Reviews

The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck

katiegilley's review against another edition

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5.0

This was a powerful book that forces you to think about the paths in your life. Written in 5 short stories about the same woman, yet imagining 5 very different lives for her. My main takeaway: suffering is inevitable in life. It's the very basis of our lives. And I must stop second guessing my choices because I have no idea what sort of life I'd be living otherwise!

Also: this is another book that illustrates the depths of suffering Eastern Europe experienced prior to and between the World Wars. That suffering is what gave Hitler his foothold, allowed him to press the us vs. them mentality, and festered such hatred towards a specific group of people. What a reminder that we have a responsibility to help those suffering. It has such repercussions throughout history!

styllebad's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jenbosen's review

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slow-paced

4.25

I really struggled through this one, but I think I'm glad I did.

mcr1955's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

hennaemilie's review against another edition

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

4.0

lucita_knjige's review against another edition

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2.0

Nisam shvatila pratimo li jednu obitelj ili više njih. A cijeli dio knjige koji se odvija u Moskvi je iznimno zbunjujuć. Možda je knjiga remekdijelo a ja nisam shvatila.

jtisgreen's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

lauralhart's review

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3.0

The idea for this novel was great, and the writing was beautiful, but sadly the execution didn’t work for me. It was quite slow paced, and I often wanted more concrete details and less abstraction.

karentipsy's review

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3.0

This book had a lot of potential to be a really interesting story with multiple timelines, characters from one timeline showing up in others etc. Instead it felt like the bare bones of what it could have been.