Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

34 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

msapocalypse's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. There are some wonderful small observations throughout, but I didn't find most of the characters or the actual plot to pull me in as much as they wanted to. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, 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

jackbifrost's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kcjulia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Although I loved the literary mystery and setting,  the ubiquitous misogyny and violence is hard to handle. Women are not treated well in this book…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: War

nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

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

dreamerfreak's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

leahrenz's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

This isn't my sort of book - historical fiction, mystery, metafiction, fatefully doomed romances - but it came as a recommendation so I thought I'd give it a go.

The writing style walks a dangerous line between vivid and beautiful description and pretentious sentimentality. I have a real aversion to flowery writing, but I let myself be convinced by Zafon's verbosity, which only occasionally grated me.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

vb_marie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

Superbement bien écrit. Les premiers chapitres sont tellement beaux que je les ai lus par petits bouts, pour les savourer pleinement.

Les éléments gothiques sont parfois trop présents à mon goût. De plus, certaines scènes m'ont fait tellement peur que j'en ai fait des cauchemars (d'où les 4,5 étoiles et non 5).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War