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Jan 29, 2012

Mish rated it:

I stumbled upon this book at my daughter’s school library thinking that it might be fun to read a magical, adventure story.

Yes there was magic and adventure, but it also had one of the scariest and horrific sounding ghost that truly frighten me. I felt sensations that I hadn’t felt in years. Reading this sent shivers up my spine, put goose pimples on my arms, and it had me screeching like a little girl.

The book starts at a nice steady pace when Max Carver’s father decid More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 27, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

Nice little story, although I wonder if it has enough excitement to satisfy young'uns raised on the Harry Potter series. This was Ruiz-Zafon's first novel, originally published in 1992, so don't expect the depth and genius of The Shadow of the Wind. Still, there are a lot of elements I think will appeal to kids: the weird cat, the sunken ship, the old film reels, the clown (somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King's Pennywise).

The first half of the book is fairly ordinary. I kept wonder More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 26, 2011

Wulfette rated it:

OMG! I love and can't out down Zafon's Shadow of the Wind, so I was excited when I finally found the English translation of his first published novel, Prince of Mist. Zafon's writing put me right into the character's soul, describing everything in such a way that I can almost feel and see what the characters are seeing and feeling.

The story starts out in a light note, though war was mentioned several time, the main character, Max, is a young teenager whose point of view is both innoc More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 11, 2010

Sean rated it:

This book was a lot easier for me to read than The Shadow of the Wind, if only because it's a more straightforward fantasy story and less pretentious and caught up in itself. On the other hand, it's not really a very good book. The plot wanders and has far too many dead ends, illogical occurrences (and YES, I would argue that even fantasy stories should follow some sort of logic), repetitious actions and descriptions, a caricature for a villain, and parents who are mysteriously absent for half t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 19, 2011

Jo rated it:

3.5 stars.

“In an infinite universe, there were too many things that escaped human understanding.”

Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Um… so no one thought to ring the police or tell any grown-ups what just happened? We’re just going to look back on it as if it was just a crazy summer mad-cap adventure? Um…

High Points.
Max. I’ve been acquainted with a lot of Maxs recently and I have to say… it’s a good name. Beach houses. Roland. Alicia. Cats in wardrobes. Gen More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 30, 2010

Caroline rated it:

I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved this book!!

Everything I loved from The Shadow of The Wind is there, with a paranormal young adult spin (aka *perfection*). I loved following Max and his sister Alicia through this adventure. The characters are very well described and they feel so real with their tiny flaws and habits that it is a real pleasure to read. This book has the atmosphere of old gothic/horror novels where the characters are in a pretty regular setting and then so More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 03, 2011

Linda rated it:

“Shadow of the Wind” was the first and “The Angel's Game” the second book that I read by Zafon. I wanted to read his earlier works and found that they were all young adult selections. This book, "The Prince of The Mist" was a very good and very fast read for youth. It is full of ghosts, adventure, mystery and intertwining relationships. The main characters seemed believable and I was able to connect with their developing relationships. I would recommend this book to young readers. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2010

Emanuel rated it:

Quite a page turner...

I wonder if hollywood would do the movie based on this book...
Must be an awesome special effects, a mixture between pirates of carribean (the whole setting and premises),
harry potter (cain's dark cloud would be similar like dementors), v for vendetta and dr. parnassus (for dr. cain)... :)

well, i put 3 stars here...
the book is good but not great...
overall, i did enjoy the book, every pages... :)

~e

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2011

Wisteria rated it:

THE PRINCE OF MIST[return]by Carlos Ruiz Zaf�n[return]Little, Brown and Company[return]$17.99/$21.99 Can; 200 pages[return]ISBN 13 : 978-0-316-04477-6[return]On Sale: 5/4/2010[return]Age 12 & up[return][return]Synopsis:[return][return]"In 1943, Max Carver's father - a watchmaker and inventor - decides to move his family to a small town on the coast, to an abandoned house that holds many secrets and stories of its own. Behind the house Max discovers an overgrown garden surrounded by a metal f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 23, 2011

Tori rated it:

I LOVE Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Shadow of the Wind and Angel's Game were superb books - great stories, excellent writing, and satisfactory endings. This book is his first novel, a young adult book, just recently published. Even as I began it, I recognized the great writing - which is actually a great translation. His stories are always magical - nothing is quite as normal as it seems, and his magic is rather dark. the story takes place during WWII, in a seaside village, where a family has More...

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Nov 05, 2011

Two Bibliomaniacs rated it:

We know Carlos Ruiz Zafon can do adult literature, but we had to judge for ourselves his prowess in the YA genre. Not only did he pass with flying colors, he also managed to scare our pants off in the process...

When the Carver’s move into a cottage house near the beach, only the sinister cat watching their progress can know what’s in store (unfortunately, we’ve been unable to confirm or deny reports that the cat is actually an unregistered animagus). The family’s thirteen year old More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Melanie rated it:

If you don't already think clowns are creepy, you will after you read this book. (Oh and before you read any further, a spoiler alert, as I do talk a bit about the book's ending!)

It's 1943 and 13 year old Max and his family have decided to move away from the danger of war in the city to a house on the coast near a small town. The moment they arrive at the train station at the town, Max feels uneasy about the move. It's not just the anxious looks on his mother and sisters' faces that un More...

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Oct 04, 2011

Cindy rated it:

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is the master of writing great tales with dark undertones, and The Prince of Mist hits the mark as a gothic tale for young adults. To escape the ravages of war in their country, Max’s family moves to a home at the seaside, not realizing it comes with a past. Years before, the previous owners’ son drowned within sight of the home, and it has lain vacant ever since.

In addition to the past tragedy, Max can feel that something evil resides nearby, and he begins to dream a More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Miriam rated it:

Sometimes Carlos Ruiz Zafon writes brilliant, amazing books (c.f. The Shadow of the Wind). Sometimes he wanders lost in beautiful writing and forgets that novels need coherent plots, too (c.f. The Angel’s Game). And apparently, sometimes he even lapses the beautiful writing. Not much; the majority of The Prince of Mist is beautifully and even hauntingly written, which makes the occasional burst of plodding, overwritten prose all the more painful.

I appreciate the intergenerational na More...

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Sep 14, 2011

Shannon rated it:

I've read The Shadow of the Wind, so I was intrigued to read this young adult novel by the same author, written a few years prior to The Shadow of the Wind. I was greatly disappointed. I felt no connection to the characters, could predict what was coming and felt like I was seeing the author figure out how to tell the story. I'm a reader of young adult novels, so I don't think my expectations were too high regarding the level of character depth desired.

It's too bad the book fell sho More...

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Aug 11, 2011

Claude rated it:

Just finished reading what is perhaps one of the strangest YA novels I've read, yet perfectly in line with Carlos Ruiz Zafòn's bizarre and melancholy take on life. I hesitated between giving it a 4 or a 5 star rating, but in the end it doesn't matter much: it's a very good read!Perhaps because it started a little too slowly, and ended in apparently unnecessary tragedy for a YA book, you could argue that it did deserve the 4 star rating.

But the apparently unnecessary tragic ending of th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 22, 2011

Sara rated it:

I had no idea any earlier works by this author existed until I saw this newly translated novel at the bookstore a few months ago. It has a lot of the same supernatural, mysterious elements as The Shadow of the Wind or The Angel's Game, but it's definitely aimed at a younger audience and has a simpler storyline overall.

It's 1943 and thirteen-year-old Max relocates to the coast with his family to escape the war. They move into a house that has a strange past and what looks like an en More...

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Jul 22, 2011

Jerard rated it:

This was the book of the whimsical writer Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It was translated later after the Shadow of the Wind and the Angel's game so reading those books first I will be biased though I will try not to be.

The book's short but sweet. It begins like an adventure and ends in melancholy.

The pros:

- Characters are not forgettable but stop short in finding a place deep in my heart.
- Plot is short and still delivers.
- The writing style is Zafon's and notic More...

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Jun 05, 2011

Andy rated it:

Note: Between a 3 and a 4.

With my new library card (the first I’ve had in over a decade), I decided to go exploring other work by some authors who I’ve enjoyed over the past couple years. One that came immediately to mind was Carlos Ruiz Zafón, whose “Shadow Of The Wind” was a big hit with me a while back. I knew that there was a followup, but searching around also showed me that he had a young adult series – and the first book was in stock. That same day, I actually saw an ad for book More...

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Mar 28, 2011

Judith rated it:

This novel begins when Max Carver and his family leave their home and move to a house on the coast to escape the war. As soon as they arrive mysterious things begin to happen involving clocks that move backwards and strange staring eerie cats. Max and his sister Alicia soon meet a boy named Roland and the three begin to bond over the mysteries of the town, the history of house the Carvers live in, the strange occurrences and dreams they all have, the eerie and weird home movies Mr. Carver find More...

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Mar 14, 2011

John rated it:

It's hardly a secret that I'm nuts about Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind and very fond indeed of his The Angel's Game. Apparently he published four novels in Spanish before those, all for a YA/adult audience, of which this was the first. During WWII young Max's dad decides the family would be safer living away from the big city, and so he rents them a house in a seaside village, dominated by a huge lighthouse. Even before they get there, strange things start happening: the station clock runs More...

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Feb 13, 2011

Karen rated it:

"It's a mistake to think that dreams can come true without having to offer anything in exchange..."
Seriously creep-tastic! Originally published in Spain in 1993, this earned the Edebe prize - the top young adult fiction award in Spain. Translated into English by Lucia Graves, this is an incredibly well-written paranormal story. Set during World War II, Max and his family move from a large city to a tiny seaside village. Very strange things start happening in the house, and Ma More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Jan rated it:

Clowns…it had to be clowns.

This is a very strange genre bending tale that combines horror (the clown, of course), coming of age story, adventure and allegory.

Plot summary:
The story takes place in 1943 in an unspecified coastal town. The Carver family escape the capital, where the war is too close to home, and move to a seaside village. They take a house that was previously owned by a physician who lost his son in a tragic accident. The two older teens, Max a More...

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Dec 07, 2010

Stories & Sweeties {Becky} rated it:

I read most of this book with a kind of quiet fascination. Its a fast read, beautifully written, but with a fluid pace that lets the story unfold piece by piece, like an old fashion mystery. In the midst of that were moments of sheer terror that left my mouth gaping open and my spine tingling. Mr. Zafon certainly knows how to write a spooky scene. Creepy shadows in the sea, statues that can't seem to stay put, film reels made by a dead boy, untouched keys that creak and turn in their keyholes... More...

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Sep 04, 2010

Larissa rated it:

Max was thirteen when his eccentric watchmaker of a father decided to move the family out of the city and to a beach house in a small town on the coast. There was war coming and it was a move to keep them from danger. However danger found them but it wasn't the war, it was something much more sinister.

Hidden behind a high wall at the edge of a forest is a garden full of statues, but these are not ordinary statues. A sunken ship sits at the bottom the sea, but it did not sink naturall More...

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Jul 08, 2010

Teen rated it:

The Prince of Mist was written in 1993 when Zafon was in his early twenties. It has only recently been published in English, but although this could make the book feel dated, this is one of those stories that feel timeless.

Timeless kind of like Something Wicked This Way Comes. Also like SWTWC in the way that it almost brings you to tears you are so scared, but always brings you back just in time.

The story takes place during World War II. Max's father decides that he More...

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Jun 08, 2010

Patricia rated it:

I've always written my own reviews but this time I stumbled on a review on Amazon.com that summed up my thoughts EXACTLY. So I decided, "Why go to the trouble of writing my own review when it will basically mimic this guy's words and I'll be sued for plagiarism?" Instead, I will bring to your attention this review by Matthew Schiariti from New Jersey:

Being a big fan of The Shadow of the Wind and a fan of the Angel's Game (up until the rather strange and confusing ending) I More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 07, 2010

Sarai rated it:

I swear I read this book before. It says it originally came out in 1992 and I would have been in college at that point and I don't recall that I was still reading YA fiction, so perhaps it came out as adult fiction. I'm not sure. but there were two scenes I read where I thought to myself, I know I have read this before, but I could not remember what happened so I had to finish it.

This was a terrific book up until page 102, where Victor Kray started to ramble on and on and on and on a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 06, 2010

Hallie rated it:

My LJ write-up.

Oh dear again. This sounded as if it should be so wonderful, although as I said to Steepholm last night, the sheer volume of praise almost guaranteed my cranktankerous self would have to be different. Seriously, there's almost two full pages of 'quotes from young Spanish readers', all saying either that the book is the best they've ever, ever read or that in fact they didn't like books at all until reading it and now... A life-enhancing experience, as Beccadelarosa cal More...

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May 22, 2010

Laura Stone rated it:

I think this book would appeal to a fairly young audience as it seemed quite simple in both language and plot. There's some kissing, but otherwise clean. Reviews are quite positive, but I wanted more suspense.

Neither 13 year-old Max nor 15 year-old Alicia wanted to move from the city to a tiny seaside town, and when their younger sister, Irina, falls down the stairs under mysterious circumstances and need to be hospitalized, it really seems like it was a bad idea.

T More...

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