I finished A Tale of Two Cities yesterday and think I enjoyed it more now than I did when I was younger. Such a lovely book that captured the full range of emotions! 
 Although I enjoyed the characters, I think this is one book for which I liked the plot more. The series of events and really forced the characters to grow and change - to become, in most cases, better and more responsible (and more responsive) people. The juxtaposition of the two cities and what went on in them was striking - routine in one, chaos in the other. 
 One of the interesting things in this book was the Revolution. My bias is usually "with the people" so it was in some ways difficult to read about how the "citizens" started to treat one another. In general, revolutions are messy and innocent people get hurt - it's a good reminder that there is a downside to all that energy! It is also a reminder to be humble and realize that one is not able to control everything - as we saw with both Dr. Manette and Madame Defarge. 
 The duality theme - two cities, two people who look alike, spies, characters at the beginning and the end, freedom and "imprisonment", etc. - was so well-done without being heavy handed. When I read great books, I tend to come away feeling "respected" as a reader. It's like the author knew that I would make the links without him/her having to do it for me. They make me think because of the subject, the characters and the way it's written. 
 This is a 5/5 - pretty much knew that coming in, but it was nice to have it confirmed.