Marina

Written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Narrated by Daniel Weyman

The novel Carlos Ruiz Zafón wrote just before THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.

'Fifteen years on, the remembrance of that day has returned to me. I have seen that boy wandering through the mist of the railway station, and the name of Marina has flared up again like a fresh wound. We all have a secret buried under lock and key in the attic of our soul. This is mine...'

In May 1980, 15-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in the old quarter of Barcelona. For seven days and nights no one knows his whereabouts...

His story begins in the heart of old Barcelona, when he meets Marina and her father German Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Oscar to a cemetery to watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the fourth Sunday of each month. At 10 a.m. precisely a coach pulled by black horses appears. From it descends a woman dressed in black, her face shrouded, wearing gloves, holding a single rose. She walks over to a gravestone that bears no name, only the mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings.

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her they begin a journey that will take them to the heights of a forgotten, post-war Barcelona, a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons; and a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

Read by Daniel Weyman. Daniel appears in Foyle's War for itv as series regular Adam Wainwright. His many other television appearances include Poirot, Midsomer Murders and Dunkirk. He was nominated for Best Performance in a Play at the TMA Awards for his portrayal of Nicholas Nickleby which played at Chichester Festival Theatre, in the West End and in Toronto. His first professional job was at the Donmar Warehouse in The Vortex directed by Michael Grandage. He has recorded many audiobooks and was included in the ALA's Listen List 2013 for outstanding narration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Sep 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781409143390

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author of eight novels, including the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Cemetery of Forgotten Books series: The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, and The Labyrinth of the Spirits. His work, which also includes prizewinning young adult novels, has been translated into more than fifty languages and published around the world, garnering numerous awards and reaching millions of readers. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews for Marina

[stephanie_m-868484 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was an excellent novel, and is clearly a beloved of the author's. And I can truly see why.
I feel the two connecting backstories were well told, and on par with the central story. They were very well connected.
This book seriously made me feel lonely at times, and at others, I felt the isolation of the main character...... and then incredibly sad for everyone. There was a whole rollercoaster of feels going on.

But also, this novel made me fall in love with words again.

This incredible story contained an occasional gothic undercurrent of madness, and the hint of a very twisted imagination, which blossomed into quite the climactic scene. A magical, timeless quality permeated this novel, which makes the story feel like it could be taking place in any time period at all. And such rich, descriptive prose was incredibly enjoyable to lose myself in, especially during this rainy evening spent at home. Again, I feel that Zafòn is a wizard of an author, and I crave more of his voice.

Daniel Weyman did a wonderful job narrating the story and bringing everyone to life. Each voice was distinctive and fit the character beautifully. I was never once jarred out of the story, which is one mark of a very good narrator. You have to have a certain passion and understanding of the material when you narrate an audiobook, otherwise it feels forced and flat. It’s clearly plain that Weyman has both.

I also didn’t realize that I’d gotten another YA novel, yet again. This novel is so well written, I was well over halfway through it before I realized that maybe it could be YA.....and then I just didn’t care. I’d been spellbound almost immediately, and just wanted to continue through to the very end, no matter how late this ended up being.
I’m incredibly glad that I did find this novel in my library’s audiobook section, and I may just have to go out and purchase another version for my own library..... if I can get over the utter heartbreak of the ending. (You’ve been warned. You *will* cry).

5 huge stars, and this novel is recommended to anyone and everyone. Please read this novel as soon as you possibly can.

[pdcread · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Oscar is a fifteen year old school boy, who has met a girl called Marina and her father who is a painter of some talent. One night Marina takes him to see a strange ritual at a local graveyard, where a woman dressed in black arrived by a horse drawn coach and leaves a single red rose on a grave marked only by a black butterfly. They decide to follow her to find out who she is, and by doing so discover a shadowy secret in the catacombs and sewers of Barcelona. It takes them on a whirlwind journey through the dark underside of the city, where they confront their greatest fears, and discovery their true mettle.

Really a YA book, and is a melodramatic gothic horror, which is not my sort of thing really. There is nothing scary in the book, but there are some really creepy parts. Nicely written, as most Zafon books are, and I like the way that he manages to convey the atmosphere in the scenes perfectly. Have given it three, but 2.5 stars is more realistic.

[melydia_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A deliciously gothic tale about Oscar, a boy in Barcelona who meets a girl named Marina and her father Herman in an old, falling-down mansion. One night when Oscar and Marina are walking in an old cemetery, they spy an old woman in black setting a rose on an unmarked grave. This ends up leading them to a series of strange people in strangers situations, including some pretty terrifying monsters. I really enjoyed this one. It's a little predictably tragic, but it works - that's just the kind of book this is. The imagery is fantastic and the characters are fascinating. Definitely going to be picking up more Zafon.

[matke-261098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another outstanding book from a favorite author, Marina takes us once again to Barcelona, that Spanish city of secrets, love, mysterious buildings, and magical realism.A young man meets a beautiful girl and falls in love. He escapes from school periodically to spend time with her and her father. But mystery and horror await as they discover old secrets and lost family ties.This isn't an ordinary romance with dreary emotions. It's much better written; Zafon has a unique style that's intriguing and lyrical. The suspense is nicely handled, the young lovers sweet without being cloying. Highly recommended.

[gretchenlynn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another wonderful novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This book is almost two stories in one. The main character, Oscar, stumbles upon both a new friendship and a years-old mystery in Barcelona. Early on in his friendship with Marina she takes him to a cemetery and they witness a woman in black, who they then follow to a strange greenhouse. At the same time that Oscar gets to know Marina better, practically becoming part of the family, he also delves into the story behind the woman and what he found in the greenhouse. This story is a mix of a horror/thriller and a wonderful story of love and friendship, and is at turns terrifying, beautiful, and heartbreaking.

[theyodamom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent suspense thriller with a taste of horror

[lillibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Atmospheric and languidly creepy, more gothic mystery than horror.

[lisa.isselee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In short ? It's a modern classic !

This feels like a delightful weird crossover between frankenstein & great expectations ... But in the best way possible.
I can fully understand why this is Zafon's most favourite novel !
Shivers rolled down my spine, tears were shed ... It was an emotional rollercoaster but one i would take again without a second thought !

[karieh_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More than anything else, I love the tone, the sense of mystery and days long past that shrouds the books of Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The words of his stories surround the reader with sepia tones, slightly blurry while lovely images, and the faintest background music of sad, romantic waltzes. Just opening one of his books takes me to worlds I’ve never seen, worlds that may never have existed – except in the longings of his characters.“The Sarriá cemetery is in one of Barcelona’s best-hidden corners. If you look for it on the map, you won’t find it. If you ask locals or taxi drivers how to get there, they probably won’t know, although they’ve all heard about it. And if, by chance, you try to look for it on your own, you’re more likely than not to get lost. The lucky few who know the secret of its whereabouts suspect that this old graveyard is in fact an island lost in the ocean of the past, which appears and disappears at random.”In “Marina” – his main characters are younger than usual – but no less surrounded by mystery. In addition to the graveyard, there are majestic yet crumbling old mansions, an opera house lost in in tragedy, and family secrets that cling and nearly choke.Even after finishing the book, I know almost nothing about the main character, Oscar, and that is completely OK. I know his part of this gothic tale and through his eyes; I was able to escape again to a long ago and far away world that I love.This book was sad and glorious. Beautiful and horrific. A wonderful story and an unbelievable fairy tale. A great book and one I was sad to put down.

[tathineves · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Marina was the fourth novel written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, published for the first time in 1999. The story takes place in a late 70’s Barcelona and revolves around a fifteen year old boy named Óscar Drai. He studies at a boarding school and being a quite curious boy the only three hours of free time he had before dinner – that he was supposed to use for studying or getting in touch with his spiritual self – he usually escape the boarding school and wander the streets and alleys of Barcelona always seeking for a new adventure.In one of those getaways he ended up on a place filled with abandoned and forgotten mansions and was led by a cat to a particular one where he ended up getting inside attracted by an enchanting voice coming from a gramophone. Once he was inside he got amused by the paints, the candles and the decoration itself till a golden pocket watch caught his attention. While he analysed the object a figure got up from an armchair and held out his hands to hold him back. Frightened, Oscar desperately ran away from there. As soon as he arrived at the boarding school he realized that the watch was still on his hands.He never had the intention of stealing it, but the scared was so huge that he didn’t get the chance of leaving the object behind. Worried about getting a thief reputation he decided to come back there and return the watch to his real owner. That is when he meets Marina for the first time – the owner of the cat and the daughter of the watch’s truth owner. They lived in the mansion he invaded and thought it was abandoned, but the truth is that once upon a time the mansion was a happy and full of life home.At that moment an intriguing friendship starts to be build and grows without warning at every second. They bond completely by the eager for adventure and solving mysteries and leads the story to places that you could never imagine being. They get themselves inside someone else’s life and history and they can’t get out of it without solving the mysteries around it. It is a fascinating story, full of agonizing scenes and with an unpredicted end. You get yourself analysing your own life and values throughout the entire book. You start to feel like you know the characters and start to think about your own friendships and if you will ever find someone who with you will bond like they did. There is a kind of confidentiality between them that it is just amazing. Not only that, the author also talks about some subjects in such a subtle way that perhaps some readers don’t even realize it. For some it will be only a novel for children and young adults with no substance, but if you think that you probably do not get the essence of the book. The book has 189 pages of pure pleasure: mystery, suspense, drama, thriller and a very innocent romance mixed with an amazing friendship. The reading is extremely easy – in a very good way – and it is that kind of book that you cannot put it down. It is so well written and has the scenes and places so thoroughly described that you can see the entire book as if was a movie. The author makes you want to be there and feel what they are feeling and makes you want to go to Barcelona and walk through all the places Oscar and Marina been through. Makes you want to see if things are as amazing as he describes. You will certainly laugh, feel the urge to cry and bite your nails out of nervous. You will feel passion and compassion, then rage and angry and also fear and despair all in the same book.I, doubtless, recommend this book to everyone. It doesn’t matter your age, you will certainly enjoy it. If you have already read and did not like it, give it a second chance, I guaranty that it is completely worth it. I was gripped from beginning to end and it took me to boundaries emotionally no other book ever has.

[steve.gourley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Longing for the setting of a novel, and being lonely for the company of its characters, are signs that one has finished reading something great. Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s novel is something great. The main character, Oscar, is a lonely boarding school student who spends his time wondering the streets of Barcelona. Until one day, he is lured through a gate into a garden by the sounds of Leo Delibes’ opera playing from a victrola. He soon befriends the owner of the house German and his daughter Marina. On one of their adventures through Barcelona, they discover a mysterious woman in black setting a flower on a grave. Following this woman winds them into her story of horror and loss, which only strengthens the feelings of warmth and togetherness Oscar (and the reader) experience while dining with Marina and German in his candle lit dining room amongst his majestic paintings, and his engaging personality. The book will pull you into a second reading to re-experience what is perhaps one of life’s pinnacles—being connected with best friends.

[sdunford_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book, but found it difficult to read. Not because of the language. Quite the contrary, the book is beautifully written. But its very richness made it difficult. Oscar and Marina make a lovely holiday. The vulnerable, fragile and yet strong grandfather is wonderfully drawn. But then come the monsters who are simply unbelievable (literally). I couldn't fathom them. Perhaps the wrong book for me, it left me conflicted, and anxious. Not a reason for me to read. Ah, well. So it is sometimes.

[chicalicious · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Óscar Drei is a fifteen year old boy at the local boarding school in Barcelona. One day he stumbles upon Marina when he goes to return a pocket watch he had previously, accidentally, stolen belonging to her father from their home. Their meeting takes them on an adventure that even they hadn't been expecting.I loved this book from the moment I started reading it; it's very well written. It's a mix of sci-fi, romance, drama, thriller and mystery all resulted in a thoroughly enjoyable read and one that I shall not be forgetting any time soon. I love the cover, it's beautiful.The book has an aura that makes you not know what is going to happen next and if I was to say I knew what was going to happen next then I'd be lying. The characters made this book something that I was not expecting - they brought it to life.I was gripped from the start and it took me to boundaries emotionally no other book has, I didn't cry but I think I was close. It touched me because even weird people have feelings. The story is fast paced and full of action and once you've started you wonder where the time has gone to because this book definitely grips you by the gonads and forces you to want to continue reading and enjoy such a magnificent story.Marina was by far the greatest character in the book. I loved everything about her, her wonderful charm, her loyalty, her fierce protection of those she loves dearly whilst remaining true to herself. She knew her fate but she refused to let the two people closest to her know, I don't think it was out of selfishness but out of love - something she had an abundance of.I don't think I gave this book the review it thoroughly deserves but I gave it my best shot.

[xirxe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dass 'Marina' nach Zafóns eigener Aussage sein persönlichster Roman und eines seiner Lieblingsbücher ist, sagt noch nichts über dessen Qualität aus. Und so manche, die bereits einen oder auch beide der Bestseller 'Der Schatten des Windes' bzw. 'Das Spiel des Engels' gelesen haben, mögen sich von diesem Buch somit wesentlich mehr versprechen. Denn dies hier ist sein erstes Werk als 'Erwachsenenschriftsteller', und man spürt es die ganze Zeit hindurch.
Wie in seinen beiden anderen Romanen ist der Protagonist auf der Suche: Oscar, ein Internatszögling, lernt während einer seiner zahlreichen Spaziergänge durch das alte Barcelona eine junge Frau, Marina, kennen. Sie stoßen auf die Spur einer geheimnisvollen Dame in Schwarz und geraten in eine Geschichte, deren Anfang bereits viele Jahrzehnte zurückliegt, doch noch immer nicht beendet ist. Ein tragisches Liebespaar, der Zusammenbruch eines Wirtschaftsimperiums, mysteriöse Todesfälle, furchterregende Nachtgestalten - Zutaten die auch in Zafóns anderen Büchern nicht fehlen. Doch hier sind die Sätze häufig deutlich kürzer: Subjekt, Verb, Objekt - und der nächste Satz. Es fehlen die mäandernden Satzgebilde, die versuchen das Unbeschreibliche in Worte zu fassen. Die Ansätze sind bereits zu spüren, ebenso die bildhaften Beschreibungen und Vergleiche, die Zafóns andere Publikumserfolge auszeichnen. Auch die Geschichte selbst ist noch nicht so verschachtelt, wie man es gewöhnt ist, driftet dafür aber zusehends ins Horrormäßige statt Übernatürliche ab. Vermutlich nicht so ganz das, was sich erwachsene Lesende von Zafón versprechen.
Dennoch: Es ist spannend, gut geschrieben und sicherlich deutlich besser als vieles, was man als Unterhaltungsliteratur angeboten bekommt. Aber: Nicht zuviel erwarten!

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I fell in love with Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s writing when I read ‘The Shadow of the Wind” a few years ago, but I was not aware that he wrote young adult novels, too. This, the first book he wrote back in 1999 but just last year translated into English, is just as wonderful. It’s a tale of gothic horror as well as a coming of age tale, a tale of first love, a tale of death, and a tale of madness. The story begins in 1980 with the 15 year old narrator being asked if he is Ocar Drai. He is, of course, and he’s been missing for seven days. Fifteen years on, he is ready to tell the story of what happened back then.Oscar is a student at a boarding school in Barcelona. He is given to taking long walks after class and exploring. One day he finds himself in a run down area, in front of a presumably deserted mansion. But there is music coming from inside, and he enters. A gramophone is playing opera, and he finds a pocket watch on the table. Frightened by the sudden appearance of an old man, he flees, accidentally taking the pocket watch with him. He’s an honest young man, and despite his fear he goes back to the mansion to return the watch. Thus he enters the lives of German Blau and his teen daughter, Marina. Marina says she has something to show Oscar, and takes him to a cemetery. A heavily veiled woman in black appears and lays a rose on a gravestone. Later they follow her to a collapsing greenhouse where they find not her but some large marionettes that become activated despite, supposedly, no one being there. They have entered the world of Eva Irinova, former singer, and it’s a horrible world of monsters. What follows is horrifying tale of jealousy, bravery, and greed, but mostly of the desire humans have to cling to life and their wish for their loved ones to do so, too. Zafon gives us a mad scientist who has learned to cheat death but not decay. Zafon’s lush descriptions bring the old parts of Barcelona to life. The characters are incredibly vivid; the brave Inspector Florian, Eva’s friend and protector Claret, and the old doctor who knows what is going on-Dr. Shelley. Who has a daughter named Maria Shelley, which made me giggle a bit, given that there is a fair bit of Frankenstein-type things going on here. There is a lot of tension in the story; Oscar is given only a few times to relax and be happy. It’s one of those books that you want to stay up all night reading because you just can’t stand to wait to see what is going to happen next.

[violetbramble · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fifteen year old Oscar attends boarding school in Barcelona. He's not close to his family, so instead of going home over Christmas break he stays at school. He wanders around Barcelona at all hours. He finds an old house that he thinks is empty and goes inside. The house isn't empty. Eventually Oscar meets the occupants of the house; a young girl named Marina and her portrait artist father, German Blau. Oscar and Marina wander Barcelona looking to solve the mystery of the woman in black who leaves a rose on a grave every month. As they get more involved they uncover a deeper mystery that involves marionette people, medical experimentation and raising the dead. While I didn't think this book was as good as Zafon's later work -- the style is different and the pacing and storytelling are kind of off- I did think the mystery was very good. I had no idea what was happening. Zafon maintained a creepy atmosphere throughout the book. And, as usual when reading Zafon, I wanted to travel to Barcelona to see if the city is as pretty as he describes.

[brittanygates · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took me a few chapters to really get into this book. For some reason, the beginning wasn't doing much for me. I'm glad I stuck with it, because I ended up really liking the story and becoming attached to the characters. Oscar Drai is a fifteen year old boarding school student who comes across a mysterious girl named Marina and her father on one of his daily walks through Barcelona. In them, he finds the family he's always wanted. As his relationship with Marina grows, the two stumble upon a mystery buried under Barcelona. A mystery that involves tragic deaths and a strange black butterfly.Even though it took a bit of time to get into, I found the story very entertaining. I could have done without all the times that Oscar and Marina sat down with yet ANOTHER character involved in the mystery who told their life story and how it added to the whole situation. It started to feel a little gimmicky after the third or fourth time. I'd still recommend it. Especially with Halloween coming up. It makes for a fun and spooky read.

[tloeffler_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fifteen-year-old Oscar Drai likes to leave his boarding school before dinner and wander the city. He stops at a house and follows a cat inside, beginning his adventure. He meets Marina and her father. Marina and Oscar observe a strange ritual at a cemetery. At 10:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of each month, a woman in black alights from a carriage and places a red rose on an unmarked tombstone. They follow her, and find themselves embroiled in an old and bizarre mystery. A great story, especially one to read in October! A quick and fascinating read!

[sunqueen_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Zafon returns to the dark and brooding city of Barcelona with a great story. This is really a story within which multiple other stories are told throughout.

[avanders_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes, you just want to read a book with your guard down. You want to open the pages and see some promise and allow yourself to believe that this time, you're not going to be let down. You want to find that dark and stormy night and wander through it, feeling satisfied when you turn the last page. Marina gave me that present.Marina has the ambiance of a good gothic novel (though for various reasons, is not true gothic literature). It is technically a young adult novel, but it was Zafon's last (4th of 4) YA novel and definitely feels like a transitional piece. It "stars" a 15-year-old protagonist, but the themes are dark and intense.Jacob is often bored at his school and wanders the neighborhood in search of something interesting. Occasionally he is with his best friend JF, but more often, he's just alone. One day, he wanders down a particularly desolate part of town to an abandoned old house. For shaky reasons, Jacob decides to enter onto the property, hearing a sort of haunting melody emitting from within the old house. He enters the house, drawing nearer the music when he is surprised by the apparition of an elderly person with long white hair, and Jacob high-tails it out of the house, accidentally taking with him the old watch he had picked up right before the apparition.The watch is engraved with a loving quote to a "German." Jacob's guilt at having accidentally stolen the memento drives him to return to the house to return the watch, and there he meets Marina. She approaches him from outside the property, referring to him as the watch thief. Marina, intrigued by Jacob's interest in the dark and mysterious, invites him to accompany her the following morning on a mini-adventure. Jacob, entranced by Marina's beauty and personality, agrees. Thus begins the adventure of Marina and Jacob as they wend themselves deeper and deeper into the dark, deathly, and dangerous past and insert themselves into a web of lies, half-truths, cover-ups, and sinister obsession.The book is eerie, misty, mysterious, dark, and satisfying. It's got flavors of Shadows of the Wind (and, in my opinion, is much butter than Angels Game or Midnight Garden!) and is perfect for a rainy day/night!

[hardlyhardy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Marina," the latest novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, was actually published in Spain before "The Shadow of the Wind" and other novels that have proven so popular in their English translations in the United States. Reading it one can see why this earlier story was not translated into English before now. While worth reading, Marina is just not up to the standard American readers have become used to.Set in 1980 in Barcelona, the novel tells of a 15-year-old boy named Oscar stuck unhappily in a boarding school. Wandering the streets one day he meets a lovely girl named Marina and her father, a once great painter who gave up art after the death of his wife. Soon Oscar becomes so involved in their lives that his own life, his own family and his school shrink in importance.All this is fascinating, but then it becomes fantastic as Oscar and Marina's adventures take them, quite literally, into the Barcelona underworld, where a tortured madman, like a 20th century Frankenstein, seeks to reanimate the dead. While all this seems far-fetched, the hardest thing for me to believe was how other characters, including a hardened former police officer, so quickly and seriously accept these two kids as if they were Sam Spade-like investigators, instead of sending them home to their parents.Of course, all of Ruiz Zafon's novels have a bit of the gothic and the fantastic in them. That explains their appeal. "Marina" just seems like too much of a good thing.

[ladycato · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.Zafron excels at numerous elements within this book: the viewpoint of an awkward teenage boy in love for the first time, painting the setting of Barcelona as a decaying character itself, and creating a downright creepy mystery. Really, this could be described as young adult horror. It's a fast read. The creepy elements were a bit too creepy for my liking and the first person narrator Oscar came across as rather empty to me.

[shellypya · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When boarding-school student Oscar Drai meets Marina, she promises him a mystery and takes him to a secret graveyard deep in Barcelona, where they witness a woman dressed in black lay a single rose atop a gravestone etched with a black butterfly. Their curiosity leads them down a dangerous path, and they discover a decades-old conspiracy that puts their lives in the hands of forces more sinister and mystical than they could have believed possible.

[mscaves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had purchased and read Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s other books The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game and this book Marina did not disappoint. Description of Barcelona’s old quarter lets your imagination fly and sets the tone in a gothic sense. From the first few pages it pulls you into the story about Oscar and Marina and their adventure after discovering a photo album. The book leaning on science fiction still is able to have a message of caring and friendship between young and old. Entertaining, mystery, and easy to follow, the book will hold your attention.I received this book for free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[mariacfox · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is an outstanding writer. This is one of his earlier efforts, and while it is not quite as polished as the wonderful Shadow of the Wind, I still found this novel entrancing. Zafón pays homage to Frankenstein and earlier gothic works while writing for a younger audience. I'm so glad this book is finally reaching the US, and anything written by Zafón is a treat.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

*I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*A dark tale with all of the elements that Carlos Ruiz Zafon excels at bringing to life. Mystery mixed with a touch of paranormal comes together in this gothic tale of life and death set in Barcelona. Told by Oscar, a 15-year-old who periodically sneaks away from his boarding school and who discovers a multitude of secrets in Barcelona when he encounters the young Marina and her father. Interesting and worth reading, but not as good as Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind.

[sogamonk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Marina is certainly not his best effort. That being said, i found the book entertaining the first hundred pages. I was intrigued by the way the friendship between Oscar and Marina developed. But, then,Zafon began to "weave" too many "webs" around the main story. I felt it became just to much,making what could have been a good solid YA story , way too complex, not easy to follow and somewhat predictable.Still, a fast read and enjoyable.

[squeakychu · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Truthfully, I'm wasn't at all impressed with this story until near the end. I think the book was meant for a younger readership than myself, although if I read it as a teenage, I'm not sure I'd have liked it all that much then either. I found it very hard to believe that the two young characters, Oscar and Maria, would put themselves into the frightening situations in which they did. Their actions just did not seem believable to me. Why would Oscar just suddenly show up in a stranger's house and steal an object? Why would two young people put themselves directly into such grotesque danger? The way in which the story developed was extremely annoying as well. Why were the characters telling the story instead of me, the reader, reading what the characters actually did? What a tedious way to tell what should have been a very absorbing tale! The way it was told made me want to read through it as quickly as possible to get to the end and be done with it. This is a shame because I remember enjoying Zafon's novel The Angel's Game very, very much.The redeeming quality of this book came at the very end when I realized that the focus of this book was on the depth of Oscar and Marina's friendship and the revelation of Marina's secret that she is the one with the terminal illness and not her father . To me, this is too little and too late.

[suzreads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am a huge fan of this author so I was thrilled to receive this book for free through LibraryThing Early Reviewers! Once again, he writes another amazing book! The descriptions of the scenery and people are so detailed that everything comes alive and you can’t help but be drawn into the emotions of the story. I love how this author makes me feel like I am walking the streets of Barcelona and seeing through the eyes of his characters! The balance of action, mystery and relationship interaction is perfect and keeps you reading to see what happens next. This is a YA book that I think readers of all ages would enjoy!

[ursula_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Marina is subtitled "A Gothic Tale," so I guess that should give you some idea of what to expect. Our narrator is Oscar, a young man who is a student at a boarding school. He stumbles into an overgrown, seemingly abandoned house and leaves with a watch he found there. Finally driven to return it, he meets the occupants of the house, Marina and her father German. From there, mysteries abound - a strange woman in a black veil, the symbol of a black butterfly, a deranged genius from the past.I didn't realize this was a young adult book going in, and it's not a genre I read. I also have no other experience with Zafon, so I just have to judge it on what I read here. The good: Zafon takes "atmospheric" to a whole different level. The city of Barcelona is a character unto itself, and I swore that I could feel the fog in the narrow streets. (This is really two positives - for setting and for writing.)Some of the creepy scenes are truly creepy, even from a more jaded adult perspective. I can imagine certain things in here might keep a young adult reader up at night.If you're going to go gothic, you might as well go full-tilt, with drama galore, and he certainly does that.The bad: The format of "meet someone, have them tell you a story" is effective at communicating information, but maybe not the most involving way to connect us with Oscar and Marina. I never felt like I really got to know either of them all that well.The story takes a while to really get going.So, it comes down overall on the positive side. It's a quick read once you get past the beginning, and it's great for painting mental pictures. Recommended for: the type of person who would take a "ghost tour" of Barcelona, fans of early horror moviesQuote: "We had reached the enchanted Barcelona, the labyrinth of spirits, where the ghosts of time walked behind us."