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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
I love, love, love historical fiction, spies, strong female leads, and WWII based books. The author, however, is hit or miss with me. This story, thankfully, was a lot better than the last book I read of hers.
Nancy Wake, an Australian journalistic living in Paris during WWII, sees a lot of gruesome and cruel treatment towards the Jewish people and other communities. She becomes a spy, helping smuggle weapons and supplies, often walking towards danger, and donning her red lipstick as armour. She's loud, outspoken, passionate, and brave.
The story did a good job at portraying who she was, her story, her accomplishments, and her grief. She cycled over 300 miles in three days, her thighs bleeding for the skin rubbed off due to friction. She walked into meetings, never knowing if she would leave alive. She was a badass through and through. In scenes written about these real events, it translated very well. The inspiring story was brought to life. I enjoyed her quick wit, her determination, and her inner monologue.
The story also showed her marriage to Henri Fiocca. To me, this story could have veered off the marriage aspect. It created a good juxtaposition, yes, but the scenes of intimacy and the scenes of war created a jarring pace between chapters. That being said, the character of Henri was written exceptionally well, albeit most was purely speculative towards the end.
I liked the story. I truly had to sit with this and marinate with the ending, with the imagery, and the violence.
Henri Fiocca loved Nancy, and that is showcased within the story. Nancy's strong will and determination made her character, it made me interested to research more about her.
However, the descriptions of intimacy seemed unneeded. Can we have a strong female lead without the oversexualization of their body from their inner monologue? Love at first sight but it's written in a creepy, stalker-y way, but it's okay because both parties are pretty? I'm not sure if much is written on the meeting and courting of Heni and Nancy, but the story made it quite creepy. It made the story too long and disruptive.
I would have liked to rate it higher, for Nancy, for Henri, for all the other real people who inspsired characters. There are many factors that could contribute to me not liking the story as much as I thought I would, including my dislike towards the author.
Did Ariel Lawhon redeem herself? No, she is still scraping by her teeth to write a good historical fiction book in my personal and unprofessional opinion.
Nancy Wake, an Australian journalistic living in Paris during WWII, sees a lot of gruesome and cruel treatment towards the Jewish people and other communities. She becomes a spy, helping smuggle weapons and supplies, often walking towards danger, and donning her red lipstick as armour. She's loud, outspoken, passionate, and brave.
The story did a good job at portraying who she was, her story, her accomplishments, and her grief. She cycled over 300 miles in three days, her thighs bleeding for the skin rubbed off due to friction. She walked into meetings, never knowing if she would leave alive. She was a badass through and through. In scenes written about these real events, it translated very well. The inspiring story was brought to life. I enjoyed her quick wit, her determination, and her inner monologue.
The story also showed her marriage to Henri Fiocca. To me, this story could have veered off the marriage aspect. It created a good juxtaposition, yes, but the scenes of intimacy and the scenes of war created a jarring pace between chapters. That being said, the character of Henri was written exceptionally well, albeit most was purely speculative towards the end.
I liked the story. I truly had to sit with this and marinate with the ending, with the imagery, and the violence.
Henri Fiocca loved Nancy, and that is showcased within the story. Nancy's strong will and determination made her character, it made me interested to research more about her.
However, the descriptions of intimacy seemed unneeded. Can we have a strong female lead without the oversexualization of their body from their inner monologue? Love at first sight but it's written in a creepy, stalker-y way, but it's okay because both parties are pretty? I'm not sure if much is written on the meeting and courting of Heni and Nancy, but the story made it quite creepy. It made the story too long and disruptive.
I would have liked to rate it higher, for Nancy, for Henri, for all the other real people who inspsired characters. There are many factors that could contribute to me not liking the story as much as I thought I would, including my dislike towards the author.
Did Ariel Lawhon redeem herself? No, she is still scraping by her teeth to write a good historical fiction book in my personal and unprofessional opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, War
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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:
No
BASED ON A REAL WOMAN! A military leader in Occupied France during WW2. Amazing story, obviously embellished to keep readers entertained. The love story though… I can’t say anymore.
4.5⭐️ this is my first book by Ariel Lawhon and it did not disappoint! WW2 has always been something that interested me, so I was all in when reading this book. I almost gave it a 5⭐️ because I really did love the book, but something held me back. If I figure it out, I’ll update my review.
Things I liked (there are more than this, but here are my “top” likes):
-Ariel’s writing. I felt like she captured the legacy of Nancy well and I kept finding myself sucked into the writing and wanting to learn more.
-Nancy: What. A. Woman. She was fierce, brave, witty, a bad*ss and brilliant. She commanded attention and respect and I was all for it. After reading this book, I spent a solid 30 minutes down a rabbit hole on the internet searching for more information on her. She is simply amazing.
-the authors note at the end: informed the reader about what was true and what was fictionalized. I liked this because it shows that Ariel did her research and wanted to represent Nancy in the best way she could, while also making it a story that her readers would follow.
-her relationship and marriage with Henri😭 talk about a sacrificial love. Their love and loyalty to each other was so heartbreakingly amazing, that it legit made me cry at the ending of this book
Things I didn’t like:
-what ended up happening to Stephanie? Did she end up dying during the war? Was she real or made up? I need to know lol
-some little plot holes that left me wondering but weren’t too major (like Stephanie)
-some of the “chapters” felt drawn out and longer than necessary. I still loved it, but I do think it could have been condensed a tad more in beginning half.
Anyways, I definitely think everyone should read this book and “judge” it for themselves.
It was a win for me and I will definitely be checking out more of her books.
Things I liked (there are more than this, but here are my “top” likes):
-Ariel’s writing. I felt like she captured the legacy of Nancy well and I kept finding myself sucked into the writing and wanting to learn more.
-Nancy: What. A. Woman. She was fierce, brave, witty, a bad*ss and brilliant. She commanded attention and respect and I was all for it. After reading this book, I spent a solid 30 minutes down a rabbit hole on the internet searching for more information on her. She is simply amazing.
-the authors note at the end: informed the reader about what was true and what was fictionalized. I liked this because it shows that Ariel did her research and wanted to represent Nancy in the best way she could, while also making it a story that her readers would follow.
-her relationship and marriage with Henri😭 talk about a sacrificial love. Their love and loyalty to each other was so heartbreakingly amazing, that it legit made me cry at the ending of this book
Things I didn’t like:
-what ended up happening to Stephanie? Did she end up dying during the war? Was she real or made up? I need to know lol
-some little plot holes that left me wondering but weren’t too major (like Stephanie)
-some of the “chapters” felt drawn out and longer than necessary. I still loved it, but I do think it could have been condensed a tad more in beginning half.
Anyways, I definitely think everyone should read this book and “judge” it for themselves.
It was a win for me and I will definitely be checking out more of her books.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Nancy Wake was a freaking bad ass! This fictional account of her contribution to WW2 is pretty dang spot on.Lawhorn writes an engaging story about Nancy Wake WW2 resistance fighter in France. I feel like I was there right beside Wake.