A review by thereadingzombie
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

If Kristin Hannah was trying to break my heart, she fucking succeeded. I wanted to google "Is Kristin Hannah a sadist?" But y'all, I was not prepared for all of the emotions. In the first half of the book, I'm just chugging along at a normal pace over the week. Then I hit 60% and I ended up staying up until 3 am to finish it. Do you know how hard it is to go to sleep when you're crying? Lol. 

I loved the characters in this book and I thought they were really well-written. I saw myself in both of the sisters. Like Isabelle, I don't always think before I speak and have a hard time hiding my feelings. But like Vianne, I'm more cautious and a little more anxious. I had a lot of conflicted feelings about Herr Beck. First, he's a German soldier in the Wehrmacht, which makes him a literal Nazi, and he's billeting with Vianne as part of the German occupation of France. I can't tell if he genuinely didn't know what was going to happen with the list of Jews and communists or if he's a really good liar. I think he cares about Vianne because he goes out of his way to help her, even at great risk to himself. Ugh, I want to hate him and then he helps her.

While this probably isn't 100% historically accurate, I thought it was a good glimpse into life in Occupied France. It's not really a part of WWII that I learned much about. I went down several Wikipedia rabbit holes.
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