Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
chicas POR FIN. llevo desde el 1 de enero leyéndolo creí que nunca lo acabaría. uf.
en mi defensa diré que es largo largo largo y que estoy en 2 de bach
en mi defensa diré que es largo largo largo y que estoy en 2 de bach
adventurous
informative
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:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
I read this author for the first time when I picked up Pillars of the Earth. I liked it enough and had been eyeing this trilogy ever since the first book came out. It was such a monster of a tome, though, that it intimidated me. But I do love historical fiction, so I decided to read it anyway.
I'd say the first few sections were enjoyable. I liked learning about these characters and their lives. Oddly, it was when the war started going that I began to lose interest, only paying attention again every now and then. I think part of what killed my interest was all the sex scenes. I'm not sure if any of them added anything or were important in any way. I think another problem was how it skipped through time and alternated between the different families. It was easy for me to lose track of who these people were, where they were both geographically and personally, and what they were doing.
There were also a lot of coincidental meetings and these people constantly running into each other. How did they all happen to run in similar circles despite being from different countries and living in different social classes? I get he's trying to tie all these threads together, but I personally think it would be more interesting to show the world through many different lenses that don't intersect. Also, all the out-of-nowhere revelations of love were a little odd. I guess that can happen during war but before and after? I don't know, it was weird how characters would be talking and all of a sudden one would say "I love you" without any hints of chemistry or interest beforehand. I'm not reading this for romance but if you're going to write that in, make it believable.
I will admit I'm not very knowledgeable about history so I have no idea how accurate any of this stuff is to what happened. I do know that the author completely glossed over the Spanish influenza outbreak. There was a brief mention of one character in bed with influenza but he recovered from it. I also didn't care for all the winks to the audience, like mentioning Adolf Hitler and a character going "wow I'm glad he's in jail, glad that his revolution is over" or "what if our children have to fight another world war". Again, I don't know history, so maybe these were attitudes at the time. It just felt like it was aware of itself.
The ending also felt very nothing. Maybe that's the point since it's a trilogy, but it didn't even feel like there was a conclusion to anything. I got to the ending of the last chapter and was surprised that this was what the author was ending on. Sure it's a nice character moment but for that to be the conclusion of this huge book? It feels very anticlimactic. I considered quitting so many times but wanted to power through and see what would happen. A part of me doesn't really feel like my stubbornness was rewarded.
Not sure whether or not I'll continue. The roaring '20s are certainly a great era to focus on and I am a little interested in the characters. I think I'll need a long break before diving back in, though.
I'd say the first few sections were enjoyable. I liked learning about these characters and their lives. Oddly, it was when the war started going that I began to lose interest, only paying attention again every now and then. I think part of what killed my interest was all the sex scenes. I'm not sure if any of them added anything or were important in any way. I think another problem was how it skipped through time and alternated between the different families. It was easy for me to lose track of who these people were, where they were both geographically and personally, and what they were doing.
There were also a lot of coincidental meetings and these people constantly running into each other. How did they all happen to run in similar circles despite being from different countries and living in different social classes? I get he's trying to tie all these threads together, but I personally think it would be more interesting to show the world through many different lenses that don't intersect. Also, all the out-of-nowhere revelations of love were a little odd. I guess that can happen during war but before and after? I don't know, it was weird how characters would be talking and all of a sudden one would say "I love you" without any hints of chemistry or interest beforehand. I'm not reading this for romance but if you're going to write that in, make it believable.
I will admit I'm not very knowledgeable about history so I have no idea how accurate any of this stuff is to what happened. I do know that the author completely glossed over the Spanish influenza outbreak. There was a brief mention of one character in bed with influenza but he recovered from it. I also didn't care for all the winks to the audience, like mentioning Adolf Hitler and a character going "wow I'm glad he's in jail, glad that his revolution is over" or "what if our children have to fight another world war". Again, I don't know history, so maybe these were attitudes at the time. It just felt like it was aware of itself.
The ending also felt very nothing. Maybe that's the point since it's a trilogy, but it didn't even feel like there was a conclusion to anything. I got to the ending of the last chapter and was surprised that this was what the author was ending on. Sure it's a nice character moment but for that to be the conclusion of this huge book? It feels very anticlimactic. I considered quitting so many times but wanted to power through and see what would happen. A part of me doesn't really feel like my stubbornness was rewarded.
Not sure whether or not I'll continue. The roaring '20s are certainly a great era to focus on and I am a little interested in the characters. I think I'll need a long break before diving back in, though.
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
A nice blend of history and fiction . What kept me from giving a higher rating is all the “coincedental “ meetings of the main characters . They always seem to be a the right place at the right time . Even on a front spanning from the North Sea coast to Verdun , they happen to be at the exact place , albeit on opposite sides of the front . A bit unbelievable , and not the only time this happens .