917 reviews for:

Winter of the World

Ken Follett

4.25 AVERAGE

ac_ulloa27's review

4.0

I really enjoyed the story-line in this one, I felt like Follett did a good job of making the reader interested in the characters and their development from beginning to end, however I give it 4-starts because I felt like from a "historical" narrative standpoint, the book lacked content.

In Fall of Giants Follet does a very good job of portraying the war from both sides in a fairly neutral way and you can tell there's a lot of research that went into it. This time, I feel like he missed some details, perhaps in his attempt to cover the entire war, the author only managed to briefly glimpse through some of the major events that went on, but you lose some of the emotional reaction that the author is intending to make the reader feel and that should be attached to various significant events (such as the dropping of the bombs over Japan, or the abuse of Jewish people by the Nazi). Also, some of the writing was a bit over the top, too many phrases intending to be "epic", usually at the end of most chapters. Overall, it was an entertaining read.

obri0333's review

adventurous informative inspiring reflective tense slow-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? No

5.0

rfs45's review

5.0

I enjoyed continuing the experiences of the 5 interwoven families and some new characters as well in this 2nd book of Follett's trilogy. In a book this large, he has time to develop the characters much more fully than in a short novel, carry on the large story, and keep my attention and interest throughout the book.

vlamuno's review against another edition

4.0

En la linea del primero pero un poco por debajo. Pero muy poco. Por cierto me ha encantado el personaje de Daisy!

yarnmama10's review against another edition

5.0

Interesting book. I read the first one, The Fall of Giants and I think they were about equally good. I can't say I have any preference for one over the other one. I like how these books bring the past to life. Some of the situations to bring characters together are a bit convoluted I guess, but I found it a good read.

ETA: After my second reading of this book I can say that I liked it more this time. My emotions and empathy for the characters situations was more intense.

srreaderx's review

5.0

This book was even better than the first. Follett continues the story in an engaging tale that causes you to not want the story to end.

zabbelinha's review against another edition

4.0

História muito interessante, especialmente porque nos mostra alguns dos lados da WW2 que não são tão representados em filmes e livros. Foi aliás o que mais interessou neste livro, embora haja muitas críticas aqui no goodreads ao facto de pouco ter falado sobre os campos de extermínio.
Gostei bastante mas tal como demorei a voltar a pegar neste após ter lido o primeiro acho que vou dar uns tempos até pegar no último.

pearlbd30's review against another edition

4.0

Not as intriguing as the first. With all of the additional characters I feel it was a little thin. But still well done and worth the read.

gmsichmeller's review

4.0

This book was fantastic but incredibly intense. It was tough to get through. There were several times where I had to put the book down for the rest of the day after particularly brutal scenes. I really enjoyed the multiple points of view and I think it helped me understand a lot more about WWII, even though the book is a work of fiction.

I am really glad I read this book, but after reading it I'm going to take a large step away from war novels. I can't remember another book that has affected me this much.

jwordsmith's review

1.0

Ugh. Enjoyed the first book. Slogged through this one. First part, about the rise of Naziism was interesting, but not once during this book did I care about any of the characters. Not once. Not sure why I struggled on to the end, actually.