Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

26 reviews

readandfindout's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

3.5

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 3 stars
Characters: 2 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Police brutality, Blood, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Homophobia, Confinement, Incest, War, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Death of parent and Excrement

breadwitchery's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Death

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy, War, and Racial slurs

pipn_t's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Surely the author could have set the historical scene without so many racist remarks and sexist attitudes.  Also got tired of everyone beating each other to a pulp.  It was an interesting story, which is why I read to the end, but one of the major plot points revolves aroundc content I don’t like reading about (

Spoiler

incest

) so I felt rather like I wasted my time on this whole thing as it kinda ruined my enjoyment of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Violence, Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Torture, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Antisemitism, and Ableism

mariegatou's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Police brutality, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Excrement, Death, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, and Death of parent

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

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

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

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

Minor: Incest, War, and Excrement

kell_xavi's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Excrement

chrisljm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

1. this book would not pass the bechdel test.
2. the twist almost made me shit myself. 
3. “the day was turning out to be longer than The Brothers Karamazov” is so funny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Stalking, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Torture, Cursing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Bullying, Rape, Abortion, Classism, Racial slurs, and Adult/minor relationship

rachel1's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia, Confinement, Gun violence, Incest, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent

chalkletters's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

The Shadow of the Wind is one of those books that seems to always be featured in book shops. I must have picked it up a dozen times to read the blurb or the first page but never quite got around to actually buying it. It’s a book about books, and while those appeal to me as a reader in theory, they are often slightly disappointing in practice.

Such was the case with The Shadow of the Wind. While the cemetery of forgotten books is a fascinating concept, Carlos Ruiz Zafón spends hardly any time there. The Shadow of the Wind isn’t so much a book about books as a book about one author and his mysterious backstory. Except, some of the mystery, specifically Lain Coubert’s identity, could be guessed hundreds of pages before it was officially revealed.

Daniel and Julián simply aren’t that interesting as characters, unless you find adolescent male romances particularly compelling. Sadly, the women they fall in love with aren’t very well fleshed out, they exist mostly as aloof and unattainable examples of femininity, which is tiresome. Carlos Ruin Zafón does much better with the minor characters: Daniel’s father is sympathetic, Fermin’s story is unexpected, Bernada is sweet, and I could go on. In terms of building a large and interconnected cast of characters, Carlos Ruin Zafón has succeeded, but the story he chooses to tell with them isn’t all that inspired.

The Shadow of the Wind’s prose is very nice, there were several poetic descriptions of Barcelona, usually at the beginnings of chapters, as well as some lovely atmospheric moments throughout. It does veer towards pretension at times, but not enough to ruin the reading experience.

Overall, The Shadow of the Wind is solidly written, and has good moments especially in Carlos Ruin Zafón’s minor characters, but the main story wasn’t something I’d especially recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Violence, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Child death, Animal cruelty, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy