Sinceramente aunque el libro de por si es muy bueno y está muy bien hecho creo que ha sido el que menos me ha gustado de toda la trilogía de la niebla porque me ha resultado bastante raro que no estuviera ambientado en España y como hablaba de paisajes que yo no conozco me ha sido un poco confuso ubicarlo todoaunque gracias a el maravilloso don que tiene este autor para describir paisajes tengo una idea bastante nítida en la cabeza de lo que acabo de leerme.
Este libro trata sobre todo sobre el pasado la historia comienza con un hombre escapando de un asesino llevando en sus brazos a los bebés y continúa narrando cómo estás dos bebés hermanos se separan para encontrarse en una situación que nadie habria imaginado.
Ben: a pesar de ser el protagonista creo que es el personaje del que menos forma tengo, me explico: es una persona tan reservada, como nos explica en el libro el autor, que es muy complicado deducir qué tipo de persona es y a pesar de ser un protagonista siento como si acabará de empezar a leer el libro y no le conociera.
Sheere: qué puedo decir de ella, los que os hayáis leído el libro me entenderéis, simplemente espero que se reúna al fin con sus padres.
Jawahal: sin ninguna duda, mi personaje favorito. Creo que, al lado de Andreas Corelli es mi villano favorito de todo este mundo de luces y sombras de Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Abuela de Sheere: (perdón por no poner su nombre pero es muy complicado): la abuela es un personaje del que entiendo cómo se comporta porque lo único que quiere proteger es el único familiar que le queda aunque creo que es demasiado sobreprotectora con su nieta, si sabes que lo que va a pasar es inevitable, no tortures a tu pobre nieta con tanto viaje.
Y finalmente los miembros del Chowbar Society: solo puedo decir que ojalá tenga,algún día, un grupo de amigos tan leal como ese.

In my yearlong course to read everything of Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I am now into his recent YA novels, each that have a similar theme to them. I loved the quartet/quintent of novels that comprise the Shadow of the Wind/Cemetery of Forgotten Books Series. I also loved Marina. There are four of these novels left, the first is the Prince of Mist. This second one, called the Midnight Palace is also named Niebla #2. But I have no idea who Niebla is, nor how the books might be connected. Even though they are extremely similar in nature and style. There is a Niebla #3.

The Midnight Palace does divert from the usual style as it is set in Calcutta, not Spain. But all the rest of the other elements are there. Children in danger, due to a dark spirit from the past, usually that falls into a familial generation line of past wrongs and misdeeds mixed with mental illness. There are haunted mansions, fire, a child or children sought for death. There are dark tunnels mixed with old legends. It was a dark, misty, poorly constructed kind of a mess. It was hard to follow, and I didn't quite like it. My guess is that the last two novels will resemble more of the same. But I guess we will see.

n  “Those places where sadness and misery abound are favoured settings for stories of ghosts and apparitions.”n


I think I can sum up my disappointment in this book in a sentence:
Fantastic ideas that are described in breathtakingly beautiful prose but never explained properly.

This isn’t going to be a long review because I had the same problems with this book as I did with The Prince of Mist.
There was just not enough explanation and, it might just be me, but I couldn’t get over that. I’m trying so hard not to delve into spoilers but so many crazy things happened throughout which would have been brilliant (and were certainly unique!) had I just been given a reason as to why they were happening. Without this, I just couldn’t believe it and I wasn’t sure that I understood the majority of it.
I don’t mind suspending my disbelief and I love magical realism (it’s my favourite kind of realism!) but only when what’s happening makes sense.
And, to me anyway, parts of this story didn’t.

But anyway, enough of the negative stuff, let’s move on to the positives.
Because there were tons of things I liked about this book.
First up I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again I love love looooove how Mr RZ constructs a sentence. Seriously, his prose is just absolutely stunning.
I’ve never been to Calcutta and I don’t know what the streets look like or how the mist rolls off the Hooghly River but with passages like this:

“The further he went, the more the station made of glass and steel seemed to melt into the city- a jungle of marble mausoleums blackened by decades of neglect; naked walls once coated in ochre, blue and gold, their colours peeled away by the fury of the monsoon, leaving them blurred and faded, like watercolours dissolving in a pond.”

I am instantly transported there. Just gorgeous.
I also think that, aforementioned problems aside, Mr RZ definitely knows how to tell a thrilling story. Even though I didn’t understand a few bits, the ending was so gripping! I’ve said before that I love authors who aren’t afraid to put their characters (and readers for that matter!) through the ringer and Mr RZ is definitely not afraid to do this.
I was afraid, however, because I’m sure he has a list of all my worst nightmares and just throws them all in to spite me!

And then there are his characters. Even though I did get a bit annoyed by the fact that the adults are conveniently absent throughout this whole story, I loved that the children are the focus of the book. With such a colourful cast, it was easy to imagine yourself in that dilapidated house and I liked how his children actually act like children, too. Too often in MG/YA books, the children are impossibly ‘mature’ but in both of the books I’ve read by Mr RZ his characters are still children in the best sense: full of wonder, full of imagination, and members of secret clubs that require a password and only permit special girls to join!
My favourite character was Ben with his love for “complex puns” and his love for writing plays that are described as “a phantasmal piece of gibberish in which everyone died, including the stagehands.”

Ha!

I know I seem to have written a lot without actually saying anything, so I apologise. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did The Prince of Mist because there seemed to be a lot more depth to the story and the setting was absolutely gorgeous.
I’d definitely recommend this book to people who don’t need to know every single thing and who can just sit back and enjoy the book for what it is.
Just because I’m not one of those people, doesn’t mean that you won’t be. Give it a try just for his prose, if anything!

You can read this review and lots of other exciting things on my blog here.

Así como El Príncipe de la Niebla da miedo, este da tristeza, me hubiera gustado un final más elaborado, pero aún así, wow con esas primeras novelas Zafón ya daba muestras de us genialidad como escritor.

3.5⭐️

La historia cuenta con una muy ambientación, me gustaron los personajes; los miembros de la Chawbar Society, grupo formado por jóvenes de un orfanato, cada uno con personalidad y habilidad diferente...en la noche de la última reunión del club, en el palacio de media noche su refugio secreto, conocen a una chica llamada Sheere, que les cuenta una historia como requisito para ingresar al club, esta misteriosa historia tiene mucho parecido a las pesadillas que tiene Ben un de los miembros del club...personalmente la historia me pareció muy simple, nada que resaltar, y un poco repetitiva pero entretenida.

n  «A vida, meu filho, é como o primeiro jogo de xadrez. Quando começas a compreender como se movem as peças, já perdeste.»n

Escrito no início da carreira do autor, tal como em O Príncipe da Neblina neste «O Palácio da Meia-Noite» fica bem patente a pouca experiência de Carlos Ruiz Zafón na altura. No entanto, enquanto o primeiro me manteve entretida e intrigada, o mesmo não aconteceu com este último...

O enredo é muito pouco credível e consistente... até mesmo para literatura fantástica. Com explicações insuficientes, outras que não fazem sentido e informação/detalhes inúteis para a história, esta segue de forma quase caótica até uma conclusão muito pouco satisfatória. A resolução do conflito final com o vilão roça o ridículo, comprometendo o final do livro e roubando-lhe qualquer sentido que este pudesse ter.

As caracterizações deixam muito a desejar. Zafón não consegue transportar-nos para a Calcutá de 1916/32, nem pouco mais ou menos; os locais nem sequer parecem reais... E, embora tenha gostado imenso da descrição que Ian faz de cada um dos seus amigos da Chowbar Society, foi frustrante não «ver» nada disso em prática. Na acção, a individualidade dos personagens é praticamente nula; não conseguimos distinguir as suas personalidades. Assim, não é de estranhar que não tenha simpatizado com nenhum deles.

Enfadonho, o livro foi perdendo o pouco interesse conquistado no início e, quando comecei a perceber para onde se encaminhava a história, esta tornou-se ainda mais insípida.

I don't think that I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first one from the trilogy. However, if I read this when I was younger, I would have absolutely adored this book.

Este libro lo bebi como agua en un día muy caluroso, si no terminé antes fue por falta de tiempo mismo para leer, Zafón tenía esa manera de escribir que te hipnotiza y no logras parar de leer, y cada frase encaja siempre cada página es muy grato leer.

Es la continuación del principe de la niebla, no me pareció una continuación, sino más bien otra historia de fantasmas, pero estoy segura que tiene correlación por algo es una trilogía y se que Zafón no me va decepcionar.

La historia transcurre en Calcuta, allí siete jóvenes de 16 años y amigos vivirán una aventura peligrosa que no la olvidarán jamás, personajes que te llegan mucho. Defenderan su vida y la de sus amigos sabiendo que la separación es inevitable.

La leyenda continuará o se olvidará. Como siempre las leyendas parecen ser eternas o mantenerse eternas en aquellos que la han conocido

"Erwachsenwerden ist einfach der Prozess der Entdeckung, dass alles, woran man in jungen Jahren geglaubt haben, falsch ist und dass sich alles, woran man nicht glauben wollten, als wahr herausstellt."

Ben wächst im Kalkutta der 30er Jahre zusammen mit seinen Freunden in einem Waisenhaus auf. Als er 16 wird, offenbart sich ihm seine Vergangenheit.

In diesem Jugendroman zeigt sich bereits die Erzählkunst von Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Ich liebe dieses Mystische, Düstere, Geheimnisvolle. Das Buch erinnert mich an eines meiner Lieblingsbücher, an "Der Schatten des Windes". Ich mochte die Freundschaft der Jugendlichen und die spannende Geschichte, erzählt in Zafons unannachahmlichem Sprache. Das Buch hat nicht ganz so viel Tiefe, dafür ist es ein Jugendroman, aber es hat mich wunderbar unterhalten und mich auch gegruselt.

“Who are the lunatics?’ asked Jawahal. ‘The ones who see horror in the heart of their fellow humans and search for peace at any price? Or the ones who pretend they don’t see what’s going on around them? The world, Ben, belongs either to lunatics or hypocrites. There are no other races on this earth. You must choose which one to belong to.”

ion remember anything