by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
translated by Lucia Graves
read by Jonathan Davis
genre: YA mystery, suspense
Liked: music and sound effects, which added to the story
Diskliked: slow pacing, odd character development (is Max supposed to be a young child or a maturing teenager?), illogical plot development (the evil guy has the kid confronted, then just goes away . . . ),
Why was this set during WWII? Just so that the family had to relocate to avoid the war? So that Roland was in danger of being "called up"?
Why did Roland (17 y.o. if he's on the verge of being called up) become best friends with Max (14? 15? 12?)?
The love story didn't fit well with the creepy ghost story. The time / clock / watch theme didn't GO anywhere! Even in the author interview at the end of the story, he basically just says that it's his "thing," to play with the notion of time standing still or going backward. Dumb.
The cat, the statues, the ship . . . there was potential here, but it was ultimately a disappointing story. I had been curious about it since genrefying my media center. Guess I can get rid of this one.
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