Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Women by Kristin Hannah

25 reviews

khayes2's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

3.25

I’m not a huge fan of  historical fiction to begin with, so I struggled getting into it, especially with some pretty gruesome war descriptions. And modern parallels to American-funded violence against Palestinian civilians. But the book shifts to the struggle veterans face upon coming back from war, which while still sad, was less gory and a bit faster for me to get through. 

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readwithkb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-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

solid 5 ⭐️ read… I did see some of the twists coming but overall the emotion behind the writing blew me away

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kaylamoran's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This really lulled for me in the middle, and then by the end I kinda just wanted it to be done.  I do wish it focussed a bit less on the men in Frankie's life.  But overall, I absolutely felt for Frankie and I adored all the messiness of her.  I'll definitely read more Kristin Hannah.

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lillypad827's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of Kristin Hannah’s finest novels, in my opinion. I was a bit wary going in because I really did not enjoy The Four Winds, but she did an amazing job with this one. I felt so connected to Frankie and her story. I found myself feeling her anger and frustration as she sought help and was turned away. This book was so informative, I didn’t know much about the Vietnam war, let alone that there were women there!
Rye was an absolute scumbag and I’m glad she was finally able to extricate herself from him. I’m so happy she had a happy ending.

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kelsinavalta's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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kwolfie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Books almost never make me cry, but this one came close. I came into this with only the American centric high school history class view of the Vietnam war, and I learned more from this fiction book than I ever did from school. This book broke my heart so many times and put it together again just as much. The actual reading of this book was quick, and the writing felt raw and real, just like the subject matter. Frankie and almost everybody in the story grew so much It's a really heavy story, so make sure you're prepared to read it. But when and if you are, it is absolutely worth your time and attention. The ONLY thing that I didn't love is that there is a ton of focus on the men in Frankie's life for a book called the women. A lot of her life seems to revolve around them. I also hoped for more of the nitty gritty, sometimes the time skips were a bit too quick. I think that just goes to show my love of the book though, there were nearly 500 pages and I still wanted more.

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jvantland's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

This was a hard read. I felt so beat down by the middle I had to put it down for while. The end helped weave together a lot of the loose ends and questions, but the jump 7 years into the future was a little disorienting after being SO in each moment up until then. 

It was really powerful to read this, especially the second half about the student and veteran protests, while watching a similar state violence unfold against student protests against Palestinian genocide in the US this week.

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mam27's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

3.75

Rating this book was difficult. Although the subject matter was incredibly difficult and heartbreaking I felt it was a story that needed told. The end of the book ruined the overall rating I would have given it. 

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amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

My summary: 

Frances McGrath grew up in a wealthy family in Southern California. Her beloved older brother is shipping off with the Navy to the raging Vietnam war. A nursing student, Frankie graduates early with the goal of enlisting with the Navy to also serve in the war.  Frankie ends up in the Army, the only branch willing to take a new nurse with no experience. After arriving in Vietnam, Frankie quickly realizes she’s in over her head and woefully unprepared as a nurse. Fellow nurses, Barb and Ethel, take Frankie under their wings and Frankie soon becomes a proficient combat nurse. But as her tour ends and she returns home, Frankie finds out that surviving Nam was just as hard as returning home—and it’s often the women in our lives that are always there to hold us together so we can keep going. 

My thoughts: 

I am absolutely not ok after reading this book. Honestly, I don’t see how anyone could be. It’s fiction, sure, but it’s really not. 

This is an incredible yet brutal story. But as brutal as the war is described, I’m sure it is still probably a puppies-and-kittens version of what it actually felt like to be in Vietnam and then suffer the lifelong after-effects of the trauma from living through it. 

If books had sponsors then this one’s should be Kleenex. I absolutely sobbed through what has to be at least half the book. Kristin Hannah’s writing is just so REAL. I felt like I was there. I felt like I was experiencing every trauma and heartbreak and unfairness right along with Frankie. And then I cried some more because it’s not just realistic fiction, it’s likely similar to many people’s true story. 

I put off reading this book for months because I knew I wasn’t ready for the emotional devastation I knew it would cause. And, yeah, it was even more emotionally devastating than I had expected. That being said, I think this is an incredibly powerful story that NEEDS to be told and put in people’s hands. I can’t think of enough accolades that Kristin Hannah deserves for such a moving story about such an important subject. 

Have you ever wondered which modern books will become classics? Which ones will win literary awards? I feel like this one fits the bill in both respects. It’s hard to think of many others that are as deserving as this one. 

I think Kristin Hannah is unmatched in her writing ability to tell this story that is so evocative and doing it in such a way that feels real while honoring the women (and men) that lived through the front lines of the Vietnam war. 

On the lighter side, I loved all the music references throughout the book. Even in some of the saddest parts, it made me smile a bit. I also loved the lifelong friendship that Barb, Ethel, and Frankie had with each other. 

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mbgibson825's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5


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