Marina had a rough start in that for the first chapters everything Oscar thought and said was disgustingly sexist for a child. I held on to hope that the mystery would make up for this. It unfortunately did not. At times the plot became so incomprehensible that I just struggled to keep going. The timelessness of the Gothic tale and the gorgeous setting of Barcelona were my favorite parts.

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO MARINA BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON?
Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon made my TBR list for several reasons. The first being that a few years ago, The Shadow Of The Wind seemed to have massive popularity. It was such a big book that I bought a copy and it has sat upon my shelf ever since. However, Marina popped up on Netgalley and seemed a whole lot more approachable. It’s a young adult book and I tend to really like books that are put out by its publisher. So, I picked up a copy via audiobook because I figured that was going to be the most easy way to finally check Zafon off my list.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Marina takes place in Barcelona, in May 1980. It is about this boy named Oscar Drai who vanishes from his boarding school for a week. Essentially, this is the story of where he goes for that week. You see, Oscar meets this girl named Marina and her father, who paints portraits. Marina takes him to see something kind of weird – an old woman who goes to a graveyard on the last Sunday of the month, clad in black with a single rose. She goes to a grave with no name. This then sets the two on quite the journey through the upper crust world of Barcelona. The story gets weird and horrifying from there.

WHAT DID I THINK OF MARINA?
I do kind of regret not reading a physical copy of Marina. I’ll admit that I thought the story was quite unique. Plus, Barcelona makes for a fantastic setting – one we do not get often enough. This is quite the introduction to Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It makes me definitely want to pursue reading The Shadow Of The Wind, however, I’ll definitely physically read that and not listen to the audiobook.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of Marina is not all that great. It’s narrated by Daniel Weyman. I just didn’t care for his narration. Granted, I think most people will think that he did a fine job. However, for me, I just had a rough time paying attention to his voice or really caring about the story based on the voicing. Perhaps this was just a case of wrong audiobook at the wrong time, but I felt like my experience with this book was not all that superb due to just not liking the narration.