After completing The Shadow of the Wind all I can say is, WOW! I loved this book - I loved it from the very first sentence.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon has created an intense, intriguing story with amazing, strong and deep characters using rich and dynamic language - this book is like a dream. One you wander through and immerse in completely.

A story within a story, The Shadow of the Wind follows Daniel, a bookshop owner's son, as he tries to find the author of a book he read and loved. Throughout the journey readers will experience horror, mystery, intrigue, even tragic love - this novel has EVERYTHING. Readers are transported into the streets and lives of Barcelona with occasional trips to Paris - one will feel the mist, see the sky, and smell the water.

I never wanted this story to end, but I devoured it because I had to know what happened - I had to stop and re-read on several occasions because I caught myself reading so fast I knew I had missed things.

Romeo & Juliet meets Mission Impossible mixed with Phantom of the Opera - seriously this is a MUST READ for all.

*I feel there is so much more I should write, but I am honestly speechless at the awesomeness that is this book. I have no idea how I've missed it up to this point (thanks to a friend for pointing me in its direction - I honestly can't imagine being a reader who had never read this wonderful story).