Reviews

World Without End by Ken Follett

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bearpolar's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

not as strong as the previous one. Would have been better without the whole relationship nonsense, but that's just me.

lexbaer's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

rosietomyn's review against another edition

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dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Revisiting Kingsbridge two hundred years after Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett's The World Without End isn't quite as impressive a read as it's predecessor.

While Pillars expertly weaves life stories that span a couple of generations, the second novel sticks closer to one generation of Kingsbridge residents. Although it would seem more likely readers would get a deeper understanding of a smaller cast of characters, this set felt hollow and less dimensional than the larger cast in the previous book. If this had been book one, I don't believe I would pick up book two.

The series as a whole is known for its violence, but book two feels especially brutal when compared to book one. Needlessly so.

Content Warnings

maryvdb2024's review against another edition

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4.0

Not as brilliant as Pillars of the Earth and World without End. Nevertheless an enjoyable read but a doorstop book to carry around. I found the constant reiteration and reminders of plot history tiresome but maybe thats because I read it without long gaps between. I love the connections to history events and historical characters.

rebeccasreadingrambles's review against another edition

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4.0

Wow. So it took almost a year for me to finish this book. My husband and I decided to listen to the audiobook in the car, and so we only got it in bursts and an occasional long trip. I don't quite know how to review this EPIC TOME. But here are some highlights:

Things I loved:
How we got to see so much of the character's lives. How many unpredictable things happened and all the drama. I enjoyed the characters - Ken Follett can write some seriously DISTURBING AND EVIL characters. And even the ones you are rooting for are flawed, and sometimes made you roll you eyes or want to yell at them (some of the characters are extremely selfish_hemCarishem_ and/or just so dumb it makes you yell_hemGwenda_). I loved the setting and how I really know what life was like during this time in history (for better or worse). The detail was fantastic and really well written. I loved how we followed all the main characters throughout their entire lives.

Things I didn't love:
The unnecessarily long description of disturbing things (there is sickness, gruesome injuries and fights, rape, sex, you name it). There was a lot of cringing involved by my husband and I - sometimes we honestly would have to mentally tune out because it made us feel a little ill. This book is GRAPHIC and we just didn't see the need for some of it. Basically everything disturbing thing you can think of was in this book.