This novel started off very promising, but soon devolved into bad writing and ridiculous plotting. I finally had to abandon it after 200 pages because I didn't want to waste another minute on it. I'm going to give the writer the benefit of the doubt and wonder if this was poorly translated from the Spanish.

The story is set in Barcelona in 1945. What I liked about the beginning was the idea of a young boy being drawn into a secret world of readers. Daniel was 10 when his father took him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, which was a dusty and hidden library, and he was told to choose one book to protect. Daniel fell in love with an out-of-print novel and tries to find out more about the mysterious author.

"Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later -- no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget -- we will return. For me those enchanted pages will always be the ones I found among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books."

Daniel soon finds out that the book he chose is valuable because it is the very last copy -- all the others have been burned. There's no point in summarizing the rest of the plot because it quickly becomes absurd. Absurdity is always relative, of course, and the degree to which disbelief must be suspended varies by genre. This book was grounded at the beginning, but the mystery aspect was so silly that it became farcical.

I had high hopes for this novel but was very disappointed. I thought it might be similar to the modern gothic style of "The Thirteenth Tale," which I really liked, but the bad writing made me quickly tire of it. There were too many cliches, too many florid descriptions and too many long speeches from preposterous characters.

Looking at reviews from GR friends, I see everything from 1 stars to 5 stars on this book. It is possible that if I come back to this at another time and in another mood, I may like it more, but for now, it's just OK.

This one was a HUGE letdown.

It started with a real bang: "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books" is a masterly creation, also the concept of a book choosing an owner. And when Zafon starts telling a story about a book every copy of which mysterious entities are bent on destroying, an author who seems to have disappeared under strange circumstances, and weird characters who seem to have sprung to life from the pages of a romance, the reader is hooked for good.

Unfortunately, it's all downhill from there (for me, at least). The Shadow of the Wind is nothing but an ordinary Gothic Romance with all its attendant paraphernalia. Beautiful heroines, penurious suitors, comic sidekicks, lustful debauchees and loathsome villains populate its pages. We have all the steamy sex scenes, over-the-top dialogues, distressing happenings and graphic violence. The language is suitably flowery and over-rich.

Mind you, I do not consider any of this a drawback - I love intellectual junk food as much as the next person. What pissed me off mainly were two things: the book's pretentiousness and its totally unlikable characters (including the protagonist, Daniel Sempere).

Let me talk about the second issue first. I felt that none of the characters were well drawn. The author tries his level best to describe them in detail, but it stays just that: description. They don't come to life. And most of them do not raise any empathy in you (the character Zafon has outdone himself on, Fermin, is easily the most obnoxious) - and almost all of them are unabashedly sexist.

But the main problem I had was that the novel tries to be something which it is not. It's as though you invite Gabriel Garcia Marquez for dinner, and at the end of the first course, he removes his mask and says: "April Fool! I'm Dan Brown in disguise!"

Still, I will give it three stars for a fast read which could be enjoyable if you did not approach it with any expectations.

Edit to add: I would be guilty of a big sin of omission if I did not mention that I absolutely loved the setting of the book - the Barcelona of the civil war and post-civil war era. I love dystopias, and I believe that Zafon has masterfully captured the essence of a city and nation in the throes of death and rebirth. The three stars are for that, too.

Impressive? Addictive? Amazing? I don’t even know which word would done justice to sum up all the feels I got from this book. Yes.. I loved it! and after reading this I know that Gothic fiction will never die..



I read a book which is about a book..

.. A mysterious book that an evil character comes out of the pages  and burn down all the books of its author..
.. A mysterious author that no one knows where he is, but his book imprints the impression and curiosity in a boy’s heart..

.. An innocent boy tries to find his favorite author’s story without realizing that the danger will come to his life..



You guys should know how much I love Gothic romance, but it’s not that every gothic fiction will be incredibly fantastic like this. It’s not just an intense gothic mystery. It’s also suspenseful, beautiful, and gut-wrenching. Gosh.. when all the mystery begins to unfold, it’s crazily unputdownable that I don’t even want to work, do the job or anything.

Shock. Terrify. Smile. Surprise. Oh.. All the freakin' feels!



Daniel Sempere in his 10 year-old is taken to visit The Cemetery of Forgotten Book by his father. The place suddenly captivates him with a lot of forgotten rare books. For coming the first time, Daniel has to choose a book from the cemetery and protect it with his best care.

n  Destiny or Curse?n Daniel finds an interesting book by Julián Carax.. ‘The Shadow of the Wind’. It’s like this book is waiting for him for so long and after reading it, Daniel loved this book with his whole little heart.

Daniel try to find more of Carax’s books but he then discover that the book he own might be the only Carax’s book that have left. n  Someone try to destroy all of Carax’s books.n Why? Daniel tries to investigate this mystery on and on until he becomes a teenager…

.. Until his life go deeper and deeper in this dark secret..
.. The secret about hatred, scandal, and doomed love..



I want everyone to know this book, man. Not only the story is very-well craft and planned. The Romances are also awesome! I found myself giddy, giddy and happy with Daniel’s romance. Love their tensions actually. See, I don’t even want to tell you guys who is the heroine! lol

For another romance, the romance from Carax’s story is so heart-wrenching. I felt sad, shock, and almost cry. ( If only I haven’t read in public, I think I would cry )

The Bromance is also awesome! The one in Carax’s story and the friendship between Daniel and Fermín. Love how loyal Fermín is! As much I love Daniel, Fermín might be my fave. I just love his wit, I don’t know why? lol!

I cannot tell you much since it will be the spoilers. Let know this mysterious suspenseful story by yourself, that is all!

I read this book the first time about four years ago for a book club. I wasn’t impressed then. I am now re-reading it for another book club. I was curious to see if I’d have a different impression this time around. Unfortunately, no. It struck me as pretentious, overly verbose and obtuse then. And it still does.
The story centers around a young teen who is enchanted by a book written by one Julian Carax. He discovers that someone has been destroying all the copies of every book written by Carax. As he attempts to learn more about the mysterious author, he ends up being lied to, pursued by the police and caught up in all manners of intrigue. While all this is going on, he’s also fallen in love and we are witness to their clandestine love.
Both Julian and Daniel have hidden love affairs which are at the heart of the story. There is a magical realism to this book - a “cemetery of forgotten books”, dreams of the devil, haunted houses. It was too fantastical for me.
I give Zafon credit for giving us a wonderful sense of time and place. But I never felt that the characters were real.
I am definitely in the minority with my feelings for this book.

لم يحبنا العالم و لم يسعنا، ووسعتنا أرفف مكتباتنا و حيز غرفنا الضيقة.


تنبيه: هذه رواية لا تُقرأ علي عجل، و لا في فواصل بين أعمال مهمة



ستسرقك و لن تفلتك، ستفرغ منها و لن تفرغ منك.

ما أعظم هذا العمل..

I can't believe someone actually published this book. Even worse, in my opinion is the fact that this book is on the New York Times Bestseller List. How is this possible? It must only mean that there are a lot of people out there that think very differently from me. Don't you be one of them. Seriously. Don't be fooled by this book. It is insipid, lame, and poorly written.

First. The prose is so overblown that the author uses three adjectives for every single noun. Count them. He evidently was told that to be a writer you have to make everything as descriptive as possible, and then he decided that meant that each noun had to be modified three, always three, and only three times. Argh.

Second. The author must have looked up every word he could in a thesaurus and chosen the one that was most obscure or had the most syllables. Who is he trying to impress? Maybe it was the translator's fault? Maybe not. Either way, this style is used even when describing what the ten year old character sees and says. Which brings me to my next point.

Third. Every character in this book speaks with exactly the same voice. All you hear is the authors voice, not any different characterizations. And that voice demonstrates the problems I described in my first and second points. But that's not all. There is an even worse, and definitely fatal, problem with this book.

Fourth. This story was written as a mystery. Nine years lurch by as the character slowly tries to unravel the details of the main conflict. I actually don't have a problem with this in theory. Unfortunately, after three quarters of the book, and numerous new characters, the mystery is no clearer. So what does the author do about it? He has one of the characters write a 30 page (or so) letter to the main character telling him what really happened. Ta-da. The mystery is solved. The author is such a terrible writer that he can't even solve his own mystery. He has to use a cheap cop-out to clear everything up.

I can't respect that. Sorry. I can't believe so many other people have.

Boycott the book. Really.

Fifth reading: September 8-11, 2021
I can't believe it's been over 4 years since I last read this masterpiece! Part of me is glad that I waited a bit between re-reads since it let me forget some of the elements of the story, which made rediscovering them even more enjoyable. However, what I didn't forget is how much I truly love this book. And it remains my favorite book ever. I know I'm super biased, but I just think it's fantastic, and I find it hard to believe any book will ever beat this one for me. Even though I can see its criticisms (particularly the lack of well-rounded female characters in this story), my pleasure in falling headfirst into this world every time I read this book is unlike any other reading experience. I can't wait to keep visiting it with the other books in this series soon.

Fourth reading: May 7-17, 2017
Of course I love this book soooo much. It's my all-time favorite. This is the 4th year in a row I've read it, and it never gets old. If you haven't already read this at my suggestion, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Third reading: May 14-21, 2016

Second reading: May 23-25, 2015-
Okay, I can confidently say, upon re-reading this, that it is one of my all-time favorite books. It was just as surprising and enchanting and delightful as the first time I read it, if not more so. The writing is impeccable. The weaving together of so many storylines and characters is remarkable. I can't gush enough about this book, so I will just say EVERYONE GO READ THIS NOW PLEASE. You won't regret it.

First read: May 12-17, 2014-
Everything about this novel was captivating. The story follows Daniel, a young boy, whose father is a bookseller. He is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and allowed to pick out one book that he is expected to 'save' or, in a sense, remember throughout his life. He picks a novel by Julian Carax titled "The Shadow of the Wind," and is immediately sucked into the story. From there, the novel follows Daniel as he begins to learn more about the illusive author, Julian Carax, and about the web of lies and intrigue that he gets trapped in.

The writing is absolutely gorgeous. The book is full of incredible quotes, wonderful, beautifully strung out sentences. I never underline in books. This book, however, required a pencil at the ready at all times, because I couldn't pass up underlining some amazing parts.

Though the plot isn't super strong, there is a mysterious and magical quality to the book that propels you through it, page after page. The characters feel so real, and thus their lives seem to be playing out for you in such a real way that you are concerned and invested, wanting to know what happens next.

I loved the setting of Barcelona. This is also a book translated from Spanish, which is even more impressive on the part of the translator. I think the translation was incredible.

Overall, this is a book that I will return to again in my life, I am sure. It is captivating and a new favorite. 5/5.