The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.”- Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, 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 Julián 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.

If you'll recall, I was really excited to pick this book up. It got a great review from a Booktuber I (mostly) trust, reminded me somewhat of The Book Thief plotwise, had an interesting setting, was an international best seller, and on top of it all it was by the same author of Marina, which I adored. Thus, I was fully prepared to love this book the same way I loved Marina.

And I did, though to a far lesser extent. This book had everything that would make me love a book- likable and complex characters (seriously, I actually liked everyone- even the villain was interesting), fantastic one-liners, lovely descriptions, beautiful quotes, interesting plotline, horror elements, all these things I'm starting to see as the hallmarks of Zafón's writing. But what worked so well in Marina didn't seem as perfect in The Shadow of the Wind. This book didn't hold my attention as much, and at time I felt stuck in that treadmill zone, when I've been reading for what feels like an hour and I think I'm making good progress only to discover that I've read at most fifteen pages. All those beautiful descriptions and long backstories felt tiresome now. Often while reading I felt distracted by other things, and when I would come back to the story I felt confused as to who was speaking and when. I'm not saying that this story didn't need the time or length to unfold, since it did, but I got a bit tired after a while. 

That being said, I still did like this book. I really loved Daniel, the sweet main character whose witty observations made me laugh more than once. I genuinely cared about him. He reminded me of Oscar. I also really liked Fermín, the Watchmaker, and Barcelo. The Gothic parts were really cool, too. I enjoy the way Zafón's mind works. Spain already conjures up images of black lace and red roses, of Gothic architecture and dreary Catholicism, so I could easily get behind Zafón's Barcelona. And I could tell that his goal in the literary world is to bring back the Gothic novel, which I'm down with, honestly. I also liked the idea of real life imitating plot, and the idea of some dark stranger running around burning all the books written by an author no one's ever heard of before (even if I did guess who it was within 10 pages). 

Honestly, I think my not loving this novel has a lot to do with when I read it. I wasn't really in the mood for a slow-burner so soon after reading Faithful Place, and Marina was still too fresh in my mind that I kept unintentionally comparing the two. And, of course, finding Marina the better of the two. Both told complex, extravagant stories with meandering plotlines and lengthy backstories, but one told it more concisely. I don't know if I gave this story the time it deserved.

I want to continue on with this trilogy, I really do. But maybe not next month. Maybe not until the summer. Honestly, probably once I finish up with The Dublin Murder Squad. But for right now, if I was going to recommend a Zafón book, it would definitely be Marina. No contest.

8 out of 10