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belou's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Abortion
mlasquith's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
revolta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
ales_99's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, War, and Deportation
em1246's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A good follow up from the first, I like that Follett focuses is on the areas of history we may know less about. The description of the the Russian invasion of Berlin was horrific but important to include. . My main issue with this book is there are too many sex scenes, I guess it was an issue with the first one too but this one felt worse. Every character is young and in love and the description of everyone's sexual awakening got pretty tiring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
chloeereesss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
4.25
Preferred the first book in series. But realy excited for the third. Some very challenging chapters and descriptions of events. LOVE the characters and relationships throughout the book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
joypouros's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is the second of a trilogy. I had read the first two years ago, so I only vaguely remembered the characters. I think Follett does a good job jogging your memory about how you knew them before without too much exposition and without it being necessary to this book.
This covers WW2 and follows many of the same characters and families as before. It does not focus very much on concentration camps, though it does not ignore them, but instead the every day family life of families in the USA, Germany, Britain, and the USSR. As such, families are divided on politics, men go to war willingly or otherwise, many people just try to survive. I liked that the focus was more broad, because there are a lot of books focused on the concentration camps.
Maude, who moved from England to Germany after marrying a German in the first book, is there with her husband and two kids as the Nazis take power. Her husband dies for asking too many questions when their maid's handicapped child is killed. She and her daughter are against the Nazis, but her son joins them.
In the USSR, an intelligence agent does his part for Stalin while fighting doubts about communism.
An American daughter of a gangster cares more for her own social status than politics, but a loveless marriage and circumstances change her in many ways.
The stories are always so neatly entwined.
It ends on the brink of the cold war, which is where the last book will pick up.
This covers WW2 and follows many of the same characters and families as before. It does not focus very much on concentration camps, though it does not ignore them, but instead the every day family life of families in the USA, Germany, Britain, and the USSR. As such, families are divided on politics, men go to war willingly or otherwise, many people just try to survive. I liked that the focus was more broad, because there are a lot of books focused on the concentration camps.
Maude, who moved from England to Germany after marrying a German in the first book, is there with her husband and two kids as the Nazis take power. Her husband dies for asking too many questions when their maid's handicapped child is killed. She and her daughter are against the Nazis, but her son joins them.
In the USSR, an intelligence agent does his part for Stalin while fighting doubts about communism.
An American daughter of a gangster cares more for her own social status than politics, but a loveless marriage and circumstances change her in many ways.
The stories are always so neatly entwined.
It ends on the brink of the cold war, which is where the last book will pick up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and War
niitty's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Child death, Death, Rape, Torture, and Death of parent
bambiann's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and War
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Like Fall of Giants, this is really several books at once; with separate but interconnected groups of characters spread across the UK, Germany, Russia and the US. The significance of history in this book is matched by that of the characters' more personal stories, and the balance between history and narrative is so brilliantly woven. In fact, it's the characters' individual stories that makes this so easy to read, despite its 900+ pages. The next generation from those we met in Fall of Giants takes up the narrative, but it's never unclear who anyone is thanks to Follett's gentle (but never patronising) reminders, and the cast list at the beginning of each book.
The Russian side of this story was particularly fascinating because I know so little about it, but it was incredibly disturbing to realise how much the Red Army abused their power as liberators of Germany. Assuming that the final part of the trilogy is about the Cold War, I'm intrigued to know more about this side of history.
While I love Follett's writing, this does suffer a little from a man-writing-female-characters perspective. That part of the book hasn't aged well and I did roll my eyes a few times at some of the assumptions made about women.
The Russian side of this story was particularly fascinating because I know so little about it, but it was incredibly disturbing to realise how much the Red Army abused their power as liberators of Germany. Assuming that the final part of the trilogy is about the Cold War, I'm intrigued to know more about this side of history.
While I love Follett's writing, this does suffer a little from a man-writing-female-characters perspective. That part of the book hasn't aged well and I did roll my eyes a few times at some of the assumptions made about women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Torture, Murder, Pregnancy, and War