Rating: 
Summary: Not his best.
Review: I am a lifelong reader of John Jakes. I enjoyed the Kent Family books and The North and South trilogy. However, this book lacks Jakes rhythmic writing style and good storytelling; this book is not interesting. This book is intended to be volume II of a three volume series. At the ending of American Dreams, Jakes more or less has shut the door on these characters. Jakes last good book was North and South.
Rating: 
Summary: good, but...
Review: I loved Homeland and was waiting with bated breath for American Dreams. However, after reading it, I was slightly dissappointed. Fritzi was a good main character, I guess I was just expecting more on the "family" front. The scope & intensity of Homeland just wasn't there in my opinion. It was still a good book, I was just hoping for more.
Rating:
Summary: good, but...
Review: I loved Homeland and was waiting with bated breath for American Dreams. However, after reading it, I was slightly dissappointed. Fritzi was a good main character, I guess I was just expecting more on the "family" front. The scope & intensity of Homeland just wasn't there in my opinion. It was still a good book, I was just hoping for more.
Rating: 
Summary: DUMBING DOWN HISTORY YET FURTHER
Review: I read the first book in this series and enjoyed it, but this is now beginning to look like a bad television mini-series. Do authors of so-called "historical" novels think we are just plain dumb? This is written in elementary school level english; and can we really believe that the family members ever got so close to world leaders and business types? Poorly written, boring, I think John Jakes only wrote this because he had a contract for another book. It doesn't come across like he cared. SAD from the man who brought us one of my favorite historical fiction series on the Civil War. It may be time to put down the pen on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry....
Review: I read this whole book because it bore John Jakes' name on the cover, but I must admit it was a bitter disappointment. It was a fast- very fast- read but equally as disappointing. Homeland was excellent, magnificent...but this was a very big let-down with relation to its predecessor. Let's hope book three doesn't slump any further.
Rating: 
Summary: A Surprise
Review: I started reading this book for a project and ended up not wanting to put it down. This was my first exposure to anything that Jakes has written and I am already looking forward to reading his other books. He weaves in historical facts without the reader even realizing what he has done. This book gives the reader a feel for the time period right before the first world war, and by the end, the reader feels almost as if they could have lived through it themselves. This book was both exciting to read and educational. A welcome surprise!
Rating: 
Summary: Another historical masterpiece by Jakes
Review: I want to rebut the reviews that this book was "not up to Jakes' usual par". Readers have criticized the "lack of depth", "shallow characters", and so on, but I felt that the fast pace of this book was in perfect rhythym with the brisk historical pace of the early 20th century. All of the characters were real and believable and I fell in love with Carl the man that I adored like a puppy in "Homeland".
Rating:
Summary: A Surprise
Review: I was so excited to learn that there was a sequel to Homeland. Unlike that novel, however, this one cannot stand on its own. Homeland is just a much more broad sweeing epic with vivid characterization.In Homeland we see the character of Paul Crown grow as an individual. There is no such characterization here. Fritzi is likable and intersting, but lacks the connection the reader will feel to Paul. Likewise, Paul's other cousin, Carl seems so one dimensional. Jakes make frequent references to Carl's clumsiness. That seems to be his stand out trait. Alot of the episodes here seem familair- the wealthy young woman with a forebodding father, Joe Sr's wrath at his children's careers/goals, a path of self discovery. It is all the same as homeland. Meanwhile the principal characters from that novel, Paul, Joe Senior, Ilsa feel like guest stars in a television show. The younger generation is lacking somehow. That being said, this is a good historical novel if you are interested in the turbulent years preceeding WWI. I would have liked seeing more how Joe Senior (a native German) felt about the brewing winds of war... This was disapointing, but not entirely w/o merit.
Rating:
Summary: A disapointment after Homeland
Review: I was so excited to learn that there was a sequel to Homeland. Unlike that novel, however, this one cannot stand on its own. Homeland is just a much more broad sweeing epic with vivid characterization. In Homeland we see the character of Paul Crown grow as an individual. There is no such characterization here. Fritzi is likable and intersting, but lacks the connection the reader will feel to Paul. Likewise, Paul's other cousin, Carl seems so one dimensional. Jakes make frequent references to Carl's clumsiness. That seems to be his stand out trait. Alot of the episodes here seem familair- the wealthy young woman with a forebodding father, Joe Sr's wrath at his children's careers/goals, a path of self discovery. It is all the same as homeland. Meanwhile the principal characters from that novel, Paul, Joe Senior, Ilsa feel like guest stars in a television show. The younger generation is lacking somehow. That being said, this is a good historical novel if you are interested in the turbulent years preceeding WWI. I would have liked seeing more how Joe Senior (a native German) felt about the brewing winds of war... This was disapointing, but not entirely w/o merit.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but Somewhat Uninvolved
Review: It was a long wait for this second book in the Crown Family series, and the wait turns out to be somewhat unrewarded. "American Dreams" is half as long as the first book, "Homeland", and it covers a few more years than "Homeland". It makes for a much faster read, but it is also somewhat dissapointing; instead of the great plot and character development that made "Homeland" an overwhelming and beautiful masterpiece, "American Dreams" proceeds briskly, sketching out the various plot lines without ever getting too involved. Still, Jakes is a masterful writer, and in the last hundred pages Jakes really connects with the story, bringing WWI vividly to life and creating an undeniable emotional effect. If only the rest of the book had this same power, "American Dreams", which is an enjoyable read, could have been another fine novel in the model of "Homeland".
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