I was very excited about this last book in the series as each of the previous books were riveting world history lessons. I have to say that while I felt a personal connection with the characters in the first two books, it felt to me like I was only interested in the main characters in this novel because I knew their parents. I wasn't as invested in their outcomes as I had been in previous books. One exception was George Jakes, who went from fighting for basic rights in the 60s to witnessing Obama become President. Whatever your political leaning, to the African American community, that was truly a historical moment. 
 I was disappointed at how little thought was put into the deaths of all the characters from the first book, but the truth our generation seldom gives thought to what might have been fascinating lives of the old. To many of us they are simply old and they die because its what happens to us when we're old. In that way, I think the book held a truth about our society and our focus on our own exciting lives with only minimal thought to that off the older generations. It will happen to us. 
 The book itself felt a little rushed. It started out just as powerfully as the previous ones, but quickly felt like we were traveling through time very fast with only snippets of these character's lives as they reacted to the history happening around them. And unfortunately there was no character that I really liked throughout the whole book. I was impacted by their journeys, but not them as characters. 
 In the last half of the book, the political leanings of the author were prevalent. When I thought about it though, his views were present throughout the whole series. I share his views and its perhaps why I loved the other books so much before. While his retelling of recent history may seem bias to us now, especially since we are living it, I think he may be in the right about what history will tell of these times to the future generations. The Left is always going on about being on the right side of history and I truly do believe that its true, but like with all historical events, only time will tell. The book wasn't the powerhouse the first two books had been, but it was still a worthwhile read.