from Murphy's Library — http://www.murphyslibrary.com/

I’ve been presented to Zafón’s writing with The Shadow of the Wind, a few years ago. I remember it took me a while to really get into the book, but once I did it, I couldn’t put the book down until I was done reading it. So when I saw Book it Forward had this ARC open for a tour, I quickly signed up. And I’m glad I did it, because Zafón got me hooked again!

The Midnight Palace tells us the story of the twins Ben and Sheere. They were newborns when their mother died—their father earlier—, and they were saved by Peake, a young British lieutenant who loved their mother. A man was after the twins, but Peake managed to deliver them to their grandmother, right before losing his life. Aryami Bose lost her daughter, and she couldn’t bear losing her grandchildren as well, so she made what she thought it was the best: she separated and hid them.

Ben was taken to St. Patrick’s Orphanage, where he was raised by Mr. Carter with another orphans. On the night Mr. Carter accepted Ben there, a mysteryous man came to talk to him, asking about a baby he may have accepted there—but he denied such thing. Mr. Carter followed Aryami’s instructions and didn’t tell the man there was a new baby at the orphanage. Sheere was raised by Aryami, but they never stayed too long on the same place, they were always moving and hiding.

At the orphanage, Ben had a family, the other orphans. They created what they call The Chowbar Society, kind of a club that met at The Midnight Palace—and old house—, there were seven of them, six boys, one girl. On his 16th birthday, he met Sheere and Aryami, and he quickly became friends with Sheere, although he had no idea she was his twin sister. Aryami was there to warn Mr. Carter about the danger Ben’s into, the boy must run away as soon as possible, because the mysteryous man is coming after him, sooner or later.

When Mr. Carter saw himself facing the man again, he was sure Aryami was telling the truth. He told Ben to run, to go after Aryani and Sheere, and that’s exactly what he did, but he’s not alone. The Chowbar Society went with him—they’ve sworn to protect each other. That’s when Ben learned the truth about his family and started to find out more about the man who was chasing him and Sheere.

The Midnight Palace is an emotional roller coaster. You have to fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride, because you won’t see the clock running. Part of the story is told by one of the boy’s POV, so we get to see Ben through his best friend’s eyes. I was already aware of Zafón’s style because of The Shadow of the Wind, so I kinda saw what was behind the by mystery on this story, but he knows how to tell a story, he knows how to hook you into it. This is the second book on a trilogy, but I must confess I hadn’t read the previous book, The Prince of Mist, and this was not a problem, once apparently the books stand well by themselves.

A sido una lectura maravillosa, me encanta la ciudad en la que esta ambientado, la idea de un lugar lleno de misterios y desgracias, los personajes no los he llegado a conocer demasiado, pero eso les a dado un buen toque de misterio y no a evitado que les coja cariño, un libro bastante perturbador y muy entretenido, el autor tiene un talento incalculable y me a encantado el diálogo y las comparaciones que hace.
He tardado mucho en terminarlo porqué el autor utiliza un lenguaje que a mi corta edad es difícil de entender, pero a válido muchísimo la pena.

Muy buen libro tambien!!! aunque me gustó mas El Príncipe. Este se desarrolla en Calcuta y la intriga y la fantasia son geniales. Definitivamente Zafón se está convirtiendo en uno de mis escritores favoritos

ion remember anything

*PopSugar2023 Reto #2: Libro que compré en una librería independiente*

*Línea 2a. Libro con una parte del día en el título*

El principio es bastante interesante y que engancha para seguir leyendo, pero a la mitad, empiezan a entrelazar historias y alargar la trama, logrando que poco a poco se pierda el interés. Es en ese momento, que se sabe quién es el malo, porque hay un capítulo que lo dice, lo cual no entiendo si se supone que en la "lucha final" deberíamos sorprendernos por saber quién es el espectro que los persigue.
El autor tiene una introducción en la que se disculpa por las fallas que el libro pudiera tener, y creo que eso te predispone a empezar con cierto recelo.
Sin embargo no hay duda que Ruiz Zafón tiene un don para la escritura que se ve representado en todas sus obras, porque a pesar de los problemas que encontré al leer, no pude soltarlo.

Esta segunda lectura del libro me ha gustado muchísimo más que la primera vez que lo leí, tal vez fue una mejor receptividad a historias juveniles e infantiles. A pesar de haberme leído el libro hace algún tiempo no recordaba absolutamente nada, así que prácticamente fue como leerme el libro por primera vez.
Lo primero que tiene que saber el lector antes de iniciar la lectura es que esta novela no tiene nada que ver con el "Príncipe de la niebla", a pesar de ser pertenecer ambas a la misma trilogía, al menos estos dos primeros libros lo único que guardan en común es que son novelas protagonizadas por jóvenes y hay un ser sobrenatural y maligno que quiere apoderarse de uno de ellos.
Iré directo hacia la tercera novela de esta trilogía.

2,5/5

Já tinha tentado ler esse anos atrás e tinha abandonado. Entrei na segunda chance com expectativa zero, mas ainda assim desapontou. Bem chatinho.

Definitivamente esto no es el Príncipe de la niebla.

I'm so in love with all of Carlos' books. No kidding. All of them are perfect, and beautiful. Highly recomended




No recuerdo porque empece a leer a CRZ, pero no se que seria de mi sin sus libros.

Este libro asi como todos los de el, esta lleno de suspenso y un poco de misterio paranormal, el cual jamas esta completamente descrito pero no es necesario para entender la historia. Adoro como todas sus historias acaban de forma melancólica, sin duda CRZ es uno de los mejores autores del momento.

Mande? Que dijiste? Que nunca has leído nada de el? bueno, A QUE ESTAS ESPERANDO HIJITO(A)!

The only thing I liked about this was the story concept. It's a good supernatural thriller concept, I'm sure it could make for a gripping tale that I wouldn't want to put down.

But not in this form, sadly. I have three major problems with the execution which completely spoiled my involvement in the story.

First, there's no sense of authenticity. The book is set in 1930's Calcutta, but except for street names and place names, you'd never know. It doesn't feel Indian, and it doesn't feel 1930's: where are the cultural nods, where are the technologies that would tie it to a time. And where are the people? This Calcutta feels like a ghost town - it could be anywhere.

Second, the authorial voice is inconsistent. There's a conceit that the story is being retold many years later by one of the protagonists, who left the city hours after the story completes and never saw his friends again. But it's all in 3rd person and hops from person to person. How does he know what happened to the others? How would anybody know the omnisicient commentary about the state of mind and awareness of the characters involved?

Finally, there's no grounding for the supernatural elements. The world never feels consistent, as readers we don't know what's powers are likely to manifest, so the events feel chaotic and unplanned. That's extremely poor worldbuilding, which robs the story of any tension.

A disappointment.

Podziwiam pomysł na historię, chociaż tom I z tej trylogii podobał mi się bardziej.

7,5 de 10*

Terminei a leitura de “O Palácio da Meia-Noite” com uma sensação de desconsolo… Depois de ter lido (e adorado!) seis livros do autor, este livro foi quase como um balde de água fria… Não posso dizer que não gostei, porque tem partes interessantes, mas no cômputo geral, não o achei ao nível de todos os outros.

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