Review: The Angel’s Game (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #2) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Following up a great story can be tricky territory, because the reader is going to have that first narrative at least somewhat on their mind going into the next installment. Some new ideas deliver while others fall flat, and I’ve often found I’ve had mixed experiences with new installments following up stories I’ve greatly enjoyed.
The Angel’s Game works as more of a prequel to Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind than a sequel. And, unfortunately for me, I feel let down.
Before I get too ahead of myself, let’s look at what the story covers.
Summary
The story opens with a man named David Martín working at a publication called The Voice of Industry where he starts to receive fan mail from an unknown writer. When Martín decides to work with this mysterious fan on a new project, however, he finds himself in way over his head as his boss’s work begins to take a toll on his life that he finds is difficult to escape from.
Will Martín be able to figure out what his boss is up to?
Thoughts
This was disappointing. I think my hopes were set too high, coming off the thrill of The Shadow of the Wind hoping for more twists and turns and thrills like the first installment. I think what is most discouraging about this is that I can see those thrills in this story – I can see Zafón’s tricks and where the shocking moments are. But they didn’t entirely hook me in this installment.
Part of the issue is the way this story is organized. I’ll go into it more in its respective section, but there were problems with the structure that made it difficult for me to get fully invested in the story despite how much I wanted to. I spent so much time trying to piece together all the elements that were introduced that I found myself frustrated with the lack of clear answers as time went on.
Before I talk too much and turn this into the structure section, let’s discuss the characters.
Characters
David Martín
As a character, I see both positive and negative aspects with Martín. I like how his character is revealed bit by bit in the story and he has sympathetic aspects that I was able to get behind. His backstory moved me, and I absolutely loved his relationship with the bookseller Sempere! Seeing him be open with the man and learning how their relationship came to be was nice to see, especially given Martín’s unique circumstances.
Concerning Martín’s personal struggles, I admit that some of his circumstances throughout the story confused me. Seeing him get sick left me wondering about what was driving those events. I feel like there is never a satisfactory answer given for the circumstances surrounding the illness. It feels almost random the way these events occur, not giving an answer as to why the situations are resolved the way they are. It felt unclear.
Anyway, I think that’s all I have on Martín. Let’s discuss his boss next.
Andreas Corelli
This character had great potential. On the one hand, he is presented as a mysterious, powerful person and I like how his affable presence clashes with his motives. I like how his conversations with Martín hint at his personality just enough that the reader can tell there’s more going on underneath the surface, but never quite pin down exactly what that is in the moment.
On the other hand, his arc feels unresolved to me. I feel like we never outright see what role he is intended to play in the story, even when all is said and done. It felt weird to see him act a certain way and then have nothing come from it. His actions never produced the results I was hoping for, and I still don’t fully understand why his arc was handled the way it was.
Anyway, now that I’ve discussed some of the characters, let’s look at the story’s structure.
Structure
Unfortunately, I see this as the weakest aspect of the story. Zafón introduces too much information and doesn’t give enough answers before piling on more twists. The structure of this novel is somewhat reminiscent of its predecessor, but it lacks the tight focus that kept me hooked last time. The story meanders from one plot point to the next without the succinct touch it needed. I kept asking questions and hoping I would see clear answers by the end, but by that time, I still felt confused by several things.
Andreas Corelli is a great example. While his character is interesting, he is not given nearly enough focus because of all the other things going on in David Martín’s life. It took over fifty percent of the narrative before the main mystery came up, and I think that that is way too long to establish something that ended up being central to the plot. I would have liked to see tighter focus on that main mystery. Otherwise, the structure of the narrative led to it feeling fragmented.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s discuss the writing.
Writing
The prose is the highlight of this novel for me! Like last time, it is beautiful. It has a lyrical, cozy aspect while maintaining the creepy mood and tone when needed. The writing has flair that kept me engaged despite all I’ve outlined above. The prose maintaining the characteristic creepiness that hooked me last time and along with the dichotomy of the lyrical language used at the right moments made for beautiful writing!
Well, I think that’s all I have on the writing this time around. With all that said, let’s wrap this review up!
Conclusion
I really wish this hadn’t been such a letdown for me. I just don’t think the story was organized well enough for my taste. I see the building blocks of a great narrative here, but the structure of it failed to deliver. Despite this, I do plan on continuing with the third installment and seeing what happens next, because I do still feel rather heavily invested in the world seen in this series so far.
I think it should be interesting to see where Zafón takes this. For all the reasons I’ve discussed, though, I can only award this particular story two stars.
The Writer's Library 