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heatheronthego's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
gardenreadermom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
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
4.25
awesomebrandi's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars rounded down. I kept trying to tell myself to round up, but I can't go against my gut!
Band of Sisters is a fictionalized retelling of the true story of Smith College alumnae that assisted during WWI, in France.
Not going to lie, I almost quit this book in the first 10 - 15%, but I was like, okay, let's give it some time to build on me. When I hit the 'do I stay or do I go' point, it was actually feeling pretty good, but it duped me, and fell back into the things that made me dislike it so much in the beginning.
The Good: The story of the women of the Smith college unit is clearly a really interesting story. I found the concept of what they did, and their actions, and how they impacted the war torn French society to be quite riveting. I love reading stories of people forming relationships, and getting through hard times together. I would absolutely love to know more about the real life people of the Smith college unit that did good work helping the people of France. There are also some good chunks and quotes in this book. I feel like the book comes across as a 'debut novel by an author with potential, but needs work'. Except, this author has lots of books published already.
The Bad: There is so much petty, basic, irritating, eye rolling, and downright HATEFUL garbage in this book. The fully fictionalized main characters - Kate and Emmie, are just so poorly written. Kate is absolutely hateable. There is an attempt to show her 'softer side' later in the book, but it's just NOT well done. I liked Emmie, but I felt like she got the short end of the stick. All of the the main characters FELT like caricatures, and not fully fleshed, relatable characters. Especially, with this book based on real life people - if I was the family members of those people, I'd be pretty horrified, not gonna lie. There were so many mentions of people's money, and their looks ("-in a suit that was very much the wrong color for her complexion."), and all of that stuff. Not to mention so much unnecessary ableism, like "I don’t want you tied to a man with no legs." I mean, COME ON.
The other problem with this book, and even the author says it in the author's note, is it has SO MANY DETAILS and SO MANY CHARACTERS, that it becomes a mess that is hard to keep up with. Obviously, not her exact words, but I found myself forgetting things and being thrown off when they were finally mentioned in passing toward the end of the book. I get that it's a complex thing to write about, but there were things that could have been left out and probably made it a bit stronger.
In the authors note, she says: "There were times when I was highly tempted to abandon the whole project and put together an annotated version of their letters instead, because the truth was even more incredible than fiction." Honestly, she should have, it would have been a better book. I probably won't read more by this author.
Band of Sisters is a fictionalized retelling of the true story of Smith College alumnae that assisted during WWI, in France.
Not going to lie, I almost quit this book in the first 10 - 15%, but I was like, okay, let's give it some time to build on me. When I hit the 'do I stay or do I go' point, it was actually feeling pretty good, but it duped me, and fell back into the things that made me dislike it so much in the beginning.
The Good: The story of the women of the Smith college unit is clearly a really interesting story. I found the concept of what they did, and their actions, and how they impacted the war torn French society to be quite riveting. I love reading stories of people forming relationships, and getting through hard times together. I would absolutely love to know more about the real life people of the Smith college unit that did good work helping the people of France. There are also some good chunks and quotes in this book. I feel like the book comes across as a 'debut novel by an author with potential, but needs work'. Except, this author has lots of books published already.
The Bad: There is so much petty, basic, irritating, eye rolling, and downright HATEFUL garbage in this book. The fully fictionalized main characters - Kate and Emmie, are just so poorly written. Kate is absolutely hateable. There is an attempt to show her 'softer side' later in the book, but it's just NOT well done. I liked Emmie, but I felt like she got the short end of the stick. All of the the main characters FELT like caricatures, and not fully fleshed, relatable characters. Especially, with this book based on real life people - if I was the family members of those people, I'd be pretty horrified, not gonna lie. There were so many mentions of people's money, and their looks ("-in a suit that was very much the wrong color for her complexion."), and all of that stuff. Not to mention so much unnecessary ableism, like "I don’t want you tied to a man with no legs." I mean, COME ON.
The other problem with this book, and even the author says it in the author's note, is it has SO MANY DETAILS and SO MANY CHARACTERS, that it becomes a mess that is hard to keep up with. Obviously, not her exact words, but I found myself forgetting things and being thrown off when they were finally mentioned in passing toward the end of the book. I get that it's a complex thing to write about, but there were things that could have been left out and probably made it a bit stronger.
In the authors note, she says: "There were times when I was highly tempted to abandon the whole project and put together an annotated version of their letters instead, because the truth was even more incredible than fiction." Honestly, she should have, it would have been a better book. I probably won't read more by this author.
minerva1221's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
reading_ladies_blog's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bronsonmh's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
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
Wow, I thought this was a great book. I loved the characters and plot of the story. I loved how we got letters the girls sent home along with story. I love historical fiction that is based on a true story. I didn’t know about the women from Smith college went over to France during the war to help villages rebuild.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
amyp85's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lolololo4's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
relaxing
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
clynnbevens's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25