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londoncarmelita's review
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
One of my all time favourites
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Racism
noteworthy_fiction's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
wshier's review
4.0
When a conflict has gone on as long as it has in Ireland (sometimes hot, sometimes cold) everyone forgets what in the world it is all about. This book explained it for me better than non-fiction ever did.
celestihel's review
5.0
This story follows the lives of two Irish Catholic boys growing up between revolutions. Their folks were Fenians and they grown up to be republicans. It's a fight that is never quite won and a struggle that only makes some progress at slow intervals, even now. If you want to feel what life is like for a colonized people, this is a good trip inside that mind.
It is a dreary & beautiful slog through fictionalized history of a conquered people. If depressing stories punctuated by periods of unrequited hope are not your thing, you will not enjoy this book. I, however, found it was not like a book at all, it wasn't like reading a story. It was being the fly on a wall. I was so immersed in the story it felt like being there. If it were just fiction, maybe it would feel like too much, but in a very real way this is exactly what it must have felt like to be Irish Catholic at the time and is therefore a valuable exercise in empathy and a lesson in the damage inflicted on the colonized mind.
It is a dreary & beautiful slog through fictionalized history of a conquered people. If depressing stories punctuated by periods of unrequited hope are not your thing, you will not enjoy this book. I, however, found it was not like a book at all, it wasn't like reading a story. It was being the fly on a wall. I was so immersed in the story it felt like being there. If it were just fiction, maybe it would feel like too much, but in a very real way this is exactly what it must have felt like to be Irish Catholic at the time and is therefore a valuable exercise in empathy and a lesson in the damage inflicted on the colonized mind.
randolphareads12's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
jamesvw's review
3.0
A novel of pure black and white plot, fun, but troubling and lacking any psychological nuance that would get in the way of the arc of the storyline.
heyhannahrae's review against another edition
5.0
When I was in the tenth grade, my favorite teacher of all time gave us the assignment to read four books by one of his six favorite authors. I chose Leon Uris. First I read EXODUS, then I read TRINITY, and then I fell in love... with Conor Larkin. *swoon*
Although TRINITY is strictly historical fiction with no hint of magic, I really believe that readers of the OUTLANDER series would enjoy the character of Conor Larkin. If I could date a fictional character, he would--hands down--be the fictional character I'd choose.
Not only did I fall in love while reading TRINITY... I also learned a bunch about the potato famine and Ireland's history! It's a big book, yes, but it's worth a read.
Although TRINITY is strictly historical fiction with no hint of magic, I really believe that readers of the OUTLANDER series would enjoy the character of Conor Larkin. If I could date a fictional character, he would--hands down--be the fictional character I'd choose.
Not only did I fall in love while reading TRINITY... I also learned a bunch about the potato famine and Ireland's history! It's a big book, yes, but it's worth a read.
sanrodsara's review
2.0
The premise of this book seemed interesting and the multiple perspectives were definitely enjoyable. Where this book fell flat is the narrative style being so slow and overly focused on small details that do not contribute to the plot or the understanding of tension. I also feel like this book is impossible to read without thinking about the later Irish and NI troubles in the second half of the 20th century.