The Nightingale
A #1 New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, and soon to be a major motion picture, this unforgettable novel of love and strength in the face of war has enthralled a generation. With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France―a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
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Community Reviews
I really wish I didn't wait so long to read this. This is a wonderfully written historical fiction novel that takes place during World War 2 and follows the lives of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle. As someone who doesn't enjoy reading about history, I have found myself enjoying historical fiction and REALLY loved this book. I (finally) picked this book up after receiving it as a birthday gift and anticipated on reading it with buddies for a book club...however, I ended up finishing this book way ahead of schedule. I stayed up until 2am and CRIED because of this book. I honestly can't say that I've ever been this touched by a book before. The two sisters in this story were both so brave in their own ways and it was so inspiring to read about such admirable women. It was nice to read a book that gave so much credit to the women who experienced war, as this isn't usually common. This book was easily 5 stars.
30 pages in: This isn't literary, so I couldn't enjoy it in that particular way.
250ish pages in: I enjoy genre fiction, but as genre fiction, it wasn't sufficiently enjoyable. I don't even grasp the concept of painful genre fiction really. The characters were insufficiently developed for me to care about very deeply, which is surpprising considering how long this book was. Likewise, important relationships like Vianne and Rachel weren't sufficiently developed even though they're important lifelong friends. Isabelle falls in love with a guy she barely knows and I couldn't care less. Okay so maybe it's like an action book? With action and nothing else?
About 300 pages in: But the thing that bothered me the most was the concept of the "Nazi with the heart of gold." We're not even talking about Hitler youth, we're talking about a grown man who seems fully cognizant of the Nazi plans. Who does in fact personally send Jewish people off to concentration camps. But he "doesn't like it" so somehow that's okay? But Vianne still thinks he's a really nice guy. Maybe that sort of thing seemed cute in 2015 before the 2016 election? Well, it wasn't, and F that. Evil nonsense like that is why the planet is burning right now. I get that people that are initially good can be corralled into doing evil things. That's part of the horror of the Third Reich! However, once a person gets to a certain point and doesn't turn back in any way-- let's not pretend that person is "good" anymore. If an active Nazi - no matter how he got to that point- isn't evil, then evil has no meaning.
301 pages in: Oh no, seriously, there's another 140 pages to go? Then the really bad stuff happens... I have other complaints about this section that I will skip because they're spoilers.
250ish pages in: I enjoy genre fiction, but as genre fiction, it wasn't sufficiently enjoyable. I don't even grasp the concept of painful genre fiction really. The characters were insufficiently developed for me to care about very deeply, which is surpprising considering how long this book was. Likewise, important relationships like Vianne and Rachel weren't sufficiently developed even though they're important lifelong friends. Isabelle falls in love with a guy she barely knows and I couldn't care less. Okay so maybe it's like an action book? With action and nothing else?
About 300 pages in: But the thing that bothered me the most was the concept of the "Nazi with the heart of gold." We're not even talking about Hitler youth, we're talking about a grown man who seems fully cognizant of the Nazi plans. Who does in fact personally send Jewish people off to concentration camps. But he "doesn't like it" so somehow that's okay? But Vianne still thinks he's a really nice guy. Maybe that sort of thing seemed cute in 2015 before the 2016 election? Well, it wasn't, and F that. Evil nonsense like that is why the planet is burning right now. I get that people that are initially good can be corralled into doing evil things. That's part of the horror of the Third Reich! However, once a person gets to a certain point and doesn't turn back in any way-- let's not pretend that person is "good" anymore. If an active Nazi - no matter how he got to that point- isn't evil, then evil has no meaning.
301 pages in: Oh no, seriously, there's another 140 pages to go? Then the really bad stuff happens... I have other complaints about this section that I will skip because they're spoilers.
There are a lot of great reviews on this book, so I'm going to keep this brief because I have nothing to gush about and nothing to rant about.
This is a really great book that I just really couldn't love.
There was nothing wrong with it that I can put my finger on, so I'm going to give it a four because it certainly deserves no less than that. It's a typical case of "it's not you, it's me."
The Nightingale has many of the things I like in books: sisters, family conflict, romance that the story doesn't revolve around, strong women, that WWII/Nazis time period (this is actually a strong love/hate), tear inducing lines, shock inducing lines, steady pace, etc. etc. etc. It was well-written but just lacking that something that would launch it to my favorites.
Still absolutely recommended.
This is a really great book that I just really couldn't love.
There was nothing wrong with it that I can put my finger on, so I'm going to give it a four because it certainly deserves no less than that. It's a typical case of "it's not you, it's me."
The Nightingale has many of the things I like in books: sisters, family conflict, romance that the story doesn't revolve around, strong women, that WWII/Nazis time period (this is actually a strong love/hate), tear inducing lines, shock inducing lines, steady pace, etc. etc. etc. It was well-written but just lacking that something that would launch it to my favorites.
Still absolutely recommended.
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