The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

How I Came Across It... *I was in need of one more audio book to wrap up my school year commute. I have had this title on my TBR list for quite some time. I decided to take the plunge and listen to the story during my last couple of weeks of the school year. What It's About - Five Things You Need to Know... *The novel is told in two stories

*The first story is about Yale's life in 1985 taking place in 1985.

*The second story is about Fiona's trip to Paris in 2015.

*The characters do overlap during the two time frames, but the actual stories are quite separate.  

*The main story during 1985 centers around the Aids epidemic in Chicago and the effects that has on the characters then and years later.
What I Thought of It - Five Observations/Reflections... *I was hoping to really enjoy the story, but found it slow and didn't always engage me.

*I enjoyed the development of the characters and what was happening to them during the tragic years when AIDS first appeared in our country.  

*The secondary story in Paris, years later, wasn't as interesting to me and didn't always understand the connection back to 1985. 

*The writing was beautiful, but the plot moved along a bit too slow for my taste.  

*The ending was quite emotional, but I felt like I waited during the whole story to feel some emotion.
Who Should Read It... *As you can tell, this was not the story for me.  I know it received quite a bit of praise and reward, but I found the plot to be quite slow, and didn't connect with many of the characters.  I'm not sure what reader would find the story engaging and a page-turner.  Happy Reading!  

*Many readers have given this novel either 4 or 5 stars. It wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean it won't grab other readers and bring them into a futuristic world of survival, love, and betrayal. Happy Reading! Rating... 3 out of 5 stars