1.94k reviews for:

Kairos

Jenny Erpenbeck

3.47 AVERAGE

lottiesusannah's review against another edition

3.25

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

chrysec's review against another edition

2.75

dark reflective sad 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

raoulherbert's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

elliya's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 68%

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went to book club before I finished it

toshiro_toshi's review against another edition

4.25

emotional informative reflective 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

koriann_g's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Best part was the insights about living in East Berlin before during and after the wall. Obsessed with that period of history, not so obsessed with a toxic age gap relationship. 

cathybbookshelf's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark informative slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

emmadepemma's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

suzu_julia's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I wish I understood the context and references, I think I missed a lot of the story because of my lack of knowledge. But the writing is beautiful and so many imageries have stayed with me, like how she puts on the coat frontward to hug him first, the fall of the Wall and the rush of consumerism and inflation, and just her listening to the tapes by herself. I really liked the quote on page 239, “the poor stayed poor, but no one noticed, because so much blood was flowing … And the concept of the nation, her father had said, was only devised to mobilize people for war without having to pay them.”

y4ndsl's review against another edition

4.0

challenging slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No