Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

11 reviews

amhud1030's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual harassment

ka_cam's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

I read this while I was sick with covid which maybe impacted my experience, but I didn’t love it. It was too slow and exposition-heavy to be a compelling mystery for me, and the constant misogyny and violence against women characters (and their flatness in development) was a big turn-off for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookwormcat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

This was a great book. Beautiful prose, compelling characters and a fascinating mystery. Dark and sad but with moments of real humour. I loved it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Excrement, and War

okarenhelena's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and War

frenandjen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lidia138's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Police brutality, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

kcbbooks0125's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Excrement

jeanniea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Great storytelling. Similar storytelling style to that of erin morgenstern. Story picks up about halfway thru. I enjoyed the ending of the book! There were a few unexpected surprises in the plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

florafauna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Blood, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, and War

distilledreads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I really struggled with this book. I went into it with really high expectations, and therefore for the first two-thirds of it I was anxiously anticipating what makes this such a highly acclaimed read. The answer, for me at least, was the ending. The last third, and really the shift into Nuria’s perspective, saved this book for me and I found myself finally enjoying the story. While I could appreciate the writing and the plot up until that point, I wasn’t particularly entranced by the mystery and it felt like I was just plodding along; for that reason, I would give this book 3 ½ stars. 

The perspective is that of a teenage boy and is told in first-person, which at least partially was the reason I found it so hard to get sucked into this book. Since I felt distanced from the characters and the goings-on, it didn’t take much to jar me while reading and throw me out of the plot. Every asinine opinion on women, the fetishization of a “mulatto” woman, or the dismissive way sexual assault was casually sprinkled throughout the book was enough to disrupt my reading and fuel my distaste. 

Again, like I said, I can appreciate what Zafón was trying to achieve here in a literary sense. I would love to have properly analyzed this book in a classroom setting to better understand the nuance of mid-twentieth century Spain, rather than rely on my own haphazard understanding and research. 

“Wars have no memory, and nobody has the courage to understand them until there are no voices left to tell what happened, until the moment comes when we no longer recognize them and they return, with another face and another name, to devour what they left behind.” 

This is a multi-generational story, with the actions of 20/30 years ago affecting and mirroring a younger generation. At its heart, there is a cautionary tale of second chances and the destruction that hate and prejudices carry. As well, there are beautiful and evocative lines. This is a book largely about a book, which naturally leads to beautiful phrases about storytelling, reading, and human nature. 

“The words with which a child’s heart is poisoned, through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul.” 

Despite my mixed experience of it, I am glad that I finally read The Shadow of the Wind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury