Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Women

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The Women by Kristin Hannah

134 reviews

bringmybooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

✨Bring✨ | ~~Borrow~~ | ~~Bypass~~

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, & Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

Review: One of my favorite authors, Kristin Hannah continues to prove that she has an unbelievable way with words. It's unbelievable how quickly she sucks you into a novel and makes you care so much about all of the characters. There are parts of her books (especially her more recent ones) that are a bit melodramatic and require a bit of suspended disbelief, but to be honest I don't know that it bothers me so much.

While there is a bit of heightened drama on the interpersonal side, the research and care that Hannah provides to the historical aspects of her novels is top tier and so welcomed. I feel like I learned a ton about the Vietnam War that I was not aware of before (mostly the women's experience of it), and I was very grateful for this book so that I could do more of my own research.

I did really enjoy the characters in this novel, even when they're making the most piss poor decisions - but my favorite part of the novels, and pretty much all of Hannah's novels, is the way she writes relationships between women. I do think this book is her penultimate example of that, and the relationships between the Frankie and her two best friends will stick with me for a long time.

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ / 4.63

Rating each element of the book out of 5★
Characters ★★★★
Atmosphere ★★★★★
Writing ★★★★
Plot ★★★★
Intrigue ★★★★
Logic ★★★★
Enjoyment ★★★★
Pacing ★★★★
Dialogue ★★★★

★ did not like / ★★ it was okay / ★★★ liked it / ★★★★ really liked it / ★★★★★ loved it

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jeggert10's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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your_geekygf's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The only reason it doesn't get a 5 is the main character is a nurse and some of the medical descriptions/narratives recalled kind of went over my head because I am not a nurse and am squeamish 😅

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bearybooky's review

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dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It was difficult to read but im glad i did. Vietnam happened before i was born and i dont know much about it. Now i know more.

It was very sad. So many bad things happen to the main character i was beginning to lose interest and hope. But there is just enough redemption.

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mountainstobeach's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my favorite of the Kristin Hannah books that I have read. The topic is very relevant and important and she does a good job bringing serious issues to light in a serious way. There are moments of levity and hope in the book but overall, it feels very real and poignant.

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oproy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I will say, the last 10% of the book had me crying and questioning life. But the first 50-90% was hard to get through. It was a lot of muck, and I felt that Frances had to go through almost too much hurt. It felt unnecessary.

Like I would have believed her trauma after the first death. I also did not like how quickly the author tried to characterize her at the end as an old spinster. It was just such a quick turnaround after 200 pages of war, and 200 pages of Frankie spiraling.

Overall, I honestly probably would not recommend this book because it is so heavy and at points a little too preachy for my taste. However, the setting and idea behind it is very interesting and definitely something I want to look into further after reading. Even in school, I don’t feel that I learned much about the Vietnam War let alone the women in the war, so this feels like a jumping board.

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chelse34's review against another edition

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3.0

Man the Vietnam war was complicated. Lots of opinions about it and the people who fought in it. Learned a lot about that aspect.

I had flashes throughout the book that reminded me of the movie "Pearl Harbor" but in Vietnam and in a book. Little plot similarities.

I felt that one of the characters made the same mistake multiple times because the person didn't learn the first time. And it kept happening with different dumb mistakes! Learn your lesson girl! So deja vu a bit there.

There's lots of content in this book that was difficult, but didn't bother me while reading it, namely: PTSD after the war, substance abuse, mass casualties and war injuries.

There was some content that did bother me while reading, namely: lots of swearing (guess that's war for you), adultery, and fornication. Nothing was too graphic in the book, but there were some sex scene details I could have lived without. Wished she would have cut the scene sooner.

Hannah is an amazing story teller. I give her that. There were parts I enjoyed in the book and things I didn't. So 3 star average rating I'd say. Not my favorite book of hers, but not my least favorite.

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