Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Kobiety by Kristin Hannah

1008 reviews

adventurous emotional informative tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is incredibly written. The war passages are so powerful and hit so hard that I had to put the book down sometimes. It was a book that sticks with you, which is why I couldn’t bring myself to give it only three stars. Hannah is too amazing a writer for that. 

However, there is a lot in the second half that made me feel like I was just pushing through to finish. Maybe that was the point, since Frankie is also trying to just push through life and survive, but that’s a feeling I don’t really want to experience in a book alongside the character. There were a few too many dramatic “twists” for me to find it enjoyable, and at points it even felt like it was unbelievable just how much was going wrong beyond Frankie’s control. Yes, I know that that is sometimes how things are in real life, but that doesn’t always translate to a well done story. I was tired of all the pain by the end, which again, I was maybe supposed to be feeling alongside Frankie, but isn’t something I necessarily want to be feeling when reading a book. 

The ending was strong though and I did deeply love the friendship between Frankie, Ethel, and Barb. I liked seeing how differently their lives played out and wished there had been more focus on that then on all the romantic dramas. I liked seeing them come together repeatedly to support one another and I’m glad that was the ultimate point and focus of the book. It also had amazing commentary on the war itself, in the politics and the complexity of the situation both in-country and in the US. 

Overall, I don’t regret reading this, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

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adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5 stars, rounding up to 5 for Goodreads. I really enjoyed this book! I had the perception of the Vietnam War as a “war we lost” but nothing more than that. OF COURSE there were women in the war, yet we still do not talk about it. Kristin Hannah, well done telling their story in an authentic and narrative way. 

My heart broke for Frankie throughout this book.
Addiction, miscarriage, PTSD, and general brokenness coming back to a society that not only doesn’t believe you, but also doesn’t appreciate you.
We don’t talk enough about transition back to civilian life for our veterans and military affiliated folks.

I would give this 5 stars, but there were a few irksome things for me. 1- These ladies were hopping on flights left and right when air travel costed $1000+ per ticket. Took me out of the story a bit because it wasn’t realistic for the times. 2- Also sometimes the romance was too much…every man was just madly in love with her and none of the other women in Vietnam? I enjoyed the romance and it was heart breaking, but also a little unbelievable at times.

All in all, really enjoyed and highly recommend. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

This book ripped my heart apart and stitched it back together. “No fear McGrath” 

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challenging dark hopeful fast-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional 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: Complicated

Book club. Honestly, I never would’ve picked this book if not for book club, but damn am I glad I did. Not only do I have a better perspective of women at/after Vietnam, but the story was so compelling. So much tragedy but so much beautiful growth in the end for Frankie. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

I absolutely loved reading this book and seeing the life of Frances (Frankie) McGrath unfold. It is perhaps one of the most unique and impactful storylines I’ve had the pleasure of reading. 

The Women is a gripping and emotional book that explores the experiences of the women who served in the Vietnam War, both during war time and their struggles afterwards upon their return to the US.

The writing is immersive, the story compelling, the characters complex and flawed (and yet completely loveable). It’s rare to find a book that has such soul and yet is grounded in fact.

Kristin Hannah has done an incredible job with this one bringing attention and focus to a generation of forgotten war veterans. This is an absolute 5 star read and I would highly recommend it! 

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emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-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: Yes

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like I learned a lot about the Vietnam War and about what America was going through during that time I can’t help but see parallels of what we’re going through right now in America. Learning so much about how the women were treated for being in Vietnam as nurses and not “in combat“ was really disheartening. The women of the Vietnam War are trauma bonded and experiencing PTSD just as any of the combat soldiers did. There’s a lot of gruesome details of war and injury and medical trauma in this book, but it was actually the relationships between Frankie and her family and most of all Frankie and her friends that really made this book special for me. Everything does wrap up in a neat little bow, but that’s what makes it fiction - it didn’t need that nice ending for me, but it didn’t detract from my experience and enjoyment of this book. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a very well written book. It is such an incredible window into this time. The first 3/4 are fantastic although often very sad. The last 1/4 was wild in a totally different way. Sad in a much more common way? Very self destructive at times. Vietnam.  Ended up inspirationally/heartening 

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