This was fun. And sweet. It made me all warm and fuzzy.

Oh my goodness. What a beautiful story. This was utterly glorious. I want to read about these characters all day.

This had a zippy plot and whipped along at a good speed. I enjoyed the world building. It was quite bleak and probably 2/3 of the way through I was praying for a hopeful ending because there weren't really any chinks of light. It's ripe for a sequel and I'd definitely read it. I was invested in Devon and Cai, even if I couldn't get over the cheesy names.

It took a minute to get into but then I devoured this book. I can't put my finger on what I like about it. In no way can I call myself a gamer, but I know enough not to have felt alienated.

I didn't really like Sadie or Sam I don't think. They were both frustrating characters. Nothing much really happened either. But something kept me going anyway.

Marx's death section was utterly beautiful. I've read a lot of people die and this one will stay with me I think.

It had a danger of leaning towards the Sally Rooney-esque - a genre defined by young people fucking things up because they refuse to talk to each other properly, but somehow it didn't annoy me as much as Normal People or bloody Cleopatra and Frankenstein did.

So I feel ambivalence but also have an absolute clarity that this was a 5* read for me.

Strange.

Urgh this was *so* boring. Charles and Erin were utterly miserable. I mean their kid is dead, but grief can be explored more interestingly than this. I rolled my eyes a lot. It was super repetitive.

Charles was insufferable. Yeah, yeah. Fate and destiny definitely made you cheat on your wife and kill your child through negligence. You're definitely not just completely self centred and selfish. And completely incapable of not doing it again. Definitely just a piece in a bigger plan

I can't decide if that was a work of genius or a complete and utter mess.

It took probably half the book to feel like I was even catching hold of what was going on. Even by the end, I'm not sure what I've just read. It made me feel really stupid.

I can't tell if I enjoyed it, or whether I kept turning the pages just to figure out if it was going to make more sense.

I've given it 4 stars because by the end I'm pretty sure I liked it. But I could quite easily read the whole thing again and not remember it because it was so complicated.

I think It'll need a second go. I might review the rating then.

Hmm. Highly readable page turner but really unrealistic. I didn't get the twist though I suspected something of the sort. It was fine. It's not a 'good' book really and is entirely salvageable because of a moderately decent twist that only works if you don't think about it too much.

There was an overriding story running through all of this but it's written as a collection of short stories really, all round one building over a period of 90 years or so.

Some of the characters peaked my interest, some of them were really dull and didn't capture me. Inevitably, the interesting characters all die and the dull ones got to carry on.

I tend to struggle with a short story as a format as I always want to know more and this was no different.

There were some nicely written bits but overall I found it a bit dull really and was glad I when I finished it.

Even better than the last one.

Mantel has created such a brilliant character in Cromwell. Henry's history is all very fun and interesting but it could be very dull from Cromwell's perspective; it's really not though.

The sumptuousness tactility that was in the first book is replaced with a quiet tension and atmosphere here. Completely and utterly compelling relationships and intrigue and plotting.

I think I am going to have to give it a bit before I read the next one as I think the downfall of old Thomas is going to hit me hard.

This has been on my reading list for a very long time and perhaps it's been on there too long and hyped my expectations.

This novel has the makings of a brilliant thing. And it has brilliant parts. And beautiful parts, funny parts, incisive well observed parts.

But it felt too big. There was too much going on crammed into not enough pages which ended up making me feel little connection for anyone. It felt like it was striving for an epic domestic novel but it meandered all over the place with little resolution.

I felt little for any characters and those I was interested in disappeared with little air time. It all felt like it lacked a focus for me.