These time lines are so confusing.
588221
Not great. One time watch.  These times lines are so confusing. #deadpool
3950449
Too many different directions of intrigue, jumping from different people and different history.
3477286
Ive always wanted to learn more about Anastasia and the Romanovs, so I thought Id really be into this book. It took me until about 2/3 in to get used to the unusual timeline. Its two time frames heading towards each other to meet in the middle. In her notes at the end of the book, even  the author admits it can be daunting to some readers. If you can get past that and stick with it, you will see why it was written in such a way. It was hard knowing how the real story ended in such a sad way and I just kept wishing somehow the story had turned out differently for their family. In other random notes:
-I worried about the dogs too much.
-Heels is spelled heals several times.
- Based on her 1901 birthdate, I think Anastasias age is mentioned throughout the book incorrectly based on the dates given at the start of each chapter.
1959294
Confusing the way the story jerks us back and forth across thirty years. The variety of vocal presentation not as satisfactory as WORLD WAR Z
4606675
Jumped from subject to subject.  Is it history or fiction?  It left me confused, and disorder,at times just lost. REALLY
1773670
Somewhat confusing with all the changing time lines. Does keep you wondering who did what to whom so it was a good read.
1299963
Interesting way to tell the story but can be a little confusing until the main characters and dates are understood.
269432
This book was very confusing. It goes from 1991 to 1968 to 1988 so on and so forth. I couldn't make sense of it.
The story is about Henry DeTamble. He has Chrono-Displacement Disorder. It causes his genetic clock to reset. "He finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future." He'll just disappear without warning.
Then, there's Clare. She's met the future Henry in her past and he told her that they would be married.
They meet again in 1991. Henry is 28 and Clare is 20. They fall in love.
And then we go back and forth in time until nothing makes sense.
Don't read this book. It's a waste of your time.
4159117
This is the first book I've read by Dan Chaon so was not familiar with his writing style.  I didn't like all the going back and forth in time.  It was quite confusing at times for me.  But I was curious enough to keep on reading.  I wanted to know what the truth was from what happened in the past.  It also lead to what was happening in the now.  Lots of dysfunctional relationships between sisters, cousins, and a foster brother.  I would have rated this 3 and 1/2 stars.
3417323
I prefer the segments set in 1822 to those set in 2015.  It seemed very unlikely to me that these modern incidents described could have actually occurred.  Little things disturbed me:  Kate's dragging a scrap of paper out of her pocket and making a sketch that actually made sense.  Really?  Meeting Gabriel who eventually turned out to be her nephew:  very unlikely. Meeting Rose, finding her half-brother:  all too coincidental to be taken seriously.  I think it was an interesting story, that could have been told more believably.  It was so predictably easy to figure out what was coming.
3195114
I did not realize how important this period of history was.
2254307
However it is somewhat difficult to read in that there are so many names, dates, etc. Hard to keep it all together.
839189
found that the huge scope of this history is really too large for comprehensible reading. There are just too many KIngs etc.mentioned (my guess is several hundred). People had very short lives back then and keeping tabs of all the characters becomes boring.
4210390
, As someone who lived during this time, it is hard to read, but also proof of why we are put on this earth...live, learn, cry and teach.  War is not something that only touches those on the battlefield, it crosses all borders of life.

Well done, my friend.
1166539
The story switched back and forth too much. I couldn't keep up between the past and present. Confussing at times.
4201630
I struggled with keeping the names straight of the main characters, and the time jumped around so much that I was confused as to what was happening when.  I do like her writing style however, and just wish she had written the story starting at the beginning and straight though to the end,
3870191
A lot of historical references inter-mixed in text which made the reading flow somewhat haphazard.