Reviews

I had been absolutely loving this book up until the ending. The mystery was quite engaging and I found the prose both funny and beautiful, the different characters were engaging and felt very fleshed out. The parallel between Daniel and Julian’s stories made uncovering the past of all these characters really fun for me, seeing their history repeat itself in a new way as we are given more understanding about the past.

However, getting the entire mystery of Julian revealed to us in the form of an incredibly long letter left to the protagonist spelling out every single thing that we’ve been waiting the whole book to uncover completely changed how I felt about this book. I was feeling like this book was a 4-4.5 star read up until that point, but after finishing I don’t feel the same. Along with that issue, I found the rampant misogyny present throughout this book grating. I understand that this book takes place in the past, and I’m not against having characters with misogynistic opinions in books (people like that exist in real life, so of course they may in fiction as well. I just think that if you’re going to portray misogyny or other similar issues in characters it needs to be handled properly and condemned by the narrative at some point). It felt unnecessary and gross with how often it would happen, I don’t need to know every male characters’ opinions on the breasts and calves of every woman we encounter.

Also, I listened to the audiobook, and though I thought the narrator was fantastic, I found the addition of instrumental music in the background of moments of importance incredibly frustrating as the book went on. At times it nearly overpower the voice of the narrator and it made listening to the actual book quite difficult. Adding it was just a decision that didn’t make much sense to me. I’ve listened to audiobooks with scores at the beginning and end which is fine for me since it doesn’t interrupt much of the book, but in this case it was far too much.

Overall this was an engaging mystery that I’m glad I finally got around to that fell a bit flat at the end for me. I don’t think I’ll continue with the rest of the books (though never say never). The hype let me down a little bit I can’t lie.

nellcgarland's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

If you want to fall in love with the labyrinths of Barcelona - read this book

mimimilaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I was originally going to give this 3 stars, but I really loved the last quarter of this book.

jlwilson's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jemmmsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

I was so excited to read this book and I love the premise/mystery and the setting and especially love the writing! However, it’s not quite the right time because it’s not getting me out of my book slump. I need something a lil bit more easy and fun to read. I will definitely continue it at a later time 😌

deargwen's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

More...