Scan barcode
leahrenz's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
chalkletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
aydaybay's review against another edition
First Read (2018):
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is my favorite book of all time. I have never felt this passionately about a book before in my entire life. There were so many twists and turns. The characters had so much depth and I never wanted this book to end. I'm so happy that I read this book and that I can now recommend it to others. This book is absolutely beautiful.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality
justabridge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I also found the story quite confused - did it want to be Daniel’s story? Or did it want to be Julian Carax’s? The book was trying to be both separately instead of blending the two, and so you ended up with huge chunks of exposition (sometimes 30-50 pages (ish) at a time), and it didn’t really feel like the characters had to work for the mystery or the payoff.
What really made this hard to enjoy for me though, was the relentless violence and constant oversexualisation of women. It was all the time, in pretty much every chapter, and felt so unnecessary. I think the only woman whose breasts and general sexual allure weren’t discussed in detail was Daniel’s mother, and she was dead prior to the book starting. And the casual beatings, the sexism, the slut-shaming, and other much heavier violence sprinkled throughout...it really didn’t feel like the female characters in this were allowed to be people, and it completely alienated and exhausted me while I was reading. Perhaps to some extent the attitudes were ‘historically accurate’, but I think that parameter was hit and bulldozed through very early on.
It is a shame, because the writing style in this was beautiful, the descriptions of Barcelona were so evocative, and I loved the setting of the Cemetery or Forgotten books. These things we just overshadowed by everything else.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Police brutality
Moderate: Body horror, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent