While it’s still a 4⭐️ primarily because of the feat it is to write so many plot lines and books within books, my enjoyment during it was just *fine.* One thing that kept coming back to irk me were the romantic relationships — I didn’t buy into any of them enough for how much they completely controlled where this story went. I know Daniel started out young in the beginning of the book, but even towards the end, I can’t tell you how many times I rolled my eyes at him. As Isaac Monfort says, Daniel is an idiot for most of this long book. 

For all of my complaints, however, I was still impressed by this. I loved the writing style, the discussions on books and what they mean to each person, and the stories within stories within stories. After the first few chapters, I wondered how everything would come together without it feeling almost too fantastical. But it did. And the last ~10% or so when everything came out / came together? I literally gasped at 👀that👀 reveal. 

Also — the audiobook is great! There are fun little interludes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death of parent

kiwidesign78's review against another edition

Descriptions of LGBTQ characters are almost cartoonish and in poor taste, unnecessary to the plot description of man in drag being raped in jail

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime and Homophobia

kell_xavi's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

Minor: Excrement