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terry_in_reverse 's review for:
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
This is the second chance I’ve given this author and I think that’s enough for me, I fear our breakup is imminent. While slightly more compelling than “the Women”, I am stunned to see how highly rated this book was on here. Grab a baguette or a skinny cigarette and make sure your beret isn’t askew, and I’ll try to talk about where this book lost me.
The sisters are poorly written. At the beginning of the book Isabelle is fiery, outspoken, and courageous, and at the end of the book, literally nothing has changed about her. Vienne has a ~slightly~ better character arc, showing her growth from “keep your head down at all costs and do what they say” to saving children throughout the war, but it wasn’t shown in any kind of compelling way. She has some morally gray relationship with a Nazi officer who boards with her, which for me, I’m not interested in entertaining.
The setting felt exaggerated and poorly researched. I kept being pulled out of the story because of cliche french characters, and food, and lore. I think to write a historical fiction about such a significant part of history, taking creative liberties is a bit bold, and a bit disrespectful. The writing was just fine, but there were a number of discrepancies with the ages of the sisters, and how their family dynamic played out that simply weren’t edited correctly and it felt cheap.
The story was just okay. As I read more and more and take these reviews seriously, I am just not a romance girl. The romance I do enjoy consuming is hard fought, and takes books to build for me to find it believable. I am over finding books centered around female protagonists and have it intruded on by a man I simply don’t care about. Additionally, I really dislike how the author handles sensitive and tragic situations. I felt the same with The Women, and feel the same here. It’s cheap, played for shock, and overall have no value to the story. The author has not worked hard enough to show me why she wrote certain scenes the way she did and how it affects the world and characters she wrote.
The sisters are poorly written. At the beginning of the book Isabelle is fiery, outspoken, and courageous, and at the end of the book, literally nothing has changed about her. Vienne has a ~slightly~ better character arc, showing her growth from “keep your head down at all costs and do what they say” to saving children throughout the war, but it wasn’t shown in any kind of compelling way. She has some morally gray relationship with a Nazi officer who boards with her, which for me, I’m not interested in entertaining.
The setting felt exaggerated and poorly researched. I kept being pulled out of the story because of cliche french characters, and food, and lore. I think to write a historical fiction about such a significant part of history, taking creative liberties is a bit bold, and a bit disrespectful. The writing was just fine, but there were a number of discrepancies with the ages of the sisters, and how their family dynamic played out that simply weren’t edited correctly and it felt cheap.
The story was just okay. As I read more and more and take these reviews seriously, I am just not a romance girl. The romance I do enjoy consuming is hard fought, and takes books to build for me to find it believable. I am over finding books centered around female protagonists and have it intruded on by a man I simply don’t care about. Additionally, I really dislike how the author handles sensitive and tragic situations. I felt the same with The Women, and feel the same here. It’s cheap, played for shock, and overall have no value to the story. The author has not worked hard enough to show me why she wrote certain scenes the way she did and how it affects the world and characters she wrote.