Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win WWII by Sonia Purnell

7 reviews

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexism, Police brutality, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Excrement, Drug use, Deportation, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Classism, Child death, Biphobia, Ableism, Xenophobia, Racism, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Chronic illness, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Child abuse, Body horror, Blood, Sexual assault, Murder, Medical content, and Gore

Excellent book, but do not read if you’re in a bad headspace. Extremely open and frank about WWII atrocities in France, including critiques of the approach/strategy of Allied forces. It’s very jarring in the last chapter to have a pointedly neutral tone re: CIA & US military activity in the Middle East in more recent years, after no-punches-pulled attitude to all western powers including the US during WWII itself. This inconsistency is the only thing that prevented me from giving it 5 stars.

oceanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Being a woman in the early 20th century was no picnic, especially when it came to getting a job. Add a disability to the mix and getting someone to hire you was near impossible. Virginia Hall broke down barriers and excelled over her able-bodied male counterparts. At the start of World War II, Virginia was hired as a spy and was deployed to France. As the war carried on, Virginia (under a number of aliases) became a touchstone for people under occupation and fellow resistance workers.

The more her reputation grew, the more the Nazis wanted her captured. Despite several warnings and close calls, Virginia was reluctant to leave her post in France where so many people had come to rely on her. When staying was no longer an option, she continued to prove her strength both mentally and physically — achieving things that most people without a prosthetic leg couldn't. She continued to do what she could for the war effort no matter where she had to go.

There seems to be no end to the fascinating figures of WWII. Virginia Hall is now among my favorites. The book flowed wonderfully. Nothing dragged and there was always something interesting going on. I appreciated that it went in a linear timeline. I've noticed a lot of non-fiction books like to jump around even if it's following a chain of events. A must-read for WWII buffs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, and Genocide

Minor: Drug use, Rape, and Racism

henrismum's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring slow-paced

3.0

Non-fiction
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
Why I added this book to my TBR pile: I seem to read a lot on the subject of women and spies WWII. This book was probably suggested as a result of those books.
Will I read more by the author or about the subject? Probably Not Maybe Likely Most Likely Definitely
I have at least two more books on this subject in my list - Madame Fourcade's Secret War & They Fought Alone: The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France.
The narrator was Juliet Stevenson. She has a pleasant voice, but the British take on the American accent is always funny to me; probably as funny as the American take on the British accent is when the British listen to an American audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Genocide, War, and Violence

dukeofkel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Violence, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Antisemitism, Confinement, Death, Torture, Deportation, Drug use, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

breadwitchery's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Ableism, Mental illness, Medical content, and Torture

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Racial slurs

rcsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Virginia Hall was a WWII spy and appears, from Purnell's enthusiastic telling, to have pretty much single handedly liberated France from the nazis. Most of the book is written in a fast paced novelish style which made it an exciting read. The last chapter was a let down after the war years because it was basically just American men being chauvinistic wankers!
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 Obviously with nazis there are trigger warnings for antisemitism, rape and torture. 
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 Thoroughly recommended to anyone with an interest in the war or women kicking ass!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Minor: Antisemitism, Racism, and Rape

chelseak's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Torture