Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

145 reviews

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

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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

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. 

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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

mbedrosian'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

5.0

Whoa. This book is heavy. 
It made me cry, not necessarily due to the sad parts but due to the weight of this story. It's intense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Pregnancy

ginthepages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was a stop reading to full body sob kind of book. It is absolutely heartbreaking and so, so beautiful. It beautifully describes the ripple effects of our lives, our courage, and the will to do the right thing in the face of great evil. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

sarahaf712's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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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

gemstone's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Cancer and Sexual violence

Minor: Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

aleighc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book took a little while for me to get into, but once it sucks you in you are IN!

The story of two sisters in occupied France is more complex than just the survival of World War II. The reader must understand their past to appreciate their present decisions and how different both of them are. In the beginning you are introduced to one of the sisters in modern day 1990s toward the end of her life. Then, switching from the point of view of both sisters as they survive the war. Throughout the book the author pulls the reader guessing which sister is the modern narrator; dropping hints throughout.

If you are thinking that this is another historical fiction telling set in World War II you wouldn't be wrong. And if you dismiss this book for that reason you will miss out on a great story. The characters are rich and deep. Throughout reading I could imagine that they were actual historical heroines in World War II. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and War

selincck's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

patslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Religious bigotry

nicole_g_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail