Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

301 reviews

missemmacrabtree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, War, Miscarriage, Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Confinement, Deportation, Genocide, Gun violence, Blood, Cancer, Sexual assault, Death, Racism, and Terminal illness

wardenred's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.75

We are all fragile, Isabelle. It’s the thing we learn in war.

I’m still not sure if it’s a good idea for me to be reading war novels at the time, but yeah, I’ve picked up another one. While these stories make me angry-sad at the humanity for repeating the same horrors over and over, there’s something almost calming about how they acknowledge those horrors and their evil. Yes, this happened. Yes, this is what people did to each other. Yes, somehow, life went on.

This book is shaped by the intertwining stories of two sisters living through the Nazi occupation/World War 2 in France. The two of them start off as practically polar opposites in how they handle their circumstances. Vianne, the eldest, is already a mother and a responsible member of her community, and her focus is on perseverance. She wants to keep her head low and wait the worst out. Isabelle, on the contrary, is all about defiance. She’s not afraid, she’s angry, and she’s only ever cautious in the sense that she does her best not to betray the resistance she is a part of.

I admit that while Isabelle’s ideals resonated with me deeply, her storyline was hard for me to get into for a large chunk of the book. The way it was written almost clashed with the heavy, real historical backdrop—as if amidst all the regular people suffering, Isabelle was this one special heroine for whom it was all about daring adventure and romance. But as the book progressed, it became clear this was a feature and not a bug, so to speak. The narrative doesn’t specifically frame Isabelle as this YAish heroine; Isabelle does. This is her defense mechanism: reframing horrors as a grand adventure. It helps her for quite a while, and it doesn’t save her at the end, but she sure saves everyone she can reach and is just an amazingly strong character. 

Vianne has her defense mechanisms too, ones initially rooted in conformism and almost-denial. She understands what’s going on, but she needs to survive long enough to reunite with her husband. She has a daughter to take care of. She has her sister with her for a while. She has her charges at school and her friends to look out for, so she tries to play by the new rules. But the rules twist, the game gets darker and darker, and eventually she makes a journey from reluctantly adding the name of her Jewish friend to a list of bad elements to saving Jewish children. Her strength is different from Isabelle’s, quieter and slower to unfold, but evident all the same.

Both of these characters are so vivid, it’s like they were in the room with me as I read, and the same can be said for a lot of others on these pages. I don’t know if I can say I’m glad I’ve read this book; I cried a lot and I’m very angry. But it’s a good one for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Torture, and Rape

eroseperry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book made me love reading again. Kristin Hannah’s writing is so intricate and beautiful and I can picture the plot so clearly in my head. I sobbed, everything hurt reading this book but god I wish I could read it for the first time again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Genocide

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, War, Police brutality, Rape, and Classism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Infertility

rachelsb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Death, Torture, Child death, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

elisa_atkins's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

It’s hard to put into words the emotional journey this book takes you through. It is beautifully written and gives a new perspective to the horrors that happened in ww2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Deportation, Hate crime, Torture, Abandonment, Child death, Death of parent, War, and Genocide

Minor: Rape, Infertility, and Alcoholism

emily_britton's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? No

3.75

This is not exactly an enjoyable book.  War is never pleasant.  We know about what happened in WW2, but the day-to-day of the people behind those lines is shocking to be immersed in.  I will say that the twists were good and I got pretty choked up at the end.  But I will enjoy not having Nazis literally occupy my dreams at night any more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Rape, and War

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Genocide, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Grief, Confinement, Child death, Antisemitism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Violence, Racism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Sexism, Rape, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Homophobia

mcnoble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

An absolutely heartbreaking but beautiful story of two heroic sisters who, in their own ways, navigate and survive the challenges cast at them during a Nazi-occupied France during WWII. In her writing, Kristin Hannah transports you to Paris, the mountains, the countryside, and to the hidden places in between where survivors gather. She shares how there is not one way to be a hero, to be a friend, or to be a sister. This book was tense but well-paced, and, as one can imagine, an absolute tear jerker at times. Thank you to the wonderfully brave women who silently carry the world during war and thank you Kristin for sharing their stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Xenophobia, Murder, War, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Rape, and Alcoholism

anxiousgouda's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture

livlaughlit's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was intrigued to read this book, as I’d heard practically nothing but rave reviews, but sadly this missed the mark for me.

I thought the writing style was somewhat unsophisticated and repetitive, with Hannah often implying something and then immediately clarifying what she meant, just in case we hadn’t picked up on the nuance. Regardless, the pervasive anachronisms were the real bug-bear for me. On every other page, there was an error that made me roll my eyes (oral antibiotics? A Flemish farmer smoking like a true Frenchman? The flippant mention of concentration camps on official warnings?). This read as Historical Fanfiction, rather than a well-researched piece of Historical Fiction. It was also extremely forgiving of Vichy France’s passing antisemitic legislation independently of Nazi requirements.  

Too often, the characters were reduced to flat stereotypes, and the development of the romantic plots were poorly paced (especially between Isabelle and Gaetan). I was also unconvinced by Isabelle and Vianne’s relationship, which seemed not to develop much at all.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, War, Xenophobia, Child death, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Torture, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Miscarriage