The Shadow of the Wind
By: Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Translation by Lucia Graves
My Rating: Four out of Five Stars
Best for: 18+

Well that meandered its way to awesome.

There were times reading The Shadow of the Wind that I felt annoyed by the translation, and other times I felt frustrated with the slow pace, and other times I wished there could be a limit to the number of adjectives allowed in the descriptions of a thing.

But dang, what a way to end!

It was hard work getting to the end, but the hard work payed off. The Shadow of the Wind is excellent.

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books is where books go when no one loves them anymore. When you adopt a book there, it comes with a life-long obligation to protect it and care for it.

This story is about a boy who adopted a book. It’s title? The Shadow of the Wind.

This is a story-within-a-story, a coming-of-age story, a love story–multiple in fact, and a friendship story. Above all, there is a mystery from the past to solve. And when the past and present collide, well…hopefully you have a solid few hours to devote the ending.

There’s no way you’re going to be able to put it down.

There are some sex scenes, some strong language, and some violence. The story takes place in a time when the objectification and abuse of women were common place. This is a long, detailed story that is beautifully written but occasionally too literal in it’s English translation. There are other books in this world that includes these characters, but this novel easily stands on it’s own.

Best for 18 and up.

Happy Reading!