My disappointment in this book can be described in three words: Insufficiently explained superpowers.

Obsessive followers of my reviews (come on, I know there's loads of you out there) may have noted that back when I reviewed Carlos Ruiz Zafón's previous YA novel, The Prince of Mist, I said I wasn't going to bother reading this. And it's true, I wasn't. But then I came across a copy in the library, and couldn't resist giving this a try, knowing it wouldn't take me long to read. I'm quite glad I did, as The Midnight Palace is much better than its predecessor.Like The Prince of Mist, this book was...

I don't think that I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first one from the trilogy. However, if I read this when I was younger, I would have absolutely adored this book.

As in all books by Zafon, I loved this one. It had its little quirky um-where'd-that-come-from? moments, but I loved it nonetheless. The synopsis at Waterstones.com reads as follows: 1916, Calcutta. A man pauses for breath outside the ruins of Jheeter's Gate station knowing he has only hours to live. Pursued by assassins, he must ensure the safety of two newborn twins, before disappearing into the night to meet his fate. 1932. Ben and his friends are due to leave the orphanage which has been

In my yearlong course to read everything of Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I am now into his recent YA novels, each that have a similar theme to them. I loved the quartet/quintent of novels that comprise the Shadow of the Wind/Cemetery of Forgotten Books Series. I also loved Marina. There are four of these novels left, the first is the Prince of Mist. This second one, called the Midnight Palace is also named Niebla #2. But I have no idea who Niebla is, nor how the books might be connected. Even though they

SPOILER ALERT!I was very disappointed in this book. I liked Prince of Mist, but this book was not nearly as good (and I didn't think Prince of Mist was great).For one thing, Grandma does not want anyone telling Sheere that her father was a bad man. But Grandma was the one who, for her whole life, has been telling Sheere that her father is a good man. But she knew his spirit was hunting his children to kill one of them. So why did she build him up in Sheere's mind in the first place?How can Ben a...

I hate it when people say these younger books by Ruiz Zafon aren't as good as The Shadow of the Wind. Of course they're not! But I can totally see where Shadow came from. It's fascinating to see how this wonderful author matured as he wrote his books. He kept getting better and better until genius struck him with Shadow. My only complain about Midnight Palace is that it's set in India, which is as exotic a setting as you can get. But I like Ruiz Zafon's Spanish and French characters. I don't kno...

This is Zafon's second YA book. He wrote it years ago and tried to capture the essence of the types of books he wanted to read at that age. I think he accomplished that. YA has come a long way since, but I feel like The Midnight Palace Holds its own. I loved that the story took place in Calcutta, a new setting for me. The "mystery" house was one of my favorite turns in the story. The Midnight Palace, like the The Prince of Mist, was reminiscent of Stephen King's IT. If you are a fan of IT, I thi...

*SPOILERS* although to be fair... I don't suggest you bother reading it.As an admirer of The Shadow of the Wind, I bought pretty much everything Zafon has ever written. Unfortunately, owing to the popularity of his cemetery of forgotten books series, they republished a load of his early YA work with misleadingly stunning packaging.At first I thought that there must be a translation problem because the writing is so unforgivably explanatory and the dialogue so bad. Quite frankly, it reads like it...

The only thing I liked about this was the story concept. It's a good supernatural thriller concept, I'm sure it could make for a gripping tale that I wouldn't want to put down.But not in this form, sadly. I have three major problems with the execution which completely spoiled my involvement in the story.First, there's no sense of authenticity. The book is set in 1930's Calcutta, but except for street names and place names, you'd never know. It doesn't feel Indian, and it doesn't feel 1930's: whe...

Great story by an amazing storyteller!!!

This one reads like classic Zafon, of whom I am a big fan. The atmosphere of this book, while set in Calcutta, is not too far off from his later books set in Barcelona (Shadow of the Wind, Angel's Game). It's a bit dreamy, a lot creepy and maybe even a bit magical. The story opens with a British soldier delivering infant twins from imminent danger. The twins are separated by their grandmother to keep them safe from those who might wish them harm. The boy twin, Ben, is raised in an orphanage wher...

You may also read my review here: The Midnight Palace 2 stars16 year old twins, Ben and Sheere, are reunited after being separated at birth by a terrible set of circumstances that took the life of their mother. Raised in an orphanage in Calcutta, Ben has relied on the support of his close knit group of friends and the kindness of the Headmaster. It’s been a good life for Ben at the orphanage, but upon the children’s 16th birthday in 1932, they are considered adults, and are set free to make thei...

In all of Carlos Ruiz Zafon books I found his locations to be the highlight. They come alive with rich gothic descriptions. Prior to The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos wrote a series of young adult books that’s meant to entice young reader and adults alike. Unlike his first book in the series - The Price of Mist - I found the plot to be on the youngish side, the idea of orphan children forming of a group called the Chowbar Society, where their basic motto is to have each other’s back, no matter what...

As always, Zafon is a masterful storyteller and from the very first sentence I was entranced. His lyric prose alone is reason enough to read his works but, in this particular story, he seems to shine with a youth orientated plot of mystery, adventure and suspense all rolled together. Zafon has this ability to capture the world around him with such unique and realistic descriptions that it makes you feel like you have dropped into the middle of this world he has created – both the good parts of h...