I love this series and it was an immense pleasure to once again immerse myself in Carlos Ruis Zafon's wonderfully gothic Barcelona, with all its intriques, joys and sorrows bound up in a cast of characters that kept me mesmerized through the whole book.

A quite magnificent novel that at times is a quite difficult read but then explodes with passion and life. Set in the dark days of Franco it mixes vile characters with heroes raging against the darkness. Beautifully descriptive the feeling of old Barcelona carries one along with this fascinating tale all brought to a glorious climax! Marvellous!!

I hadn’t read any of the other books in this series, but I will be remedying that as soon as possible because I loved The Labyrinth of the Spirits.

The Labyrinth of the Spirits is set in Franco era Spain where our heroine Alicia Gris begins an investigation into the murky history of the regime.

With the help of a policeman, a besotted suitor and a bookish family Alicia uncovers a massive conspiracy that those involved would do anything to keep secret. Anything.

Alicia is a typical anti-hero, sort of a vampiric Alice in Wonderland on first appearances. In reality, she is a compassionate but deeply troubled young woman suffering with both the physical and mental scars of the savage bombing of Barcelona in 1938.

Alicia is an investigator in Spain’s secret police service, a job she is desperately wanting to escape before it is too late. Reluctantly she agrees to take on one last case for her shadowy boss Leandro. The case of the disappearance of Spain’s culture minister.

Carlos Ruis Zafòn has created a masterpiece in The Labyrinth of Spirits that is both a love letter to Barcelona and to books.

I felt like I had been reading this book forever, partly because I was so invested in how it turns out but also because on my kindle it seemed like a really long book. When I first began it told me I would take ten hours to read it and I am a quick reader. I think it may have taken me longer in the end, but I feel like not one word was wasted.

When I first requested the book for review I was unaware The Labyrinth of the Spirits even belonged to a series, but I didn’t find it a hinderance that I hadn’t read the other books.

Each character in the book contributed to it and I loved them all, but I think my favourite was Fermin. Fermin is eccentric, intelligent, crude, kind and witty.

In the beginning of the book Fermin and Daniel are trying to write a story and to decide how to start it.

‘What if we begin with the story of how you met her?’ I asked.

‘Met who?’

‘Who do you think? Our Alice in the Wonderland of Barcelona.’

The Labyrinth of the Spirits was intricate, lyrical and beautifully written. It is the kind of book you want to read over and over.

In this book we return to Barcelona: firstly during the Spanish Civil War to witness a girl losing almost everything during a terrible bombing raid and to meet a familiar figure escaping the authorities and then on to 1957 when Daniel Sempere, the boy who featured in Shadow of the Wind, is now running the family bookstore with his father and Fermin, who also featured in the earlier tale. The young girl, Alicia Gris, has grown up to become a ruthless agent for the mysterious Leandro and is sent to discover what has happened to Mauricio Valls - the Culture Minister and former governor of the infamous Montjuic prison - who disappeared during a ball at his mansion. The prison looms large in the story as it is revealed that a number of authors, including David Martin and Victor Mataix - who feature in other volumes in the Cemetery of Lost Books series - were imprisoned there. Gradually it is revealed that Barcelona's dark past has never gone away and is closely linked with the Semperes.

This was a breathtaking read at times as all the elements start to collide and the actions of the past begin to impact on the present. The plot become truly labyrinth-like as identities are revealed, past mysteries solved and stories are discovered within stories (with even more stories inside them...); the language is, in turn, amusing and mystical; the characters are bold, pain-filled and very, very human. If you enjoyed Shadow of the Wind you'll like this - if you haven't yet read it, that's not a problem. This is a labyrinth with more than one entrance...

I read 'The Shadow of the Wind' while still in secondary school. In fact, it was the book that rekindled my love of reading after years of never reading a thing. I was delighted to be given the chance to read this book.

It's a little odd reading something like this all these years later. My own reading habits have changed over the years and I am not sure I would choose to read this book now had I not read the first in the series as a teenager.

As it happens, I still found that I loved this book all the same. Maybe my enjoyment was driven by nostalgia, maybe it was built by the fact I read this during a trip to Barcelona. I don't know. But I know I enjoyed the book and falling back into The Cemetery of Forgotten Books all the same.

I read Shadow of the Wind many years ago and loved it. I requested this one because I was convinced by the assurances that it could read as a stand alone and I had not read the other two books. I now wish that I had and probably reread the first to remind myself as they are complex novels would be more satisfying read in sequence.
That said, Zafon is such a beautiful writer. The horrors of the civil war and the corruption in Spain are brought vividly to life. However, in the end I think that the book is overlong and the last few chapters, filling in a lot of the details and tying up loose ends had me almost skim reading to get to the end.
Well worth reading but slightly disappointing for me.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

I read all three previous books when they were first published but as that has been over a lot of years, I have to confess that I didn't remember much about them- and with that in mind, I was dreading reading this book. I am delighted to say that I loved it - it was easy to read and extremely well written and a brilliant story - it did jog my memory to a degree about the previous books but it really didn't matter that I couldn't remember the details - it works as a standalone novel. I'm sad to have finished it and am now contemplating starting from the beginning again - something I have only done three times before in my life. Highly recommended - and it makes me pine for a trip to Barcelona! Brilliant story telling.

As the conclusion the Shadow of the Wind series this novel is perfect! It ties together so many strands and brings together old and new characters in such an effortless way for such a long book. The character of Alicia, who had appeared briefly as a child early on in the series was fascinating. A flawed and ruthless character but boy do you root for her! She has heart and an appeal that defies the norm and is the string that ties this fourth book up so neatly
As with the other book there is an evil and darkness that permeates through and the menace is personified through the portrayal of the different settings we are taken to. Fermin' s character is genius, with humour in the face of disaster and an eloquent turn of phrase you would not expect from one such as he, but it works and we love him for it. Daniel's family is the nucleus holding normality together and of course the Cemetry of Forgotten Books is the place all of us would love to visit!
What can I say? I'm a fan and can't recommend all of the series enough

I love Carlos Ruiz Zafon's writing it is so beautifully written and I love his work! The story was amazing and I cannot wait for what he comes out with next!

Once again it is possible to plunge into the universe f The Shadow of the Wind. Wonderful prose unfolds another story of life in Barcelona. At times slipping in to the past the tale has a mystical feel which draws the reader in.

Overall I did enjoy this fourth instalment in Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, but boy is it long and it took me over three weeks to read it (unheard of for me) because at times I did find it a bit of a slog.

Although I have read the previous three novels it was a good while ago and I couldn’t really remember the storylines. This one starts on familiar territory with some characters I recognised – Daniel Sempere, the main protagonist of the first book whose father introduces him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in that first instalment and who now the family bookshop in the heart of Barcelona, and Fermin Romero de Torres, still as roguish and mischievous as I remembered him. However, very soon in the storyline we are taken back in time to the darkest days of Franco’s Spain and introduced to the main character in this book, Alicia Gris, a mysterious woman who works for a shadowy agency which in investigating a number of murders and kidnaps, sometimes alongside the police and at other times very much below the radar of the official authorities.

It’s a very atmospheric novel. The way that Alicia and her colleagues operate in the shadows and the reader is never quite sure which side they’re on reminded me of books I’ve read set in Soviet Russia. At the heart of the book is a novel written by Victor Mataix, one of several political prisoners who were tortured by a particular prison guard who has now risen to a lofty political position in Franco’s regime and whose kidnap is being investigated by Alicia’s organisation. Alicia herself has a dark and troubled past which, as the investigation continues, becomes ever more closely linked to the political events at the heart of the story and also to the lives of several of the protagonists from previous books in the series, leading to a satisfying (if rather complicated) denouement to the story.

So overall yes I’m very glad I read it. It was hard work but at times it was enchanting and compelling with fascinating historical detail and flashes of humour (mainly thanks to Fermin). Now onto something much lighter!

A gruelling amazing book.
It has been a long time waiting for this final book in the series but defiantly worth the wait.
The characters were just as real and likeable as in the other books in the series with the addition of Alicia who was memorable.
I cannot praise it enough.Five stars all the way.
What a read.

Started reading this thenafter about 15% realised it’s the fourth book in a series. So I do intend to purchase the others and pick it up where I left of. Although I’m not entirely sure where it’s going I’m thoroughly gripped so I will continue once I’ve purchased the other 3. But definitely so far so good. I’m gutted to have to stop reading :-/

I would give this more than five stars if I could...

Wow.

I read the Shadow of the Wind when it first came out and was blown away with it - I've recommended it to many people who I've met and chatted books with, but I'd forgotten just how good a writer CRZ is.

This book is part of 'The Cemetery of Forgotten Books', and I was initially quite worried that it was a sequel type book, which I wouldn't understand, but (as it does promise), it is a standalone book, which very very cleverly intertwines with bits from 'Shadow of the Wind', and I am told, with the other books (which I have not yet read).

The story is far to complex for a simpleton like me to write here in brief, because it can't be simplified by me without completely doing it a disservice.

So, in short, if you liked Shadow of the Wind, then this is phenomenal. Seriously. If you haven't have read any of CRZ's, books, then what the hell are you doing sitting reading this review? Get up and go buy/loan one.

My thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy. Really....thank you!

This is the 4th book in the Cemetery of Lost books series. I was really excited to read this as I have loved all the other books in the series. This is a huge sprawling read following the Sempere family in post- civil war Spain. It introduced a new cast of characters including the mysterious Alicia who is the main focus of this story. The focus of the story examines the consequences of living under a dictatorship and the impact that has on the ordinary people. It does not back away from state sanctioned murder, stolen children, torture and some of the things people do to survive but also to make their way to the top in a cruel society. and what some will do to ensure that society survives.
The author has a beautiful and evocative writing style and the translation is wonderful.
It is not a book that can be read in isolation - it rally is better if you have read the other titles to get the most out of the story.
You really wish that you could go to the cemetery of forgotten books to find your special book and the description of a mysterious, gothic Barcelona leaves a lasting impression.. I wonder if this is the end for the series as the author has brought the books up to the modern day? If so I will be sad to leave the world of the Sempre family and the cemetery of forgotten books

I loved this book. I was gripped by it from start to finish. It is several years since I first read "Shadow of the Wind" and here we are several years & books later with exactly the same feeling.

Set against the fascinating & complicated background of Franco's Spain this is a book which never stops. Alicia Gris is commission to find Valls, a missing government minister. What she actually finds is an amazing web of intrigue where people aren't who they say they are and her past comes back to haunt her. All the old favourites are here with the Sempere family, Fermin and The Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

It is Zafron's writing that captivates. The book starts with a bang & although not full of James Bond style action has plenty to keep the reader gripped & not wanting to put the book down. Everything just comes to life from the pages and is so vivid. The vocabulary & detail is a real pleasure to read. From the desolation of being imprisoned during the war, the devastation of the bombing of Barcelona through every emotion to the smile of four year old Julian Sempere. I just couldn't put this book down and it caused a couple of late nights!

The plot itself is intricate and full of twists and turns. It has been a while since I read the previous books but they came back to me and filled in the extra background I needed. Don't even contemplate reading this book without having read the previous ones. The plot is well woven and a real web. You need to keep your wits about you & remember well who is who. Some people may find it helpful to write a cast list as they go along.

Alongside the rather dark story there are lighter characters - who can fail to love Fernadito as he rushes to do Alicia's bidding? He knows he can't have her but can't break away from that crush! However, despite the moments of lightness, this is a dark story and I am sure it has at least some roots in reality - the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath was a terrible time.

I have really enjoyed this series of books. One day I shall go back and have a binge read of the four together. I suspect there is plenty more for me to get out of them that I missed the first time round.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Wow! A hell of a read! Excellent novel, beautifully written.

This long volume brings to a close the series started in The Shadow of the Wind. I read The Shadow in the Wind a long time ago and enjoyed it but haven’t read the two books that followed it. This latest novel takes place mainly during the Franco regime and revolves around Alicia Gris, agent for the Government, embarking on the case of a Minister who has mysteriously disappeared. The book also still involves the Sempere family but Alicia is the main character and catalyst. The plot involves all the worst aspects of living under a Fascist regime including betrayal, murder, torture amongst others.
The style is literary and witty and makes the experience well worthwhile, resulting in a wonderful novel, highly recommended.

This a wonderfully long, sprawling journey involving some truly well written characters and intricate relationships. The whole saga of the series fits nicely with this addition. Alicia is a character that will stay with me for a long time.

The long awaited final instalment of the series that began with Shadow of the Wind doesn’t disappoint. Beautifully written but never sentimental with the bleak brutality of Franco’a Barcelona interspersed with a truly wonderful story.

To be honest, I didn't expect this book to be such hard-going - but then in length it was an epic. I was also under the impression that this novel could be read as a standalone book - this is true to a certain extent, but the self-referential nature of the epilogue made it clear that my understanding of the series would have been enhanced by having read Zafon's previous novels.

The detail in every paragraph was intense, incredible and enviable and Zafon has truly shown the ability to emulate and rival his own fictional author of Julian Carax (even though I found the obvious links between the fictional and actual author to be somewhat heavy-handed and nauseating).

Arriving at the complete narrative at the fourth novel, however, did make it harder to understand the characters and keep track of the wide selection of names and dates, not all of which seemed to make chronological sense.

Regardless, this novel truly deserves the description of 'tour de force' and, although I now need to read something much lighter, I really admire the dark and murky Barcelona created in this book, and the height of intellect and organisation to complete such a series.