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A review by pgmoon
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
4.0
TW: mention of SA and death
3.5 stars
I usually need to read the first few pages of a book in order to see whether I want to read it. With The Nightingale, however, I was really hooked by the blurb. I also knew this book had a really high rating Goodreads, which always intrigues me. I want to know if the book lives up to the hype. After finishing it, do I think it succeeded? Mostly, yes.
The characters are the main draw of this story, and the majority of them work. I love the relationship between Vianne and Isabelle, their opposite personalities and points of view. It showed that for people to be brave and show resistance in a time of oppression, people don't necessarily have to follow the same path. People can resist in different ways. Isabelle's fellow crewmates also were interesting and fun to read from, although I didn't care for the romance between Isabelle and Gaetan. Antoine and Sophie are pleasant enough to read from as well; the friendship between both Rachel and Vianne plus Sarah and Sophie is very heartwarming. The only characters I didn't care for were the two (one?) villian/s, both of the Nazis who took over Vianne's house. Von Richter is borderline cartoonish (I don't doubt that people like that existed, but it maybe could have used more nuance), and Beck is the stereotypical sympathetic Nazi, which just doesn't sit right with me as a personal choice.
The plot between Vianne and Isabelle's perspective is very interesting, an instance where I thought that switching between the two effectively highlighted the differences and kept the story going. Some of the beats I did predict, but some I did not. I will say the story somewhat slowed down during Isabelle's romance subplot and Vianne's interactions with Beck. There are some very sorrowful moments, especially reading as a person who knows the ultimate tragedies that occur during the war, such as Rachel being deported, the death of the father, and Vianne's SA. It shows the toll war puts on every person, even those not fighting in it.
Overall, this book was very well written and the story of family persevering through tragedy is very poignant. It highlights the way ordinary people became heroes in order to live.
3.5 stars
I usually need to read the first few pages of a book in order to see whether I want to read it. With The Nightingale, however, I was really hooked by the blurb. I also knew this book had a really high rating Goodreads, which always intrigues me. I want to know if the book lives up to the hype. After finishing it, do I think it succeeded? Mostly, yes.
The characters are the main draw of this story, and the majority of them work. I love the relationship between Vianne and Isabelle, their opposite personalities and points of view. It showed that for people to be brave and show resistance in a time of oppression, people don't necessarily have to follow the same path. People can resist in different ways. Isabelle's fellow crewmates also were interesting and fun to read from, although I didn't care for the romance between Isabelle and Gaetan. Antoine and Sophie are pleasant enough to read from as well; the friendship between both Rachel and Vianne plus Sarah and Sophie is very heartwarming. The only characters I didn't care for were the two (one?) villian/s, both of the Nazis who took over Vianne's house. Von Richter is borderline cartoonish (I don't doubt that people like that existed, but it maybe could have used more nuance), and Beck is the stereotypical sympathetic Nazi, which just doesn't sit right with me as a personal choice.
The plot between Vianne and Isabelle's perspective is very interesting, an instance where I thought that switching between the two effectively highlighted the differences and kept the story going. Some of the beats I did predict, but some I did not. I will say the story somewhat slowed down during Isabelle's romance subplot and Vianne's interactions with Beck. There are some very sorrowful moments, especially reading as a person who knows the ultimate tragedies that occur during the war, such as Rachel being deported, the death of the father, and Vianne's SA. It shows the toll war puts on every person, even those not fighting in it.
Overall, this book was very well written and the story of family persevering through tragedy is very poignant. It highlights the way ordinary people became heroes in order to live.