The Women by Kristin Hannah - 4 Stars
The Women is such a hyped book right now and I see why! What an impactful read where Kristin skillfully weaved in the details of the Vietnam War, showcasing the women who served as nurses there during that time. I absolutely loved this book and you will not be able to put it down - that's for sure. The only reason it wasn't a full 5 star perfect read for me was some things going on with the romance throughout the story but I overall enjoyed it. This one is going to grip you, pull at your heart strings and not let go.
We follow our main character of Frances "Frankie" McGrath, a "good girl at home" with her family in the 60s. We see her brother go off to war and she is inspired to follow in his footsteps after graduating nursing school and being told by her brother's friend that "Women can be heroes too." War heroes are very important to her father so she also wanted to make her family proud as well. Unfortunately, things do not go to plan as she hoped. Her parents are so scared and disappointed when she enlists in the army so she can go serve in Vietnam because of the circumstances surrounding her brother's service. We follow Frankie's journey to Vietnam and it's real, raw, gritty, emotional, sad, violent - everything in between.
Grab your tissues because the tears throughout this story yall! So many. I learned so much about Vietnam and the war that I was unaware of or only saw bits and pieces of in the movie Forrest Gump. It was tragic how our Veterans were treated back then when they returned from war and the horrors of war itself.
We really see Frankie go through so much in her experience with loss, grief, depression, PTSD - so much that she has no idea how to handle on her own. She really needs help, therapy and can't get anyone to help her. She goes to the VA only to be told there were no women at Vietnam and treated as if she is crazy. And her parents have no sense of being proud of her when she returns so she is just lost on this journey to figure out what to do.
Her best friends, Barb and Ethel, were my favorites because they really stood by her, even when they left they would check in on her and they were not going to let her just sulk or be alone. They were going to make sure she was ok and could begin again back home. I loved their female friendship group.
This is really a coming of age story for Frankie as we see this young girl from such a conservative family, go to war and grow up in a sense from all the horrors of war she sees as she saves many men's lives.
I loved seeing Frankie's journey. The poor girl just about couldn't catch a break but by the end - the happiness I was seeking was worth it.
Now, let's chat content for those who are interested because on my channel and page, I make sure to explain content where I can:
Content discussion:
Trigger/Content warnings include: Sexism, Infidelity, Attempted Suicide, Miscarriage, Psychiatric Hospitalization, Graphic war details for blood, gore and injury depiction, Medical procedures, Death of a family member, Explosions, Bombings, Child death, Gun violence, Military and Vietnam War chemical gassings and violence, Mistreatment of our Veterans, War Time Language, 2 Mild Open Door Sexual Scenes that lead to fade to black so very little detail.
Overall, the content did not bother me except for the infidelity. I did not like the infidelity depicted in this story, even if you feel empathy during the situation, it's not something I agree with having in the book. I see why the author did it for the plot and character growth in the situation but still didn't like it. The sexual scenes in this were not something I loved but they didn't ultimately take away from my enjoyment of the story. They were very brief and not too too detailed as other books would be. To me, Kristin is not trying to write smut here, its what the characters are going through during the time and makes sense in the scenes so I overlook it personally. But want to mention there were those 2 scenes for others to be aware of. I will say, the act of sex is not specifically described and it does fade to black in those situations.
Regarding the war time violence, I believe it was necessary to truly show the shock and horrors of war and what Frankie and her fellow nurses went through in Vietnam. But if you are sensitive to this type of details, you might skip this book because there are a lot of details surrounding lost limbs, blood, gore etc.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good war story, coming of age story and in depth historical fiction and can handle the content above.
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