Review: Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun

Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Equal parts darkness and poignant beauty, The Labyrinth of the Faun tells the story of Ofelia, a child who mourns the loss of her father and the seeming absence of her recently remarried and now pregnant mother, Carmen. Ofelia, kind, brave, and terribly lonely, escapes into a world of dark fantasy to escape the reality of her cruel stepfather, the Wolf, Vidal, who is terrorizing his men and the community in which they live. Her story, as the secret Princess Moanna, alternates with ten fairy tales. Set in 1944 Spain, against the backdrop of the post-civil war, this is a rich retelling of the del Toro's lauded 2006 film, Pan's Labyrinth. This magnificently illustrated novel is intended for young adults and some aspects of the story may be too intense for young children.

The audiobook is beautifully narrated, with authentic Castilian pronunciation of names and places,

CW: child death, maternal death, multiple murders


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