Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

105 reviews

writer_a_fox's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Grief

ginadapooh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kgauthier's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Was worth the read! Had some sad parts, kind of left me feeling a little empty. One of those books you think about for a while afterwards. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual violence

elisalasater's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

mattiedancer's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Writing: 4.75⭐️/5 

The writing is quite stunning. The prose is beautiful, weighted, and eloquent. There were some truly stunning standalone lines, but it also had a nice cohesion. Beyond that, it wasn’t a challenging writing style to read and was well-woven into the plot. 

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

The characters were highly motivated and flawed, which meant that they felt uniquely human to me. The characterization of the Nazi soldiers was particularly detailed and complicated, leading to moments of pathos for these villains. At times, it felt like certain characters made very weird choices, but it was usually justified later. This just led to a slower understanding of characterization than I might have liked, but it wasn’t too jarring.

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

I know that this is kind of a fan-favourite book, so I’m reluctant to say this, but at times it felt like the author used trauma a bit reflexively to address human moments. Too many times did I know that a terrible scene was coming and, when it came, it was witnessed by one too many characters who we had grown to love, no matter how illogical it might be that they would have ended up witnessing it. I appreciate that this is dealing with the reality of war horrors that took place during WWII; however, at times, it just felt a bit too neat in how directly the trauma continuously happened. That being said, the overarching plot was really well done. I loved the story-within-a-story format that the grandmother at the beginning set up. Overall a solid plot with just a lot of trauma at the end. 

Post-Reading Rating:  4⭐️/5

The ending felt fine: necessary and complete. 

Who Should Read This? 

• Fans of WWII novels
• Fans of historical fiction
• Fans of Kristin Hannah
• Fans of real-life trauma books or books focusing on horrific moments

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Infertility, Abandonment, and Alcohol

tojtwl's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

So beautiful, but so sad. I've read so many raving reviews about books by Kristin Hannah. I'm glad I gave it a try.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

nerveblockreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

I’ll admit, the beginning of this book took me a while to get through because it was slow and mainly setting up for the second half. But boy did that second half of the book hit hard. I’m talking multiple ugly cries from watching the growth and pain these sisters go through and the decisions they’re forced to make. This story of survival, loss, love and the spirit of the French people during WW2 is written well. Get ready for an emotional tug at your heart as you explore a complicated sister relationship and all the friendships made along the way. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

boba_nbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was one hell of a ride. From the pain of grief and loss to the joys of love and motherhood, the French women of WWII were some of the silent heroes worth celebrating. It was great to read a novel focusing on their efforts instead of other parts of WWII that are more heavily emphasized. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

Moderate: Rape and Murder

Minor: Cancer and Miscarriage

sarahaf712's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Excrement, Vomit, and Abandonment

Content warning: Holocaust; concentration camps; forced labor camps; dead bodies; bombings

drsuzbark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

This book brought me to tears. It was a hard, difficult read due to the content, but it deepened my perspective of World War II and the French and Jewish people.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and War

Moderate: Racism and Rape