The Midnight Palace

This book is my first Carlos Ruiz Zafon experience, and I loved it. I read it in two settings (and if weren't for work, I could've read it one). I absolutely loved the cast of characters. They were each unique, but came together to create a great friendship. I also loved how Ruiz Zafon established a clear line between good and evil, and then blurred that line with a plot twist. The action in the book kept me turning pages. It's not often that I book will bring me to tears, but I'm not going to lie...I cried. I can't wait to get started on the Cemetery of Lost Books series. I may have a new favorite author!!!

Twins separated at birth, Ben and Sheere finally meet at that fateful month when they turn 16. They have been protected, but now that they are adults, the dark force which hunts them is coming. With the help of their friends, who call themselves the Chowbar Society, Ben and Sheere must come to terms with their past while protecting their future.

This is a different sort of gothic. Calcutta in the early 1900s. Orphanages. Twins separated at birth and hunted by a darkness. Fiery trains with souls trapped inside. Mansions with word locks, reliefs of Kali, and miniature cities. Ghosts and grandmas and saviors and friends forming secret societies. I loved it.

Zafon's writing is inspired. Calcutta felt alive, the characters authentic, and the show more story haunting. What really got me though is the spine-tingling, skin-chilling backstory, and the way that story unravels throughout the novel. I was almost more enamored of the past than I was the present.

Typically, I would give a bit more plot synopsis, discuss or analyze what happens or who's doing what, but for this book, I firmly believe you should go in as ignorant as possible. I knew very little about the story, practically nothing, before reading, and I am very glad for that. Being surprised and sucked in blindly really increased the enjoyment for me as reading was like discovering. And what I was discovering was irresistible. show less

The Midnight Palace is the second book in the Trilogy of Fog series. I read the Prince of Mist as well and enjoyed it but thought this second book was better. Both books are excellently written and hold your interest but The Midnight Palace provides more fleshed out characters and depth. This book tells the story of twin orphans who are separated to protect them from an evil entity that is in pursuit of them. Zafon does a wonderful job of keeping the suspense ratcheted up and keeping the reader engaged. There is also a plot twist midway through that I didn't see coming at all. Great read! I recommend this to those who enjoy paranormal fiction or historical fictions. 4 stars!

Orphans raised in the St. Patrick's Orphanage in Calcutta plan a party to celebrate their sixteenth "birthdays", the anniversary of their arrival at the orphanage and the eve of their release back to the streets. Strange events unfold, however, around one of them, Ben, who is stalked by a faceless menace waiting for him outside. An old woman shows up with another 16-year old girl demanding to speak to the director of the orphanage. The group invites Sheere to join their party and membership in their secret group called the Chowbar Society.

I loved the setting, the sense of growing danger, the references to British rule and the atrocities thereof. The teens raised in the orphanage by a European and given a heady European education, have show more talents and abilities that make it hard to remember that these are Indian children rescued from the dredges of Calcutta's slums.

The language of this book is outstanding, far above the dross that has flooded YA literature of late. It is a treat. I only hope that teens will find and appreciate this book. show less

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is one of my favorite authors for a reason - he knows how to start a story out, how to give it "flavor". The beginning of The Midnight Palace has a deadly chase, a set of babies crying and the backdrop of Calcutta in the early 1900's. Mix in rain, a good dose of mystery and a smattering of horror and you have a perfect beginning to a book.

Sheere and Ben are twins, but they do not know of one another due to an incredible tragedy in their background. Both are raised in different styles, Ben in an orphanage and Sheere as a sort of gypsy, but their worlds collide on their 16th birthdays.

Something that Zafon does so well is create gothic settings and they were in abundance in The Midnight Palace. From the house Sheere has show more been searching for to the old train station, I never stopped feeling as if I needed to look over my shoulder. This isn't sweet romance-y paranormal young adult fiction, this is a bit edgy, ghost-horror stuff. And it's thrilling.

While I didn't enjoy The Midnight Palace(Niebla #2) as much as I did The Prince of Mist (Niebla #1), I did enjoy it and found it difficult to put down - even at night when every little sound had me looking around the room. My only regret is that I'm unable to read the books in the language they were originally written. That said though - the translation is magnificent, as all of Zafon's books are, and there is more than one phrase that had me reading and re-reading it, enjoying the beauty of the writing.

Though this is an older book in its original language, it's fresh and something new to read in the YA genre and I welcome it. show less

I am extremely conflicted about this book. On one hand, I found the story really original and unique, blessed with a great setting and Ruiz Zafón's usual breathtaking prose. On the other hand, however, I just could not shake the feeling that the whole thing was just a bit too rushed to satisfy me.

The suspense and mystery were constructed very well, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. The way it was delivered, however, really disappointed me, mainly because the solution to every enigma came from very long scenes of character speech rather than action. To me, this just seemed a bit too convenient and really not as engaging as it could have been. For the rest, I had the same problem with this novel as with show more The Prince of Mist: sometimes, I just could not understand why certain things were happening, and I was left slightly confused and wondering just what the characters' reasoning behind some of their choices was.

As for the characters, I really liked the kids. The members of the Chowbar Society were everything I would expect from children of their age, each with their own set of talents and peculiarities that made them unique. The only thing is I would have liked to see them more developed, both as individual characters and in relation to each other as a group. The adults in this book, instead, were markedly absent, coming in only to provide the explanations necessary to keep the story going, which would really bother me if this weren't a YA novel where children are typically the main focus of the story. As for the villan, he was creepy in all the right moments and, although he too lacked some depth and the story of his origin left me with more questions than it answered, he performed his role incredibly well.

Overall, this was a rather enjoyable read. It's a good story, with enough mystery and suspense to keep you going until the end. If, unlike me, you're not too bothered by the fact that not everything is explained, you'll probably love it. If not, I think it's still worth reading, if only for the author's beautiful writing style.

You can read this review and more on my blog. show less

Those places where sadness and misery abound are favored settings for stories of ghosts and apparitions. Calcutta has countless such stories hidden in its darkness, stories that nobody wants to admit they believe but which, nevertheless, survive in the memory of generations as the only chronicle of the past. It is as if the people who inhabit the streets, inspired by some mysterious wisdom, realize that the true history of Calcutta has always been written in the invisible tales of its spirits and unspoken curses. (from The Midnight Palace)

Twins, separated by birth in an effort to hide them from a terrible danger. An architectural landmark, far ahead of its time, sitting charred after its destruction by a terrible catastrophe. A secret show more weapon, also dangerously ahead of its time, fused with a supernatural power. Calcutta, India, in 1916 and 1932, the year the above-mentioned twins were born and the year they turn 16 and are considered adults. A ghostly train piloted by a specter, carrying the souls of dead children.

What is [The Midnight Palace]? It's YA, historical fiction, horror, a ghost story, a fantasy wrapped in mythology with perhaps a trace of steampunk thrown in. There were some things I didn't like about it, some things that weren't quite consistent. How did the narrator know all that he knew, given the ending of the story? How did one character who provided vital information know what she knew? And, of course, there were aspects that didn't fit my worldview at all. And about 3/4 of the way through, it took a turn I neither expected nor particularly liked.

Yet the quality of the writing, the scope of the vision, and the flow of the story moved me to give it 4 stars.

I listened to the audio version, occasionally enhanced by atmospheric background music composed by the author of the book.

* The "Trilogy of Fog," or at least the first two installments of it, are not really related except for the fact that they are stories of the supernatural, in historical settings, dealing with battles between good and evil. There are not common characters or settings, at least in the first two that I've read. I do plan to read the third, however. show less