The Last of Zafón's YA Novels...

TITLE: Marina

AUTHOR: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

REVIEWED BY: JPL TeenLink

BRIEF SUMMARY: When Fifteen-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in Barcelona, no one knows his whereabouts for seven days and seven nights.

His story begins when he meets the strange Marina while he's exploring an old quarter of the city. She leads Oscar to a cemetery, where they watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the last Sunday of each month. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, a woman shrouded in a black velvet cloak descends from her carriage to place a single rose on an unmarked grave.

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her, they begin a journey that transports them to a forgotten postwar Barcelona -- a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons -- an reveals a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

WHY I PICKED IT UP: I am a big fan of Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and I have been waiting for Marina to be translated into English ever since I first read The Shadow of the Wind almost ten years ago.

WHY I FINISHED IT: After a slow start (it took me a few tries to get past the prologue and into the first chapter), it took hold of me and I just had to finish it. It literally became difficult to find a place to stop so I could put the book down and do other things. Like The Watcher in the Shadows, this book was scary, exciting, and just a bit disturbing -- with a hint of romance.

WHO I'D GIVE IT TO: Anyone who likes scary stories, horror or dark mysteries. This book has you covered on all fronts.

OTHER NOTES: A few minor obscenities and some violence. Also, this book is very dark -- you can tell that Zafón was reaching the end of his YA career and was ready to write for adults. After this, he started his Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. which propelled him to worldwide acclaim.

See you at the library!

Broke-down "Palace"...

TITLE: The Midnight Palace

AUTHOR: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

REVIEWED BY: JPL TeenLink

BRIEF SUMMARY: "In the heart of Calcutta lurks a dark mystery...

Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, The Midnight Palace begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life...

Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere's sixteenth birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night -- and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces." (Summary from the published book)

WHY I PICKED IT UP: I love Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Absolutely love him. This is the second book in the "Mist" series, and his fourth English language title. I had to read it.

WHY I FINISHED IT: I had to see if it ended how I thought it would.

WHO I’D GIVE IT TO: People who like supernatural thrillers, Young Adult fiction, or Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

OTHER NOTES AND CONTENT WARNINGS: I have to admit, of the four English language books by Zafón, this is my least favorite.

I don't mean that to sound harsh. This is his fourth English-language title, but it was originally published in Spain in 1994 as his second book. As such, it seems to suffer from "sophomore slump". While the characters are interesting, the mystery was easily solved and all the clues were pretty obvious.

Still, it was well-written and is a decent time-waster. But compared to his later works, it suffers greatly in comparison.

As for content, there is a bit of violence and peril. Not for young children.

See you at the Library!