Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

216 reviews

ashpeckk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Cancer and Rape

rebecca_bluedragonskeep_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Torture, Blood, and Pregnancy

pranjuli's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Made me stay up all night to read the entire second half of the book in one sitting. Loved Vianne's character arc. From the beginning, she was a fully formed person with a past, present, a future. She had reasons for acting like she did. She actually felt like doing the representation of women's stories in the war that has been talked about the book itself. And still, she had so much space for growth, to change. From the first page when she is introduced, I was constantly engaged in her story, I kept wanting to go back to what was happening with her. 

Not a big fan of Isabelle - only liked in her in the last leg of the book. Her dialogues and scenes were almost always crassly written. A lot of the things and feelings she had, were only told, not shown.

For example, in one chapter she would be with her father in his apartment, then go on an adventure, then we'll see Vianne's life for some time, and then it will cut to some months later and Isabelle would say she hadn't gone to the apartment in Paris in 18 months. She missed home. Slept in such places, lived likes so, bla bla.

We didn't see any of that. We just listened. 

The tension in the relationship between Isabelle and her father could have been structured much better in the first half of the book. Same goes for Isabelle and Gaetan's relationship. Infact (this might be a controversial opinion), I feel like Gaetan was not needed only in this story. He felt like a plot device and one that could easily have been fulfilled with any other already existing character. In my personal opinion, he brought Isabelle's character down

- she  had needed his 'recommendation' to get in the circle, she needed his care to fill the vacancy of  familial love, she kept waiting for him to even die at the right moment, etc.

Honestly, could have done without him. 

Isabelle, overall in the first half, was too annoying and desperate and stupid. I know the author wanted to show her 'impetuousness', but she was actually very unlikable in the beginning. Beck deserved better </3 Sophie </3 
Also, there were a lot of inconsistencies in the timeline of the girls' early life, their memories of the maman and the first world war. It kept irking me now and again and pulled me out of the scene often. 
The book could have done with quite some editing (i feel atleast 50-60 pages could be edited out). 

Yet I think this was a good book to read about French women's experience in the war, about a country under occupation during a war, about good men like Beck who were enemies but still good men, to help you think of the countless Nightingales that soared in the skies during the heinous wars fought in Europe at that time, and innumerable times in every corner of the world since time immemorial and their brunts that have been borne by women throughout the entirety of human history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and War

kaligray's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture

Minor: Miscarriage

kdevine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and War

opplecopter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Miscarriage, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Suicide, and Excrement

daydevillarreal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This book is amazing. Love, loss, adventures, sister and family love...war, fear...
It was as beautiful as it was heartrending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Abortion, and Death of parent

stephliljazz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was a tearjerking, inspiring, dark historical fiction about German occupied France and the things the French did to fight the Nazi, help allies and survive the war. I was a mess finishing this book. The hang over is a lot. 
I'm going to share some quotes.
"I know that grief, like regret, settles into our DNA and remains forever a part of us."
"The past has a clearity I can no longer see in the present."
"Does one follow a leader blindly?"
And my favorite.
"Americans. They didn't listen."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

erinvasut's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Deportation

trinloyd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

5.0

An incredibly emotional and moving story of war and the women behind the scenes. Truly breathtaking, gut-wrenching, and heart-shattering. My heart broke over and over and over through out this book for all the ways these characters experienced life and love and loss, all through the lens of WW2. While these characters may be fictional, the backdrop they were set against very much was not fictional. These things may not have truly happened to these fictional women, but they happened to other, very real women. That’s what made this book so truly emotional and moving for me. It was a new look at WW2 that I hadn’t seen before and I am changed because of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Rape