Reviews with content warning for War - Things a Bright Girl Can Do

Reviews tagging 'War'

Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

12 reviews

ellie_debney's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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eagleshouse's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was really fun to read, and is definitely one I'd recommend. The time period isn't normally one I tend to read in, but it was engaging and I never felt bored reading it at any point.

I must note however, that whilst Nell and May's endings felt very complete and satisfying, I was rather disappointed at Evelyn's. Perhaps it's because I'm a lesbian who really has no time for men, or because I don't fully enjoy the time period in terms of history, but Teddy REALLY got on my nerves. But Teddy aside, I feel like Evelyn's ending really didn't show her development of her character? If anything, it felt like it completely dismissed her entire personality and beliefs.

The main point is that this would have been a 5* book, if only Evelyn's ending wasn't reduced to what it was. However, I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in women's history or WW1.

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bmceleney's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative 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? No

3.5

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annniiieee_333's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.25

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james1star's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

I did really enjoy this book and for many MANY reasons. Nicholls’s writing style, world building and storyline are easy to read, understand and I warmed to it fast. This is particularly true with the characters in ‘things a bright girl can do’ where we predominantly follow Evelyn, May and Nell - their lives, families, relationships, dreams - in the fight for suffrage and during WW1 in the years 1914-1918. They do have some unlovable aspects but for the most part are very lovely people and you for sure root for all of them. They’re also portrayed as very real.

Evelyn’s story is that she wants equal opportunities for women, specifically to go to university and not settle for a life of marriage, kids, housework and so forth. She yearns for more to life. Her character definitely has the biggest development and has to deal with many things which she handles in a very real way. Also Teddy just seems such a cute and loveable character doing things he doesn’t want to do for Evelyn and Yhh I dunno he’s portrayed very cutely - I get a sense he’d give good hugs if you know what I mean. May was bought up a pacifist Quaker by her mother and throughout her life has been a suffragist ‘fighting’ for the vote via peaceful means. She meets Nell who has had a very different life to hers but they form a relationship which is portrayed very well - certainly some irritating bits that make you want to shake the characters but overall is good. During the war, May has an anti-war outlook which is contented from the outside and within but mostly from Nell’s POV. I did really like her character however she is very very stubborn which gets in the way a lot but she does come to realise she isn’t always right and that’s okay. Nell has the hardest life of all the characters coming from a poor working class family in the east end, a family of eight in two rooms and not only physical pressure but mental as well. ‘She’ is shown to have some gender dysphoria I believe or at least a sense of not belonging in the sphere of ‘womanhood’ but this outlook is varied. She may be on some part of the transgender spectrum as dresses in her brother’s used clothes, acts, talks and in some respects wants to be a boy. Her method of getting the vote fits with the suffragettes using physical means which butts-heads with May’s approach. This follows when war breaks out having soldiers in her family. During the war, her family struggles intensely which is very hard to read and you definitely long for things to get better.

This book is so great for its discussion and exploration of the ways different types of women came at the route for suffrage and the war - most importantly class but also topics like economics, religion, family background, education, sexuality and gender and many more. This is very insightful and informative too. Additionally the historical references are great with many many real life events, people and groups being included which help to make sense of the period.

What I didn’t quite like was some of the actions and way the main characters spoke was a little modern, specifically against their parents where it seems more leniency is awarded then you’d think but is minor. Also I think it is a bit too long with some repetitiveness but it’s not bloated and is easy enough to get though due to the writing style and lovableness of the characters. My main grovel was the anti-climaticness of the ending. We all know what happened in the 1918 (although the biggie was in 1928) where women over 30 who owned property got the vote but the storylines could have came to more. However, it is ended well with some ambiguity but certainly hope for the future which is amazing.

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amaliewebs's review

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4.0

i really enjoyed this book, historical fiction is so interesting to read and i loved all of the aspects of this, from suffragettes to sapphics to the war and so much more. the three main characters were really complex and it was fascinating to read from their povs. they were very realistic too, flawed, and each offered a different perspective and had varying beliefs which i found very enjoyable. it was really interesting to read about what the suffragette campaign was like during the war, the typical lives of women (in england) back then and things like that. i wouldn't say the book was perfect or anything but it was a good read, and would be a good introduction to these topics for younger readers :)

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em_5460's review

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inspiring 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? No

5.0

Really great characters and plot, perfect for someone who likes historical fiction and the women's suffrage movement. Excellent LGBTQ+ representation <3

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abigail17_'s review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring 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

4.75

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rb26's review

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring 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

Really loved this book, and it’s focus on class and religion was surprising refreshing, as was the beautiful central love story. My one criticism was that perhaps the story lags in the middle and becomes more about the war than the suffragette movement, but it hardly mattered by the end.

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ciao_potatoes's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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