Reviews

The Third Twin by Ken Follett

loemax's review against another edition

2.0

Prejudices are too ridiculous to be believable. I had difficulty listening to this book because of this.

entchen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

daisy222de's review against another edition

5.0

I absolutely enjoy a well researched book. And this is one of them. Keeping in mind the year it was written in it was ahead of current events. And that is an astonishing feat. If you like a good thriller, genetics and computers this book is for you. An absolute page turner

suzid's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

vickijustwantstoread's review against another edition

3.0

Great plot & story line, but sadly not my favorite Ken Follett book. Really like the Kingsbridge series. These characters all seem shallow and flat.

nourbks's review against another edition

2.0

Ridiculous.

msmegsboone's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

suzze's review against another edition

3.0

First time I have read this author - somehow he came off as sexist to me.

tabea_sph_'s review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

liz_ross's review against another edition

reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The pace is great. And that is pretty much the best thing I can say about this book. Damn it, Follett. Showing the powerful people don't always win is obviously a great thing too. So is showing how things worked in 1996, when it comes to rape crimes (which makes me glad things are far better, even if still far from perfect). But obviously the powerful couldn't win when they are the bad guys. And the second one would only have worked if Lisa hadn't ended up forgotten and only brought up again when it was convinient for the plot.

The fact that every single reaction feels artificial doesn't help either. The problem wasn't the reaction itself. Everyone is allowed to react differently and I no one can judge that. But I sure as hell can judge the wya it is written and that made me want hit my head against a wall because there was nothing human about Follett's description. He seemed ditached from what was being written. And it was like that for the entire book, except in this one scene with Jeannie and Steve, which I will talk about later.

Knowing exactly what was going to happen didn't help either. What was Follett thinking when he named this book The Third Twin?? I just ended up frustrated it was taking the characters so long to figure things out even if I knew it wasn't really their fault. Only one plot twist surprised me. And it was quite well-done, I do have to give Follett that much. 

But definitely this is far from one of Follett's best books.

Full review coming soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape and Police brutality

Minor: Infidelity and Dementia