Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Series: Niebla #2
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release: (First published 1998)
Source: Hardcover
Pages: 301
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BLURB: In the heart of Calcutta lurks a dark mystery. . . .Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, The Midnight Palace begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life. . . .Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere’s sixteenth birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night—and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces.
EXPECTATIONS: After reading The Prince of Mist I have to admit I had some expectations set that unfortunately weren't fulfilled.
THE WORLD: Like the synopsis says, it is set in Calcutta during the 1930s.
CHARACTERS: The main characters are Ben and Sheere, two twins who were separated at birth. Somehow Ben ends up in the orphanage. The story starts when Ben turns 16 and he and his friends have to say goodbye now since they can only stay in the orphanage until the age of sixteen. During their years together they formed a special club they called "The Chowbar Society." One day they discover that Ben is in danger because a lunatic paranormal man, Jawahal, is going after him. Ben and Sheere reunite and with the help of the "Chowbar Society" they have to unravel the mystery of this man and their own family affairs.
ROMANCE: No romance.
GOOD: Good things... I liked the premise. The story itself has holes but I liked the idea of it. I also like the author's writing style and narration but other than that, I found this book lacking.
BAD: So you know how I said The Prince of Mist felt like a short story? Well, this book is really long but guess what? There was about the same amount of background story and character development in both. The ending was closed at least, which gave it an extra point, but really the story has many holes and there was no explanation whatsoever for the paranormal events taking place.
OVERALL: 3 stars. It wasn't bad enough to stop reading but I certainly didn't feel the excitement and anticipation I did with the first book. I have yet to read the final book of the trilogy so maybe this was just a case of "second book syndrome?" (I hope so).
What do you think about THE MIDNIGHT PALACE?
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