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A review by cordelia_gretson
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The first 5⭐️ of 2025!
A rich and deeply emotional story bringing the resilience of human kind through one of the darkest periods of documented history.
Isabelle’s journey from reckless and obstinate girl, to fearlessly defiant woman gives an important POV of women’s resistance and determination.
Vianne’s journey of dutiful and obedient wife, mother, and woman in society, following the straight and narrow more or less, to tenacious and preserving matriarch and savior of the forcibly abandoned.
Both sister’s give an emotionally devastating glimpse of the battles endured off the traditional battlefield. The discover their own strength while maintaining who they are at the core despite how the war challenged and changed them. The typical fights and differences between sisters and strained relationship with their father make them feel even more realistic and tangible, which helps the narrative when so much happens that seems impossible, but realistically did.
Love the unknown, present day narrator and went from one to the other and back again (ultimately landing on the correct person, but a gut punch served with its reveal).
If I hadn’t read several other WWII Occupation and Holocaust stories before, it probably would have made me cry- and almost did at the very end. I did feel the tension, anxiety, and fear throughout the book and therefore sat on the edge of my seat and devoured it.
A rich and deeply emotional story bringing the resilience of human kind through one of the darkest periods of documented history.
Isabelle’s journey from reckless and obstinate girl, to fearlessly defiant woman gives an important POV of women’s resistance and determination.
Vianne’s journey of dutiful and obedient wife, mother, and woman in society, following the straight and narrow more or less, to tenacious and preserving matriarch and savior of the forcibly abandoned.
Both sister’s give an emotionally devastating glimpse of the battles endured off the traditional battlefield. The discover their own strength while maintaining who they are at the core despite how the war challenged and changed them. The typical fights and differences between sisters and strained relationship with their father make them feel even more realistic and tangible, which helps the narrative when so much happens that seems impossible, but realistically did.
Love the unknown, present day narrator and went from one to the other and back again (ultimately landing on the correct person, but a gut punch served with its reveal).
If I hadn’t read several other WWII Occupation and Holocaust stories before, it probably would have made me cry- and almost did at the very end. I did feel the tension, anxiety, and fear throughout the book and therefore sat on the edge of my seat and devoured it.