Reviews

The Women by Kristin Hannah

southernbibliomom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I am a blubbering mess. I’m going to be honest, I normally stay away from Vietnam stories. It just seemed too gritty, too awful. But, these stories need to be heard. Just heartbreaking and infuriating. There were times I wanted to slap people and times I wanted to tell Frankie just no and wrap her in a hug. I loved the love story of the women, which was really what got them through. The bond they created through war and how they walked each other to their place of peace. And the end, 
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where we finally see people welcome these heroes home and Frankie (in representation of all the women) get recognized as a hero in her own right. I cried through the last part of this book and wished it would go on for just a bit longer as I really want to know what or if the future held for two of the characters. And that’s saying something because this book was a thick one. Beautifully written. Painfully needed.

emmawall's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kimreadz's review against another edition

4.0

I did enjoy this book, but was concerned early on because it got off to a slow start. I feared the hype had set me up, once again. But it got much better as is went along. The Vietnam scenes were pretty easy to visualize if you've ever watched much MASH. There were times that the story got a little predictable, mainly because of heavy foreshadowing on the part of the author. I thought the portrayal of the 'society girl' and the expectations for her in the early 60s was pretty accurate, as was the historical background of the protests and music of the 60s. I was a little young to be an active participant, but I can remember those times well. As hard as the Vietnam scenes were, with the all the cultural references to clothes and music, it was a bit of a nostalgia trip.

I could complain about all the loss Frankie had, all the loves she had, etc. A lot of people have, as well as stated that they did not like Frankie as a character. But this is fiction, not reality, and it made a good story. The ending did catch me by surprise, and I would have liked to have known more about what happens next. An epilogue would have been nice, but the book didn't need to be any longer. There was enough material here that the book could have been split into two books, but I'm glad the author wrapped it up in one book. I don't like waiting for a sequel!

grierkt's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail

xhuynh1's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

erinkatz's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

viveelan's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

amyapple's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

The story read like a biography which was enjoyable to follow. Frankie’s starts off extremely naive and then war does its thing and she grew up very quick. Her character growth was what I did enjoy.

Considering it is fiction however, and not non fiction, I did find the plot a little lacking. The revelations as you read are quite predictable at many moment and most characters are fairly stock standard and following a stereotype. The last twist though - I did not see- and that rendered the book a bit better than a what it would have just been.

We move along quite quickly which was great and perhaps that’s where we lost the moments where Hannah could have delved deeper into the other characters and also paint a better picture of the war and not just a few mentions about bombs dropping. There were quite a number of ideas that could have been better fleshed out as well.

Hannah did bring some tears to my eye at a few certain parts of the book.

swampthoughts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

little_wheat's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0