Reviews

I really enjoyed this trilogy, until the second half of this, the last installment. Follett either so wants to be American or is ruthlessly chasing the American market. Even though there are lots of British characters, they've either moved to America or they've been written out of the story, just as the whole of British history in the 70's and 80's. Punk, the Falklands, Thatcher, even the miners strike for goodness sake, given that the story starts underneath the ground in a coal mine....!!!

The last 200 pages seems to have been rushed, almost like the author couldn't work out how bring this mammoth narrative to a conclusion, or he's fallen out of love with the project. Or both. I actually started skim reading the pages, something I never do.

:-(

chloeereesss's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A perfect end to the century trilogy.

funnychris1981's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

The weakest book in the trilogy in my opinion.. It very effectively shows you how life was under the communist rule. Character arcs are really good but the writing makes me feel like the author just used sex as a filler..

florencecwang's review against another edition

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slow-paced

5.0

gabmc's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a solid 3 and 1/2 star book. I almost felt like the end was a bit rushed - like we were rushing to get to Obama's election. The book traces five families from different parts of the world in the latter part of the 20th century and the events they lived through: the civil rights movement, the election of President Kennedy, the Cuban missile crisis, the rise and fall of communism, the Wall in East Berlin and its eventual collapse. I really enjoyed it - I like historical fiction, and while the 'bad guys' were a bit too caricature for me, it was still a really good book.

olishimmin's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

doedeldadel's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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