Review: The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
In 1916 Calcutta a soldier sacrifices his life saving two orphaned newborns from a mysterious evil being. He takes the infants to an old lady, who leaves one them, Ben, at a Catholic orphanage. The boy thrives, eventually joining a secret society that meets in a ruined house the children have dubbed "the Midnight Palace." Each year, the orphanage releases the sixteen-year-olds out into the world. On the eve of Ben's departure, the evil presence reappears to claim the boy's life. The teens must find a way to defeat the magic and stay alive.
Although Carlos Ruiz Zafón wrote The Midnight Palace for a young adult audience, this Gothic tale misses its mark. The plot lacks some sophistication and thus seems better suited to a middle grade reader. On the other hand, the creepiness factor could very well be too much for preteens.
When I read the novel, I hadn't realized it was a sequel to The Prince of Mist, which I haven't read. Fortunately, the novel stands on its own, and I didn't feel as if I were missing background information. Although I loved Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind, written for adults, I found The Midnight Palace to be a disappointment.
The first problem was I didn't have a strong sense of place; I wasn't immersed in colonial India and felt the story could have been set almost anywhere. In addition, I thought the lifestyle of the orphans and their level of education and expectations for their future didn't ring true. For example, there was no explanation (or perhaps I missed it) for how one of the orphans was able to sail to London to pursue a medical degree. I doubt orphans in 1930s Calcutta had those kind of resources. Perhaps a younger reader would be caught up in the action and magic and not think to question these issues, but an adult reader will find it difficult to believe the setup.
I listened to the unabridged audio edition (Hachette Audio, 7 hr, 9 min) read by Jonathan Davis. My full audio review was written for AudioFile magazine and will eventually appear on their website and/or in the magazine. Here's a hint: you may want to pick this one up in print.
EDIT: After some Twitter conversation and a bit more research, I discovered that The Midnight Palace is likely not a sequel to The Prince of Mist. Zafón's website says it is "the second in a series" of young adult novels. I'm not sure he is using the word series here to mean interlinked books; instead I think he means a group of, a number of young adult novels.
This review will be linked to both Kid Konnection, hosted each Saturday by Julie from Booking Mama, and Murder, Monsters, and Mayhem, a month-long event hosted by Jenn from Jenn's Bookshelves.
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ISBN-13: 9780316044738
'Source: Bought, both print and audio (see review policy)
Rating: C
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)
18 comments:
Bummer! I didn't enjoy THE PRINCE OF MIST very much either, but I loved THE SHADOW OF THE WIND. Won't be rushing to pick this one up.
I hadn't heard of this one until now, but then probably because I don't tend to read much YA. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I was really disappointed in this one as well. I loved Shadow of the Wind so much, but had avoided reading any more in case it didn't live up to my expectations. Turns out I was right to be worried.
I guess Davis must be the go-to guy for all of Zafon's works, and no wonder. He does a great job. But while I loved Shadow of the Wind and its prequel, The Prince of Mist didn't do much for me. I thought it was way to superficial and a stereotypical, two-dimensional "ghost story". My kids loved it though. I'm curious now that you said this was a sequel. I'm wondering if my kids would be interested.
Prince of Mist was actually the first book he wrote, and if this is a sequel, I'm guessing it's the second. I haven't picked this one up, because I was so disappointed by Prince of Mist. I think maybe, hopefully, he just got better with time? Which would mean there would be some titles still to come to an English-speaking audience from his backlist that, eventually, might at least deserve a place on the shelve next to Shadow.
Too bad that it didn't live up to its expectations. I still have Shadow of the Wind in my bookcase, should start on it soon.
I adored The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, but have heard that his other books are somewhat lackluster, and so I have sort of stayed away. I hear that there is going to be a third book in the Shadow of the Wind series, and I am really anxious to try that, though I do have to say that reading The Angel's Game sort of gave me a bit of a breakdown when I realized it made me question a lot of things that I had always felt really strongly about. Sorry to hear that this one wasn't a favorite for you. It sounds like it might have disappointed me as well.
I adore Zafon's two adult works, but I was disappointed in The Prince of Mist. I may hold off on reading this one.
Nice review -- I hadn't realized this was a YA novel but I'm going to pass -- my TBR is too huge at the moment.
Your reaction to this is pretty much identical to mine for THE PRINCE OF MIST. I didn't think it was worth reading this - looks like I was right. I did love SHADOW OF THE WIND though.
I wasn't crazy about this book either. I thought the characters and the plot needed to be developed more.
to be in India in the early part of the century and not able to recreate the feel of that time and place seems like such a..dare I say...failure of the author.
I loved Shadow of the Wind but haven't heard much good about his other books... what a shame, this story idea sounds like it could be great!
I have never read this author before at all. It is too bad this book didn't work very well!
I keep seeing raves about the first books in this series. Sounds like I should start there instead. I didn't realize they weren't "adult" books.
I have mixed feelings about Zafon overall. While I enjoyed the bookish bits of The Shadow of the Wind, I found it a little overly melodramatic. I tried The Angel's Game and didn't have much luck with it. The premise of this one sounds interesting, but underdeveloped is bleh.
This one never jumped out at me to begin with. Hearing that you felt it missed the mark only goes to confirm that I've made the right call in taking a pass on it.
Sorry this one didn't live up to your expectations.
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