Review by kenna92005 - The Women

kenna92005 's review for:

The Women by Kristin Hannah

4.0

emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Review

The Women is a book that I will not soon forget. It isn’t one of my usual genre picks, but I am so glad I read it. I was really only vaguely familiar with details on the Vietnam war. Only the stuff that is taught in history books and since America didn’t handle that war well and it’s considered a loss, I feel like the textbook glossed over a lot of information. I knew of agent orange because my grandpa was drafted in the war and it impacted him. But onto the review.

The first 2/3 of the book was so compelling and action packed. It was fast and it sucked me into the story. The last third broke my heart. For Frances and for all the men and women who came home to country that hated them and was ashamed of them. I hated how hard it was for Frances to reintegrate into society, but how often and true that is for our veterans? I would like to say the VA and our country has gotten better about that, but we’re still a country divided and we’re still losing veterans to suicide every day.

The Women is a masterpiece of literature that takes the reader firsthand to the trauma of not only war but also the emotional trauma of trying to recover and find yourself. If you enjoy war stories and the medical side of things you may really enjoy this book. Frances was a nurse in Vietnam for two years and she saw it all.

I think the only thing that would’ve made this book better was an epilogue of Frances after the reunion of the 36th Evac Hospital Staff. I wanted that closure. It feels almost like it’s a half happy ending.

Content Warnings