Quickie Review: The Shadow of the Wind

I lucked out big-time when I was on vacation because I read three amazing (5 star rating) books in a row!  The last of which I already reviewed here.  Whenever I try and review books after some time has lapsed since I've finished, I tend to lose the details.  Thus, I decided to just do a quickie review post.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Goodreads Summary:
Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

My Thoughts:
OMG!  Where has this book been all my life and why have I waited so gosh darn long to read it?!  The Shadow of the Wind has a little bit of everything: historic and foreign setting, mystery and intrigue, romance, and it's a gothic coming of age tale to boot!

This book had a very eerie and murky atmosphere that had me on the edge of my lawn chair.  Plus there were ghosts, masked men, and evil policeman adding more and more layers to this historical mystery.

The amazing characters - wowza! My favorites were Fermin and Daniel.  Daniel was just such a good-hearted little protagonist whereas Fermin was the more colorful and passionate character.  Sometimes I was smacking my head in empathetic agony over some of Daniel's actions but that's a typical feeling I have when reading coming-of-age stories.  Fermin stole a piece of my heart with his heroic displays of friendship.

Touching, atmospheric, and expressive...all of the books I read over my vacation were 5 star reads but The Shadow of the Wind is my personal favorite!