The Prisoner of Heaven (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #3) in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jun 09, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 2012, historic-fiction, mystery, fiction

Books like The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón make me love being not only a reader, but someone who loves the look, feel, and smell of books. Why? Because I get the feeling that Zafón has the same sort of reaction to picking up a book. There's this feeling of history, companionship, and shared experience I get when I handle something old and precious, and a sense of awakening hope for the future when I pick up something new.

The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book centering around the Books like The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón make me love being not only a reader, but someone who loves the look, feel, and smell of books. Why? Because I get the feeling that Zafón has the same sort of reaction to picking up a book. There's this feeling of history, companionship, and shared experience I get when I handle something old and precious, and a sense of awakening hope for the future when I pick up something new.

The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book centering around the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, but if you haven't read the other two novels, The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, don't let that stop you from picking this one up - because you see, Zafón has done something brilliant and perfectly fitting with these books. You can start with any book and read them in any order, and they all remain connected through this one, single, perfect place. In this book the story of Fermin Romero de Torres is detailed out piece by fascinating piece, and Daniel is given more information on the history of his parents. The relationship between Daniel and Bea is also in question - and references to both The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game crop up throughout the book in, sometimes, the most surprising of places.

And let's not forget the fantastic homage paid to The Count of Monte Cristo - because it's there and it's a beautiful thing. Zafón has this way of describing places that are detestable, filled with dirt and filth and corruption, and making it come to life in such a way that I was both fascinated and repulsed at the same time. But then to tie in the literary message - it was a thing of beauty and I cannot stop raving over how good this book was.

I devoured The Prisoner of Heaven in about four hours. It is less than 300 pages, and more easily accessible, reading wise, than Zafón's previous books were. His prose is still beautiful - full of flowing lyricism that made me feel, at times, as if I were reading a piece of artwork, but it was more simple, less complicated somehow. Then again, it may just have been the fantastic story being told.

If you haven't checked out Zafón's books, or are avoiding them because of the hype, don't. Please. I'm not one to brim with praises for hyped books, but I can say that these deserve every bit. ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 Eva rated it it was amazing

Shelves: personal-library

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Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a genius in the way he writes the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. Four books that can be read in any order weaving their way through a labyrinth of stories, the author had me hooked on one plot line after another. I am generally not a person that rereads books but I know I will reread this series. I have now read three of the four books and am more immersed in the story than in any book that comes to mind easily.

The atmosphere is dark and gothic with interesti ...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Julia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, politics

Of the 3 books in this literary "series" (they aren't really, rather they are 3 stand alone books that share characters), this one is the most compulsively readable. In fact it kept me up until after 1 AM because I wanted to know how it would all turn out. And it inspired me to return to Angel's Game to try it again. I don't know that this book is as masterfully written as Shadow of the Wind, but I found it much more readable and the characters remained every bit as complex and enjoyable (from F ...more

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Jun 29, 2019 Shauna rated it really liked it

I don’t know if this is the first time I read the book or the second. With this series, the themes and characters, the settings and plots... the all become twisted and interwoven like a complicated library, where you seldom find the same book twice.

I like the feel of this book better than the last. There were shadows, but the entire thing wasn’t covered in a sooty cloud.

I think Daniel Sempere is my favorite character. But the author is setting him up to disappoint me in the fourth book. I thin ...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Jeff Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: war, spanish-fiction

Zafon continues the Cemetery of Forgotten Book series with The Prisoner of Heaven. Daniel Sempere, the hero of The Shadow of the Wind, meets a strange and mysterious customer in his bookshop. The man overpays for The Count of Monte Cristo just to leave a note for Daniel’s friend Fermin. When Fermin reads the note his face turns pale. He must reveal the secret of the note and in doing so, reveal a part of Daniel’s own history, a history he has kept from him all this time.

The majority of the book ...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Astrid Lim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller-mystery, historical-fiction, gothic, series, europe, book-of-books, dramatic, twist

Uh oh. My opinion is divided into two different sides. I love every story about Cemetery of Forgotten Books and especially about the lovely bookstore in Barcelona, Sempere & Sons. And this book is special because finally we were given a chance to know a little bit more about the past of Fermin Romero de Torres. But, for me, the book ended in an abrupt mode. There are so many things that still need explanations! So many unanswered questions. And I feel bad when knowing this is actually the last b ...more

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