A review by karina_dreamsinwords
The Women by Kristin Hannah

4.0

β€œπ‘°π’ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’„π’“π’‚π’›π’š, π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’•π’Šπ’„, π’…π’Šπ’—π’Šπ’…π’†π’… π’˜π’π’“π’π’… 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒓𝒖𝒏 π’ƒπ’š π’Žπ’†π’, π’šπ’π’– 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’π’Žπ’†π’.”

This was my first Kristin Hannah book so I was expecting to experience emotions, and boy did I get π™€π™ˆπ™Štional many times while reading. The Women follows Frances β€œFrankie” McGrath as she enlists in the Army Nurse Corps to serve in Vietnam. When Frankie is shipped overseas to care for injured soldiers, she quickly learns of the overwhelming chaos and destruction brought forth through war. The real battle for Frankie begins after coming home to a divided America wanting to forget Vietnam, while struggling to adjust with her new reality after serving her country. 

Julia Whelan delivers a top notch performance in the audiobook, as always! My favorite part of this book was the female friendship at its core. Barb & Ethel were Frankie’s rock time and again. In various stages of her life. The way they all loved each other so completely, dropped anything and everything to show up for each other no matter the choices that were made, was just so beautiful. 

I loved getting to follow a war nurse’s POV. We got to experience all the things alongside Frankie. Her growth as a character was a journey, but I’m happy with how her story ended. The complex family dynamics and relationships being mended & healed felt so realistic. I adored Frankie as a character because she was flawed, yet so resilient for continuing to move forward not only in her years of service, but the events that occurred after her return home. 

I cannot wait to read more from Kristin Hannah! Shout out to my bestie Niki for encouraging me to pick this up alongside her because this is a book I will not soon forget. 

β€œπ’˜π’π’Žπ’†π’ 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐.”
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