A review by trixiew
Barcelona Dreaming by Rupert Thomson

3.0

I’m usually horrible about using Goodreads but I want to be better this year. So starting with the first book I finished this year which I actually started a few weeks ago in 2022. It was ok but nothing special. I was looking forward to feeling closer to Barcelona through Thompson’s writing as it’s one of my favorite cities. But instead I felt I was fed mediocre characters and storylines. I didn’t think the actual writing was bad though and I started to like the last story towards the end. It took a while though for things to get interesting. I think I liked this story the most because I relate to Jordi the most. He’s sort of lost and wanting more. He tends to get invested in the happenings of others lives rather than his own (both fictional and real). I hated “The King” he felt womanizer adjacent and was just bland overall. Not really understanding how Montse became the through line in all these stories because nothing ends up happening with her that’s overwhelmingly relevant. I think there are books more successful at doing what this book tried to. I enjoyed it as an easy read that I wasn’t over invested in. Otherwise I think the cover is wonderful and what originally attracted me to the book. Unashamedly I will judge a book by the cover. Oh also I loved the giant and the other surreal elements probably why it’s a 3 and not 2 stars imo.