Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Pages: 487

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating: 5/5

From the back cover:

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets—an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

This book was awesome! I had been wanting to read it for awhile now, and finally got around to it. It was worth the wait. Not only is it well written, but the story is engrossing. I stayed up until four one morning to finish it. I got hooked and couldn't bear to not know what happened. The main character Daniel is lovable, though he does has his faults and he is surrounded by many people all with very different personalities. They mesh together wonderfully. The action starts immediately and keeps moving until the very last page.

You can't help but to like this book. I will defintely be adding more books by Zafon to my reading list

Also Reviewed By:

Katherine: A Girl Walks Into A Bookstore

Book Review: White Oleander

Author: Janet Fitch

Pages: 480

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating: 3/5

From the back cover:

Everywhere hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes -- each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned -- becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.

Take 200 pages from this book and it would have been great! As it was, it went on forever. How much horror can a teenager take? Apparently 480 pages of it. Don’t get me wrong, I found the story very interesting and Fitch is a great write. Overall I liked it. I’m just still hung up on those 480 pages.

I would go into a little detail about everything that happens to this girl and her "strange" mother but really you need to read it for yourself.

What's In a Name Reading Challenge

Just signed up for this today. You need to choose six books that fall into the following categories


A book with a color in its title.
White Oleander
The Blackstone Chronicle

A book with an animal in its title.
Crocodile on the Sandbank (Elizabeth Peters)
Snakebite Survivor's Club: Travel Among Serpents (Jeremy Seal)

A book with a first name in its title.
Sophie's Choice
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lionel Shriver)
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff (Christopher Moore)
Rosemary's Baby (Ira Levin)

A book with a place in its title.
A Parisian from Kansas (Philippe Tapon)
Dreams of My Russian Summer (Makine)

A book with a weather event in its title.
House of Sand and Fog
Snow Falling on Cedars
Shadow of the Wind

A book with a plant in its title.
Veil of Roses (Laura Fitzgerald)


This challenge is being hosted by Annie: What's In A Name Reading Challenge

Here is what I actually ended up reading:

A book with a color in its title
White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

A book with an animal in its title
Pig Island (Mo Hayder)

A book with a first name in its title
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff (Christopher Moore)

A book with a place in its title
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

A book with a weather event in its title
The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Zafon)

A book with a plant in its title
Veil of Roses (Laura Fitzgerald)