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A review by coralinejones
The Women by Kristin Hannah
4.0
Not my favorite Kristin Hannah, that's for sure, but still written well enough to earn four stars. This will be a memorable read for me this year!
This book didn't make my cry like "The Four Winds" or "The Great Alone" and didn't make me disgusted and uncomfortable like "The Nightingale", so that's the first notable point I'd like to make. I'd also like to preface that I've been anticipating this novel since finding out about it last year and stopped reading everything in my Libby to finish this once it was available to me, so my slight disappointment is justified.
This book suffers from what all Kristin Hannah books suffer from, even the ones I like. They're overwritten and filled with as much trauma porn as possible, that by the end you're just exhausted, maybe even a little annoyed. If something bad could happen to the main character, it will happen, trust. Maybe It's because I've read so many of her books now that this is predictable to me, but I swear, every time something remotely good happens to one of her characters, if I see there's at least 100 pages left, that good thing won't last for long. That's just how she operates. Somehow, this worked for "The Four Winds" and "The Great Alone"; those books had me GRIPPED, totally engrossed and sobbing after 300+ pages of trauma and sadness, but I couldn't connect with this?
I don't typically like war books, but I struggled through for Hannah, since I like her novels so much. Frankie wasn't entirely likeable compared to her other main characters. There were some instances that left a bad taste in my mouth like how certain mentions of protesting was seen as overtly negative, but I think that's just because we were seeing it through naive Frankie's eyes. But still. Meh.
I also rolled my eyes at the romance in this book, whereas in her other books I tend to appreciate how tender and honest romantic relationships were depicted. Just couldn't get over how every man Frankie came in contact with fell in love with her instantly. Like 5 pages in they were head-over-heels in love. Whatever.
I also don't like how Hannah writes black women. It's really not a terrible offense like with some other authors, I do think there's research and respect involved in the process, but it's just a little stereotypical for my liking. Just a tad. (Kendrick Lamar voice) Maybe that's just me, I guess.
Otherwise, she really did it again... If there's one thing Kristin Hannah excels at, it's writing realistic, memorable, historical fiction. It's writing women you want to root for and hope they get a happy ending in the end. It's instilling lessons throughout her pages, teaching her audience something about the time period she's writing in that they may not have known before.
I hope one day Kristin Hannah reels back a bit on piling tragedy on top o tragedy, and focuses on the other points of her books that make them so good.
This book didn't make my cry like "The Four Winds" or "The Great Alone" and didn't make me disgusted and uncomfortable like "The Nightingale", so that's the first notable point I'd like to make. I'd also like to preface that I've been anticipating this novel since finding out about it last year and stopped reading everything in my Libby to finish this once it was available to me, so my slight disappointment is justified.
This book suffers from what all Kristin Hannah books suffer from, even the ones I like. They're overwritten and filled with as much trauma porn as possible, that by the end you're just exhausted, maybe even a little annoyed. If something bad could happen to the main character, it will happen, trust. Maybe It's because I've read so many of her books now that this is predictable to me, but I swear, every time something remotely good happens to one of her characters, if I see there's at least 100 pages left, that good thing won't last for long. That's just how she operates. Somehow, this worked for "The Four Winds" and "The Great Alone"; those books had me GRIPPED, totally engrossed and sobbing after 300+ pages of trauma and sadness, but I couldn't connect with this?
I don't typically like war books, but I struggled through for Hannah, since I like her novels so much. Frankie wasn't entirely likeable compared to her other main characters. There were some instances that left a bad taste in my mouth like how certain mentions of protesting was seen as overtly negative, but I think that's just because we were seeing it through naive Frankie's eyes. But still. Meh.
I also rolled my eyes at the romance in this book, whereas in her other books I tend to appreciate how tender and honest romantic relationships were depicted. Just couldn't get over how every man Frankie came in contact with fell in love with her instantly. Like 5 pages in they were head-over-heels in love. Whatever.
I also don't like how Hannah writes black women. It's really not a terrible offense like with some other authors, I do think there's research and respect involved in the process, but it's just a little stereotypical for my liking. Just a tad. (Kendrick Lamar voice) Maybe that's just me, I guess.
Otherwise, she really did it again... If there's one thing Kristin Hannah excels at, it's writing realistic, memorable, historical fiction. It's writing women you want to root for and hope they get a happy ending in the end. It's instilling lessons throughout her pages, teaching her audience something about the time period she's writing in that they may not have known before.
I hope one day Kristin Hannah reels back a bit on piling tragedy on top o tragedy, and focuses on the other points of her books that make them so good.