Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a complimentary copy of this title.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that there was going to be a short story collection that was being released posthumously and was rooted in world of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. While I'm not a huge short story fan, I had to read this. Like most short story collections, some were better than others, but regardless of how short or long each one was, they were all a fully realized story. If you enjoy the storytelling of CRZ then this collection is a must-read.

The City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a collection of short stories and partial chapters to complement his Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.

This book is full of ghosts, spirits, and all of the chilling Gothic suspense of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Set in Barcelona, the stories are written to give the reader the sense of danger lurking around every corner. If you are a fan of the Cemetery of Forgotten book series, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this collection of stories.

Sadly, Carlos Ruiz Zafón is no longer with us, but he has left us with a treasure in book form.

"Return to the mythical Barcelona library known as the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in this posthumous collection of stories from the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind and The Labyrinth of the Spirits.

Bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón conceived of this collection of stories as an appreciation to the countless readers who joined him on the extraordinary journey that began with The Shadow of the Wind. Comprising eleven stories, most of them never before published in English, The City of Mist offers the reader compelling characters, unique situations, and a gothic atmosphere reminiscent of his beloved Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet.

The stories are mysterious, imbued with a sense of menace, and told with the warmth, wit, and humor of Zafón's inimitable voice. A boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his creative gifts capture the attentions of an aloof young beauty who has stolen his heart. A labyrinth maker flees Constantinople to a plague-ridden Barcelona, with plans for building a library impervious to the destruction of time. A strange gentleman tempts Cervantes to write a book like no other, each page of which could prolong the life of the woman he loves. And a brilliant Catalan architect named Antoni Gaudí reluctantly agrees to cross the ocean to New York, a voyage that will determine the fate of an unfinished masterpiece.

Imaginative and beguiling, these and other stories in The City of Mist summon up the mesmerizing magic of their brilliant creator and invite us to come dream along with him."

Since Zafon's death we must take every new book as a gift.

Carloz Ruiz Zafon has recently passed away, departing for his very own Cemetery of Forgotten Books, leaving behind a mesmerizing fictional world of his own invention.
The mythical Barcelona of Zafon’s imagination, a gothic city of tall cathedrals and dark alleys, of mysterious bookstores and mysterious authors, has been brought to life with stunning detail over four interconnected books, beginning with The Shadow of The Wind and concluding with the behemoth Labyrinth of Spirits. (There are also a YA series potentially connected somehow, but having never read them, I can’t say for sure).
I’ve read, listened to and adored those books. Sure, the more I mature as a reader and as a person, the more I notice that they aren’t perfect books, the goth lean is strong within them, they can be overwritten and overwrought, but…but…they are still so very lovely. Books written for book lovers.
Barcelona is a character in and of itself within those books, a gorgeous, mysterious character, seemingly permanently shrouded in mist. So much so that it merits the title of this collection perfectly.
These are the stories the author prepared for posthumous publication and majority of them are from the same world, tangentially or directly connected with the main stories and characters. Some are backstories elaborated, some are myths. One of them imagines the existence of the third volume of Don Quixote and circumstances of it. All of them, all of these stories will take you back to Barcelona, take you traveling through time, take you far and away to the magical city of the mist.
Don’t know how much someone who’s never read the author and isn’t familiar with his writing and the Cemetery of The Forgotten Books series, will get out of this, but for the fans and completists this is a must. It’s a slim and dreamy volume that goes by very much like a short dream. It’s poignant, melancholic, and very lovely. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

When a favorite writer dies, you slow down on any of that writer's work you haven't read yet because you know you're reaching a hard and fast end to possible "first moments." You're torn between wanting to absorb everything that's available and wanting to stretch out the pleasure for as long as you can. It's a bit like receiving a box of fine chocolates: gobble them down in one sitting and make yourself sick with ecstasy or just eat one a week and make them last for months? And if you've already read everything that writer has published, their passing leaves you bereft, with a sort of hole torn into your reading heart that no other writer's work will be able to fill. That's how I felt when Carlos Ruiz Zafón died in June 2020.

Ruiz Zafón in best know for his four volume "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" series that is set in Barcelona in and around the Franco years. Ruiz Zafón has an elegant, gothic writer's voice that would seem over the top coming from almost anyone else, but he pulls it off. Over those four novels readers become familiar with and genuinely attached to the Barcelona Ruiz Zafón depicts.

Now, more than a year after Ruiz Zafón's death, readers have been granted what seems little less than a miracle: a new collection of Ruiz Zafón stories, most set in Barcelona and many featuring characters from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. That collection is The City of Mist. The back story here is that Ruiz Zafón had enough time once he knew he was terminally ill, to assemble this collection and that he specifically wanted it released after his death as a small gift for his readers.

And what a gift it is!

The stories aren't perfection. Ruiz Zafón writes best when he writes at length. When he's producing briefer pieces that gothic voice overwhelms the power of character and narrative, which can lead even readers who love him to do a bit of eye rolling. But it doesn't matter that the stories aren't perfect. They're unexpected moments in Ruiz Zafón's world, in his Barcelona, and any reader familiar with his work is always going to be reading the stories within the larger context of his oeuvre. He's already created more than enough magic to imbue these stories with.

The City of Mist is a gift to readers, but those familiar with his work will be most able to appreciate it. If you haven't read any Ruiz Zafón, don't start with City of the Mist. Start with the first book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series: The Shadow of the Wind. After that, if he's captivated you the way he's captivated so many readers, keep going with the series and make your way through The Angel's Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, and The Labyrinth of the Spirits. They each stand on their own, but they also twine around each other in complicated, beautiful ways. Then, reach for The City of Mist. You don't, of course, have to follow my suggestions. but take them to heart. Entering Ruiz Zafón's Barcelona for the first time is something you can do only once—and it's worth entering that world in the way Ruiz Zafón first brought it to readers.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon was one of my favorite authors. I own every book he's written and when I find out a book of short stories was going to be published after his death I was excited for the chance to read his work one last time. Sadly, I didn't enjoy this collection at all. I'm not sure what the problem was but I just couldn't get into any of the stories and struggled to finish the short book. Many, if not all, of the stories had a dark, sinister undertone to them which helped bring out Zafon's magical realism quality to his writing, but they still didn't grab and keep me riveted to the page. At least we will always have the Cemetery of Forgotten Books to go back to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a collection of short stories he put togather before his death in 2020 to be published after his death.  I normally don’t enjoy shirt stories because I feel they don’t give you enough time to really get to know the characters and get invested in the plot.  The only reason I decided to read this collection is because I enjoyed the the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series so much.  I must admit, I did enjoy this collection, each one as good if not better than the one before.  As soon as I finished one, I could wait to start the next.  I’m not a big fan of fantasy or books with a gothic feel, but some how Zafon makes it work.  A must read for anyone who is a fan of the Cemetery of Forgot Books series.