Review: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Title: The Prince of Mist
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pub. Date: May 4, 2010
Genre: Young Adult
224 pages

It’s wartime, and the Carver family decides to leave the capital where they live and move to a small coastal village where they’ve recently bought a home. But from the minute they cross the threshold, strange things begin to happen. In that mysterious house still lurks the spirit of Jacob, the previous owners’ son, who died by drowning.

With the help of their new friend Roland, Max and Alicia Carver begin to explore the strange circumstances of that death and discover the existence of a mysterious being called the Prince of Mist — a diabolical character who has returned from the shadows to collect on a debt from the past. Soon the three friends find themselves caught up in an adventure of sunken ships and an enchanted stone garden — an adventure that will change their lives forever. (Summary from publisher's website)

The Prince of Mist was originally written in Spanish, and it has now been translated in English. It takes place in the 1940's during the war, and Maximilian Carver moves his family out of the city to a beach town for their safety. As soon as they arrive, his son Max feels that things in this new town are a little strange, and once they arrive at their new home that feeling increases.

Next thing you know, there're weird sounds, strange occurrences, odd dreams, and a mysterious garden. Once accidents start to occur it's apparent that something is definitely going on. It's up to Max, his sister Alicia, and their friend Roland to figure out what, and if it could all possibly be tied to the mysterious Prince of Mist, whoever he is.

This story was a fast read for me. It's a pretty short book anyway, but I flew through it. It ended up being a bit scarier than I thought it would be. I caught myself looking over my shoulder a few times while I was reading, and kept thinking I should pick it back up when it wasn't the middle of the night, but then that's just no fun!

For the most part I loved the characters. Max, Alicia, and Roland are the only characters that we really get to know enough about, though at times I still felt a bit disconnected from them. The other characters were great, but they weren't really around long enough for me to establish any type of connection with them.

Overall, I had a good time reading this book, and enjoyed getting creeped out by it. With that said, the ending was a bit shocking and abrupt. Oh, and if clowns really creep you out...hehe. Let's just say that they don't creep me out, and I was creeped out. Just giving you a heads up!


*I received an ARC copy for review through Book It Forward Tours from Dark Faerie Tales*