The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Nov 22, 2009 Cari rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-of-the-best

Below are quotes pulled from my first moments in this amazing novel. I just closed the book after hungrily devouring the final words on the last page and it was painful - in that searingly lovely "hurts so good" way - to realize I was done. This novel was perfect - deep, long, heart-rending, captivating, exciting, loving and the language, even in translation, so beautiful. There's no point in trying to summarize - read the book jacket if you so desire. But I recommend just diving in with page on ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Jonathan Laughlin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

You know those books that come up in your book club that you don't end up finishing, but tell yourself "I'll get back to that one and finish it." This was one of those for me, but I really did go back and read it (from the beginning).

So glad I did. Amazing story, led by Daniel, a wonderful adolescent/young adult protagonist, who finds himself drawn into the secrets of pre-civil-war Barcelona, all because of an obsession with a forgotten author.

There are, to be sure, flaws in the delivery. Some t ...more

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Jun 30, 2013 Taryn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016

I thought I was going to devour this book but I ended up savouring its gorgeous descriptions and beautiful prose. Very atmospheric and compelling. I would recommend this to anyone who loves literature, mystery, and the tragedy of existence.

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Oct 09, 2016 Megan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: international-reads, europe, españa, translated-into-english, mysteries-thrillers-suspense, historical-fiction, fantasy, bookish-books-and-locales

While it took me longer to finish this book than anticipated, I savored every word of this category-defying novel. Beautifully written and translated, this novel is set in post-Spanish Civil War Barcelona, which is a moody, atmospheric character in and of itself. In extremely simplistic terms that do not do this novel justice, it follows a young man's quest to find the origins of a mysterious book titled "The Shadow of the Wind" that was written by an enigmatic author from Barcelona named Julián ...more

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Nov 13, 2014 Kimberly rated it it was amazing

This book has been on my to read list for several years. I should not have waited so long as this book is fantastic. The author totally draws you into the story and the characters will stay with you long after you finish the book. If you loved The Book Thief you should read this.

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Jan 04, 2021 Joanna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-read, audiobooks, rws-2020-winter, pas-mm-2021, pas-bookit-2021, pas-trim-2021

I expected to like this book much more than I actually did. It's been hyped and won lots of awards and made lots of top lists, but I thought large sections were pretty dull. The concept of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books is a cool idea, but the actual story was more of a mystery than fantasy. Unfortunately, many of the "mysteries" were more just stories told by some character as a recollection of long-past events. I enjoyed the description of Barcelona. While the book is atmospheric and brings o ...more

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