Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Women by Kristin Hannah

540 reviews

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

I want to start by saying this was a story that needed to be told. There is not enough literature on Vietnam and this book really explores the erasure of female vets, the treatment of vets, ptsd, addiction and the futility of the war. I appreciated it all. 

However, for some reason I went into the book expecting multiple povs and instead got one, very limited pov. I would’ve wished we could’ve had the perspective of a Vietnamese woman and/or a black woman nurse. We see some of this through Frankie’s friend Barb but we are always told not shown things and it made any commentary about racism or classism feel shoehorned in. Plus, the fact that there were no named asian characters is a miss in my opinion. The only perspective about the war is shaped by people tired of the deaths of American soldiers with civilian casualties largely ignored. The author tried but it was a matter of needing more perspectives. 

Connected to the problem of needing more perspectives is the fact that Frankie always has a love interest. It was like whack a mole. For a book called the women and only telling one’s story she spent a lot of time centering her story on men. It was not super interesting or new and took valuable page time away from women and the war-related themes. There are multiple points where romantic love is used as a fix-all for main character’s problems. It became melodramatic for a book that is not a drama or a romance. 

All of the above issues didn’t make me hate the book but I would have made some changes. Again I did appreciate the themes, mention of historical movements, Barb’s character, the main friend group, and how much Frankie earned her future happiness. The author made her regress before her progress and I appreciate that in a character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Ableism, Vomit, and Colonisation

mel_rauen's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, and War

katrinaburch's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy, holy shit. What a book. Like almost all of Hannah's books, I was openly sobbing in parts (both good and bad this time). Her writing continues to be phenomenal and you connect so much with the characters. While, this book won't be my favorite of Hannah's (that's the Nightingale), it's still an absolutely fantastic book and should be read by everyone.

My one tiny tiny gripe is that I wish Frankie and Jamie had more written out story and gotten a happy ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage

delaynie's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

5.0

5 Stars!!!

I felt the impact of this book. The Women made me feel every emotion. I haven't cried over any book I've read this year, but I teared up by the end of this one. I loved the main character's story. It was painful and beautiful to read about her life in Vietnam and its ramifications on her life and personhood. I didn't know much at all about the Vietnam War before I read this book. I feel like I learned so much and have gained a new perspective and appreciation for the veterans of that time. If you're emotionally prepared for a story that features numerous traumatic experiences, then I highly recommend this book. The audiobook is great. I can almost guarantee I would read The Women again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

chloejolsen's review

emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, and Pregnancy

wormgirl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

bseigel's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

trapdorr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-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

5.0

Incredibly powerful. I’m in awe of the story and the myriad of emotions I felt while reading. The depth and details that Hannah is able to include demonstrates her thorough research. It made me process and reanalyze my own experiences and emotions I still carry from nursing during the COVID pandemic.  I will carry this story with me for a long while. The complex relationships were well done. I did however find the first half more interesting and compelling than the second. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Racism

Minor: Cancer, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

twigaonabike's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Classism

ginger_snap316's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and War