The Shadow of the Wind

This book was long-winded and not worth the time invested reading it. I'm not sure if that can be attributed to the fact that it was translated or to the gothic romance style the author was trying to emulate. And while I understand that the language and themes were meant to match the place and time period, it was just so glaringly obvious on every page that this was written by a man. There were several instances of rape/molestation, countless slurs, domestic abuse, and romanticized incest. Lining it up, it reads like the search engine of a porn site.
There were multiple plot points that were brought in that went nowhere. The whole concept of the cemetery of books was the most interesting part and it had only a minor role in the story. I would have thought it would be more important seeing as how the whole series is named after it. The first portion of the book was dedicated to this Clara character who's sole purpose was to make the main character have a first crush? For what?
I guessed at most of the ending. The only part that threw me was the incest. I was worried that Daniel's life was mirroring Julián's too much to where Bea would be his sister too. Also, why didn't they explain The significance of Tess of the d'Ubervilles to Bea. That's one of the worst stories on the planet... if that was the book I found in the labyrinth, I would be pissed. Overall, meh.