First of all: Zafón is a god! His storytelling is and will be unbeatable. Second: This story did so many things to me and not all are good. It was torture. Yet a kind of good torture because its so bloody captivating. I suffered and at the same time I didn't want to stop suffering. I took this book like the innocent lass that I am, thinking "Oh. It's his first novel, it could not be so hardcore. Maybe it's a sweet love story." Lovestory my a**! Hardcore could not begin to describe it. I've read horror books, but Zafóns writing style brings the story to life and you are deep in this dark, disturbing world. It sucks you in and it does things to your head you just realize when it's too late. After I finished this masterpiece I needed a week to recover and touch another book! And this is all a compliment.

I absolutely loved it. Zafón was so damn talented with words. So I’m devouring every book he wrote. “We all have a secret buried under lock and key in the attic of our soul.” “Time and memory, history and fiction merged in the enchanted city like watercolours in the rain. It was there, in the lingering echo of streets that no longer exist, that cathedrals and age-old palaces created the tapestry into which this story would be woven.” “The lady made her way into the web of deserted streets, which were blanketed with shiny leaves like scales shed by a giant serpent.” “[…] light was transformed into wondrous lines that lit up the canvas and opened doors into the soul.” “"To paint is to write with light, Salvat would say.” “Beauty is a breath of air that blows against the wind of reality, Germán.”

Mein Highlight des Jahres! So enorm atmosphärisch mir so einer großartigen Erzählweise und so eine wundervollen Fähigkeit Sätze zu formulieren. Ich bin begeistert - ich liebe dieses Buch!