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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
definitely needed some time to sit with this after finishing it - when I initially finished it I kind of wasn't sure if I liked it or not but I keep finding myself thinking about it a week later. loved the setting and the parallels between the crumbling DDR and hans and katharina's doomed relationship. the first half is great, especially the growing tension and build up to katharina's "betrayal" but I felt the second part fell a bit flat and I got REALLY fed up of the "you never loved me..." cassettes after a while. hans is maybe one of the most unsympathetic and rotten love interests i've ever read and I absolutely despised him by the end!!! i think i did enjoy it overall but it is pretty miserable
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Deeply dark and sad book about parallel failures of love affair and the East German state. The personal relationship takes center stage, but also insights in the last years of the DDR and following its dissolution. Bleak but accomplished novel.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not like this.. it almost got to be like torture to me. The historical aspects were interesting but the “love” story was brutal
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Would have been 4 stars but good god the middle part drags on. Think that’s meant to show Hans’ fixation and immaturity, but it didn’t add anything for me
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
A young woman and an older older married man have a meet cute-ish that turns into a relationship that is pretty annoying and long lasting and it’s set against the time before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Hans might be the most horrible love interest in the history of words.