The Shadow of the Wind
An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller's art.
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Community Reviews
I wish I could read this book again for the first time. It is one of those books that makes you forget you are reading at all. The first time, and every time after, I've finished it and lost track of time.
Wow, wow & Wow!
"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”
"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”
I've not read very many books more than once, but here's one that merits a second time! This time I listened to the audio book, which was wonderful. It had timely piano music in the background which just added to the mood. The language in this story is so romantically delicious and I must have a dozen favorite quotes! ❤️📚
4.5 stars!
Wow, what a roller coaster. Although this book isn't the epitome of literature or anything like that, it was just a fun read. I found the story, despite the almost soap opera-esq nature of some of the events, quite original and a nail-biter as more and more unfortunate things started happening. I also really enjoyed the backdrop of Barcelona, and I really liked the writing style that Zafon used through the story. I also liked the parallels between Daniel and Julian, and I found that incredibly clever, though a little "in your face" at times. Finally, I loved all the characters, although some more than others, but there wasn't one character I didn't enjoy reading about, even the evil ones!
The reason I took half a star off is because I felt like the resolution felt a little forced, given that everything was resolved through a 100 page letter written to Daniel, providing him with all the information he had been looking for throughout the entire novel. It was still fun to read, and it didn't make the story feel flat, but I felt like there was a little too little "show, not tell" there. That part became a little "This happened, then this happened, and then this happened."
But other than that, it was a really fun thriller to read, and I'm definitely putting the sequels on my to-read list (even though apparently they're not as good as this book). But I'm interested to see where the characters end up in the rest of the series.
Wow, what a roller coaster. Although this book isn't the epitome of literature or anything like that, it was just a fun read. I found the story, despite the almost soap opera-esq nature of some of the events, quite original and a nail-biter as more and more unfortunate things started happening. I also really enjoyed the backdrop of Barcelona, and I really liked the writing style that Zafon used through the story. I also liked the parallels between Daniel and Julian, and I found that incredibly clever, though a little "in your face" at times. Finally, I loved all the characters, although some more than others, but there wasn't one character I didn't enjoy reading about, even the evil ones!
The reason I took half a star off is because I felt like the resolution felt a little forced, given that everything was resolved through a 100 page letter written to Daniel, providing him with all the information he had been looking for throughout the entire novel. It was still fun to read, and it didn't make the story feel flat, but I felt like there was a little too little "show, not tell" there. That part became a little "This happened, then this happened, and then this happened."
But other than that, it was a really fun thriller to read, and I'm definitely putting the sequels on my to-read list (even though apparently they're not as good as this book). But I'm interested to see where the characters end up in the rest of the series.
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