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A review by christel_booksmart
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
3.0
Struggling between a three and a four. I guess my real rating is a 3.5 I cannot understand how this book is considered part of a series along with The Prince of Mist. Where The Prince of Mist was clearly a book aimed at young teens, The Midnight Palace utilised more sophisticated language and a more adult theme. The two books neither share similar characters or a similar storyline, so that's my first "beef" with this series. This story was very interesting, the characters were well-developed; it's easy to see the Zafon that wrote the incredible The Shadow of the Wind within the pages of this story. But unlike TSOTW, in which everything tied together at the end, this book had a few remaining loose ends. For example, what was the deal with the picture the character Michael drew of the 6 friends standing near a lake? Its significance is never established, yet its apparent importance is emphasised. I also did not understand the ending, which I won't mention explicitly because it will spoil the story. Unlike books like Harry Potter for example, in which the nemesis of the story is defeated in intricate detail, I feel The Midnight Palace (and, as a side note, The a Prince of Mist) had "fuzzy" endings- i.e. It wasn't clear exactly how the bad guy was destroyed. I feel like the story was sort of unfinished in many ways, and the details not properly explained in others.
I think if I had TPOM or TMP first, I probably never would have read The Shadow of the Wind, because I feel these two books pale in comparison to its brilliance. I'm very thankful I read TSOTW first, because that book is one that will stay with me forever, and it would be a tragedy to have never read it. Don't misunderstand me, these other two books by Zafon are good reads, with great stories and intriguing, well-developed characters, but there are few annoying little details that spoil what could easily be 5 star books. If you've read these two and were disappointed, don't let that deter you from reading the truly remarkable story that is The Shadow of the Wind.
I think if I had TPOM or TMP first, I probably never would have read The Shadow of the Wind, because I feel these two books pale in comparison to its brilliance. I'm very thankful I read TSOTW first, because that book is one that will stay with me forever, and it would be a tragedy to have never read it. Don't misunderstand me, these other two books by Zafon are good reads, with great stories and intriguing, well-developed characters, but there are few annoying little details that spoil what could easily be 5 star books. If you've read these two and were disappointed, don't let that deter you from reading the truly remarkable story that is The Shadow of the Wind.