A review by yvo_about_books
The Women by Kristin Hannah

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

Finished reading: July 30th 2024



“The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn't quite yet ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there.”

I'm a fan of Kristin Hannah's writing, and I've been looking forward to read this story ever since I first heard about it. Then the raving reviews started coming in, and my expectations only increased... I'm happy to announce that those expectations ended up being more than met, and it turned out to  be an exceptional piece of historical fiction. Without doubt my new favorite among her books! The Women is a truly special story, and focuses on the role of women during the Vietnam war. It's not something you usually read about, and those brave and strong women deserve all the credit for their work. I can't imagine what it would have been like not only for them to do what they did during the war, but also everything they had to face afterwards... With even their fellow veterans shunning them as there were 'no women in Vietnam'. The story is divided into parts, where we both get to see the brutal truth of being a nurse during the war and the aftermath. This only gave the story more dept and power, and it is shocking to see that their work and sacrifice isn't being acknowledged afterwards. The characterization is sublime, and the main characters truly came alive for me. Flawed, but strong and an excellent character development; it will be VERY hard not to care about what happened to them. Not even the cheating could put a damper on things for me, as I was simply way too invested in the story by then. Harrowing, emotional, dark and extremely powerful: this story will stay with me for a long time. 
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