Scan barcode
elentarien's review
3.0
Slightly better than book one, I did find this one harder to put down than the first one. A little more familiar with the ever-growing list of characters, it was easier to jump between them without getting confused (although, the children were constantly forgotten/mixed up. :P) We did get to spend a little more time with one of the characters (Catherine) for part of this book, and it was nice to be able to get to know someone a little better, although she was dropped rather abruptly once her little story 'arc' had resolved and suddenly we're flipping around between characters again.
I did enjoy the story of Jane - and her eventual acceptance by her English family.
However, it rapidly gets back to the problem of a LOT of jumping around between characters. You never really get to spend too much time with anyone and time goes by so quickly (about 10-ish years are covered in this book? Maybe a few more) that you miss huge gaps of the characters lives and what is going on with them, so you don't really get attached to anyone at any given time.
Again there is a huge problem of any action that arises in the story is skipped past. Either with a scene/time cut, or a viewpoint change so all action is told in summary by someone who saw it. Plane race? We get to see the pilots UP TO the point of take off. Then suddenly you're at the finish line, waiting with other characters waiting to see what happens. Characters start fighting? It mentions it, then cuts to characters inside the house finding out about some other event that happened behind the scenes. Another character goes on (yet another) plane race. . .and suddenly we're hearing about a crash and how they're seriously injured. Cut to months and MONTHS later and they're mostly all healed up and life speeds on. Sudden desperate escape for the lives of the characters in Germany? You guessed it! Short scene of dialogue telling them they need to flee for their lives right NOW - then we get a cut to two days later instead of an interesting action scene of them ACTUALLY ESCAPING. Needless to say - this was more and more frustrating as things heat up and get a little more interesting.
There are a few points where we see *SOME* action, but it's very truncated and brushed past (Robbie's 'adventures' in Jerusalem, the attack on Jane and Lady Preston in Germany) and suddenly you're elsewhere hearing about how things turn out via someone's letter months later. Grrr.
So, yeah. . .all in all, it's an interesting read, I rather like most of the people we read about. . .but I don't really CARE much about any of them even in the dire situations. Again, while interesting - it's hardly making it to a shelf of books I care about or will read a second time.
I did enjoy the story of Jane - and her eventual acceptance by her English family.
However, it rapidly gets back to the problem of a LOT of jumping around between characters. You never really get to spend too much time with anyone and time goes by so quickly (about 10-ish years are covered in this book? Maybe a few more) that you miss huge gaps of the characters lives and what is going on with them, so you don't really get attached to anyone at any given time.
Again there is a huge problem of any action that arises in the story is skipped past. Either with a scene/time cut, or a viewpoint change so all action is told in summary by someone who saw it. Plane race? We get to see the pilots UP TO the point of take off. Then suddenly you're at the finish line, waiting with other characters waiting to see what happens. Characters start fighting? It mentions it, then cuts to characters inside the house finding out about some other event that happened behind the scenes. Another character goes on (yet another) plane race. . .and suddenly we're hearing about a crash and how they're seriously injured. Cut to months and MONTHS later and they're mostly all healed up and life speeds on. Sudden desperate escape for the lives of the characters in Germany? You guessed it! Short scene of dialogue telling them they need to flee for their lives right NOW - then we get a cut to two days later instead of an interesting action scene of them ACTUALLY ESCAPING. Needless to say - this was more and more frustrating as things heat up and get a little more interesting.
There are a few points where we see *SOME* action, but it's very truncated and brushed past (Robbie's 'adventures' in Jerusalem, the attack on Jane and Lady Preston in Germany) and suddenly you're elsewhere hearing about how things turn out via someone's letter months later. Grrr.
So, yeah. . .all in all, it's an interesting read, I rather like most of the people we read about. . .but I don't really CARE much about any of them even in the dire situations. Again, while interesting - it's hardly making it to a shelf of books I care about or will read a second time.
grim_reads's review
3.0
I won this book on Goodreads giveaways.
It took me a bit to get into this book and I kinda felt like it dragged on. That being said I read this in a very busy time so that could have had an impact on keeping my mind focused.Its based in the early 1900's and leads up to when Hitler took over in Germany. There is a bit of romance, betrayal,death, and other trials that go through one family.
It took me a bit to get into this book and I kinda felt like it dragged on. That being said I read this in a very busy time so that could have had an impact on keeping my mind focused.Its based in the early 1900's and leads up to when Hitler took over in Germany. There is a bit of romance, betrayal,death, and other trials that go through one family.
More...