Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

18 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, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, Antisemitism, Death, Violence, Sexual violence, War, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, and Cancer

Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Addiction, Infertility, and Abandonment

slama_llama's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Coming from a totally different part of the world, our history books do not cover WW2 in much detail other than highlighted names and dates and a few important accounts. This book is a historical fiction and not reality, it helped me peek at the horror that war is (yes, I understand that this is the water down, digestible, slightly romanticised version of the reality). I realised that there are so many ways that war affects people’s regular, everyday lives. So many ways it affects children- the intensity and the subtler effects never occurred to me. 
And this is not a thing of the past. There countries that are still at war, and things much worse than what is described here is happening to them, right now. Even with the resources we have, they are not receiving the aids they deserve. 
It might not be completely related to the content of this book, but I was reminded so many times how important it is that we keep remembering the past, our mistakes and it’s horrors, so we can manage our present in a way that we don’t have to relive it. 
This book was peppered with references to incidents and places I’ve never heard of and wish to learn a little more about. 
I appreciate the book and it’s writing. The last few chapters felt a bit cliche, but I liked the neat way the book ended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Genocide, Physical abuse, and War

Moderate: Excrement, Religious bigotry, Violence, Grief, Confinement, and Rape

Minor: Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cancer, and Miscarriage

sarahaf712's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Excrement, Eating disorder, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Cancer

Content warning: Holocaust; concentration camps; forced labor camps; dead bodies; bombings

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

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

Minor: Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Cancer

shibaunited's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment, Vomit, Trafficking, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Chronic illness, Child death, and Cancer

pixiebix's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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

4.5

I received this book for Christmas honestly forgetting I'd ever put it on my TBR--meaning how much I loved it threw me completely off-guard. 

Sitting back and reflecting on this book, I am honestly in awe of how much I feel I've actually been through with these characters and the vastness and diversity of the landscapes The Nightingale covers. Looking back on the characters at the beginning of this book--Isabelle especially--is to reflect on a ridiculously huge yet realistic transformation. This book is painfully real and visceral and simple and raw, and the characters literally jumped off the page; absolutely everything I've read about here I feel I have actually experienced firsthand with them.

There are some images and deaths and journeys that I know will stay forever imprinted on my brain from this book--scenes with Beck and Sarah and the Pyrenees mountains; of soldiers and ravaged gardens and bleakness and fear. The Nightingale had me so friggin hooked and my mouth dry and my eyes flying across the pages trying to establish where we stand in the wake of yet another devastating event.

This book is far from flawless (hence the not-5-star rating): Isabelle's beauty, while helping to paint a picture of her character to start with, ultimately receives far too much focus and detracts from her (slash De Jongh's) bravery and status as a war hero; Isabelle's romance is written almost as an afterthought and is provided far too little page space for readers to be given even a chance to become invested in it; pacing is a huge issue, with some super relevent, super built-up parts being cut out completely

(like, how on Earth are we gonna dedicate that much time to describing Isabelle's first trek through the Pyrenees [which was incredibly described, by the way] and then just completely neglect to mention her journey back, this time alone?)

.

Regardless, this book is just so fucking devastating and really, really gets under your skin and taps into your humanity. This is so much more than yet another book about two opposite sisters: it's the very picture of resilience in the face of hardship and an ode to remembering in an age that we're prone to forgetting. I also just adore how multifaceted and layered these characters are, particularly Beck: so many authors fall prey to painting all Nazi officers in a completely villainous light, forgetting how subtly and intentionally things escalated. The words 'I'm just following orders' gave me chills every damn time. So many of those officers were just young men trying just as hard to survive and stay out of trouble as the victims, and Hannah showcases that fact while also showing the other side: the true horror of what some human beings will derive genuine joy from doing; the true perpetrators and power-hungry dictators that do sadly inhabit (and always have inhabited) this world. 

The scope this book covered while remaining focused on just two women during the war is truly so impressive, and really forces you to think about the sheer number of voices and stories that have ultimately gone unheard. 

Now to wait until the movie adaptation.    

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Chronic illness

mandi4886's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

A must read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Vomit

remy_licked_my_book's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a 4.5 star read for me. Kristin Hannah has historically not been my favourite author so I tried to go into this story with low expectations. It started out and I remember saying to my friend, "I'm not connecting to either main character, I just don't like them". Oh man, was I wrong. This story blossoms into beautiful character development. Vianne, Isabelle, and Sophie all mature and use their resilience to transform into women who take care of themselves. Their bravery and strength are a shadow of the true bravery and strength displayed by any one and everyone affected by WWII. I really enjoyed the ending, I fell in love with the characters all over again and things were tied up very nicely. The back of the book where Kristin Hannah talks about what inspired the book was very interesting, I will definitely be checking out some of the memoirs that this story was based on! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Vomit