I can't decide how many stars to give this book. Part of me wants to give it a 2 because I couldn't stand ANY of the characters. Anabel - what a whiny, self-involved, paranoid and delusional woman. Clearly some undefined mental health issues but I never cared. I never felt compassion for her. She felt like a head-case female character drawn by a man. Pip - get over yourself. A lot of people have huge school loans. That seemed to be her overriding reason for everything she did. She didn't want to meet her dad to see what she missed out on, or who he was.... she wanted to ask him for money. And yet she's drawn as a sympathetic character. Andreas - egotistical psychotic misogynist. Tom - he I actually liked the most. But I wanted him to get some balls. Actually, I take it back, I liked Choco the best.

Part of me wants to give a higher rating because I clearly got riled up by the characters and the story and there were parts that were super interesting. The cold-war period in East Germany in particular. The links to the whole wiki-leaks and leaks/reporting scenario that still plays out in the news media today.... But at the same time, I'm kind of pissed I spent over a week reading this book when I have so many others I want to read. It left me feeling IRRITATED!

Oh, and there was no need for this to be so long. Except maybe the author's ego. Now I'm pissed again!