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belou's review against another edition
- 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
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
ales_99's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, War, and Deportation
chloeereesss's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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 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.
Graphic: Rape and War
bambiann's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Rape and War
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Torture, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
beanjoles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Factually and historically, it's an informative and interesting book. I enjoyed learning about the lives of everyday people during this time period, particularly that of the German resistance. And I'm actually glad Follett didn't attempt to write heavily about or from the perspective of someone in a concentration camp — it would have been hard for him to do respectfully yet realistically.
That's actually my primary criticism of this book: lack of respectful and realistic representation. Having read the entire Kingsbridge series and now two of the Century of Giants trilogy, I am simply BEGGING Ken to learn how to write a woman character. I cannot describe how irritated I was reading about Carla's experience
Ken's treatment of queer people is better, although
I remain baffled that Ken has been married multiple times to women, because the sex scenes always feel so weird. This criticism applies for all his previous books that I've read, and I'm unsure how he's managed to never improve them over the years. I guess when the books sell, why bother. The descriptions of bodies and acts can feel a bit schoolboyish. Why do I need to know the size of each woman character's bush and breasts? The male characters never get this treatment. (Not that I want them to!)
I think this all boils down to Ken's inherent difficulty relating with the female characters he writes. To his credit, he does try to have them engage with the feminism topics du jour, and sometimes he achieves meaningful commentary and true-to-life reactions. But (many) other times his writing resembles that tongue-in-cheek meme about Cassandra "breasting boobily to the stairs." It's a real weakness for all of his work, and Winter of the World represented a particular low for me. I get the impression that Ken thinks making a woman character smart and strong makes up for being unable to meaningfully write about their motivations and emotional landscapes. That approach rarely pays off, and despite their intricacy and historical value, his books are worse off for it.
I'll continue on in the series because for me, the historically-grounded and well-researched stories are still worthwhile. But I could really do without the sophomoric romances between shallow characters. Here's hoping the next one is less cringe in that department.
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and War
Moderate: Abortion
Heaviest possible content warning possible for rape. This is not a triggering topic I'm particularly sensitive to, but I was still a bit nauseated by the writing.morsa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Abortion
cathy_alice's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, and War
leahisdudish's review against another edition
3.0
also the way of writes about boobs gives me the ick. if you borrow my copy you will see REALLY KEN written next to every boob reference
Graphic: Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism, and War