Reviews for Universe

The average rating for Universe based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-08-07 00:00:00 Tim Oneill This is the second book of the four-part series that I have read by Summers. I can honestly say that it isn't necessary at all to read the books in sequence as they can easily be understood as stand-alone novels. However, despite having the opportunity to read this conclusion, I felt detached and unappreciative of the characters. I wonder… if I had read the entire series, would my enjoyment have been more elevated? There is a lot of cattiness between the Caldwell girls in this novel. Daisy, the protagonist, is quite negative and I frequently disliked her attitude during the story. Whilst she continues with her own war effort as a nurse and sees many, many horrors, her attitude towards her personal life reflects an immaturity I would not have expected from someone who has witnessed many things. Indeed, Vanessa is portrayed as a spoilt teenager, and Immy frequently disgruntled that the war has prevented her from seeing her beau. This level of characterisation certainly reduced my enjoyment of the novel. With all of the negativity, I found it difficult to relax with the story. Perhaps the author has done this deliberately. The frequent snappiness of the characters could easily reflect the pressure and strain of the war and how it was often believed to be nearly over, before another bout of terrible attacks and casualties occurred. I found that I really and truly enjoyed the narrative after the halfway point. In my opinion, the story became more interesting and the pace intensified. It felt like there was less chat and more action. Whilst there is tragedy and upset for many of the characters, I felt that Summers was being more realistic. Undoubtedly, I did enjoy reading a war novel that wasn't centralised in London, but I feel like this meant the narrative lacked pace and energy that it would have typically had. Ok, so I wasn't overwhelmed by this story. It followed the same thread of the other book I have read although I was hoping for something a bit more dynamic by this stage of the series. The novel seems to be a countdown to the end of the war, with all the characters (naturally) longing for peace. Until the tragedies began to strike, I felt that this meandering narrative did not grasp my excitement or interest as much as other war stories out there. With thanks to Netgalley and Agora books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-04-09 00:00:00 Gloria Jeziorski I thought the story was interesting and it kept my attention. I thought it was a good portrayal of how people and family were affected by the war. It was the final book in a series and while I had not read the previous ones I had no problems following this book. I did think it ended rather abruptly almost like it ran out of time. Historical fiction fans will enjoy this book. Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy