Review: The Ghost Of Gaudi by El Torres

Someone is committing barbarous murders throughout Barcelona, focusing on locations designed by renowned visionary architect Antoni Gaudi. The police have no clues, but a young woman is thrust into the investigation by a man resembling the late Gaudi himself, led to the scenes of the crimes before they even occur... could be a precognizant ghost? A visual tour through the beautiful streets of Barcelona on a true edge-of-your-seat thriller written by El Torres and illustrated by Jesus Alonso, both natives of the city. Winner of several awards in Spain. 

-- Goodreads.com description -- 









I received an arc copy from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fictional graphic novel about an investigation of serial murders on the sites of Gaudí's creations in Barcelona.

Before I review this comic, there is one thing you need to know about me. I LOVE GAUDÍ! For the past twenty years, my family and I, rent an apartment near Barcelona from friends for a week or two. Aside from my university city, Ghent, Barcelona is my most well-known and favourite city. I have visited everything Gaudí designed which is open to the public. He is by far my favourite architect.

So, now let's move on to the actual review:

Things I liked: 

- As I'm a huge Gaudí fan, I adored the drawings of his many creations. The art style is really stunning and for that alone, I recommend this graphic novel. The theme of the story was represented in the darker colours while the artist still showed the vibrant buildings created by Gaudí in their original state. 

- I enjoyed the mystery aspect, it was entertaining and I actually didn't figure out who was responsible for the murders before the police did, which is also refreshing.

Things I didn't like:

- I didn't really get Antonia's storyline. It made the story more confusing and I feel she could have been left out of the comic in its entirety. 

- The presence of Gaudí's ghost was a bit over the top for me. I think the story would have been stronger it focussed a bit more on the police investigation instead of on Antonia and Gaudí's ghost, but that's just my personal opinion.

All in all, I recommend this graphic novel! I absolutely adore the art style and for me that's always the most important aspect of a graphic novel (again that's just my personal opinion). If you like Gaudí as much as I do, I believe you should definitely check this one out. However, if you are not familiar with the Catalan architect, this comic offers a good introduction to his work as well. All his most famous creations in Barcelona are featured in the story.

I gave this stunning graphic novel 3 stars and I might actually purchase it in the future as well! Loved it!