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The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah

Start date: March 4, 2025

Finish date: March 31, 2025

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What Members Thought

Feb 08, 2025 Heidi Ashton rated it really liked it

Shelves: physical-bookshelf

4⭐️

I was late to the game on reading this, and I definitely wish I’d read it as my first KH book and not my third. While it was great, it wasn’t my favorite. It took me a while to get into the story, not because of the plot, which I found enthralling and informative, but because of the characters.

The story flips between 2 sisters and their separate lives during WWII in occupied France. The oldest sister is more reserved and compliant because she is putting the life of her daughter first. She wi 4⭐️

I was late to the game on reading this, and I definitely wish I’d read it as my first KH book and not my third. While it was great, it wasn’t my favorite. It took me a while to get into the story, not because of the plot, which I found enthralling and informative, but because of the characters.

The story flips between 2 sisters and their separate lives during WWII in occupied France. The oldest sister is more reserved and compliant because she is putting the life of her daughter first. She will do anything to keep her child alive and safe. The younger sister is impulsive and self-serving in her anger against the Germans, which she has every right to feel. But in her anger, she risked the lives of her sister and niece so many times and it was extremely frustrating and difficult to support her as one of the main characters.

That being said, it took 200 pages for character development to start kicking in, and once it did, I found myself finally cheering on the sisters. I don’t think we are meant to love one (or both) of them right away, it was a process. It was an interesting experience to read about these sisters because while many people become their worst selves in wartime, we see these women become the best and most capable versions of themselves they’d ever been. They develop courage, compassion, and resilience.

I loved how we see 2 very different stories of what a woman was capable of during war. On one side, we see the strong, independent, feminist character who listens to no one and takes severe risks for equally severe rewards. And on the other side, we see the soft, nurturing, feminine mother who may seem quiet and compliant, but hides the strength of a mother bear who will do anything - ANYTHING - to protect her children. Even if it means risking her soul to do it.

It was this development into what women are capable of, and showing that there is no right or wrong choice on what type of woman is better, that made me love this book. There is strength in being a mother. There is strength in being a woman on her own agenda. Neither is better. Both are heroes.

*SOFT SPOILERS BELOW*

What detracted from my rating had a lot to do with the love stories built into this book. I honestly could have done without Isabelle’s love story. It made no sense to me. She trauma bonded with a man for a couple days and somehow falls and stays in love with him for the remainder of the book, even though we only see him 3 more times (maybe?) - it just didn’t add up.

I was much more interested in the forbidden affection between Vianne and Beck, I think this was a very real possibility that addressed Stockholm syndrome, turbulent home life for women in war time without their husbands, and the VERY controversial but real point that not ALL German soldiers knew, believed in, or wanted to do what they were ordered to do. I think Beck’s story was a subtle commentary on this and I appreciated the layer of historical complexity it added to this book.

I also thought the reveal of which sister was telling the story was expected, but well executed. Julien’s story was a true testament of a mother’s love for her child. She really loved him. And she even said that no child should be punished for its creation or creator, and this was a shockingly selfless idea for her to come to terms with after all of her trauma. It can’t have been easy, but her relationship with Julien was so beautiful, she really lived by the idea that a child should not be punished for the sins of its father. I loved her character from the start, but this made me appreciate her strength as a mother and woman even more. ...more

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Oct 07, 2024 daphne rated it it was amazing

violently sobbing

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Jan 27, 2023 Jenna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-can-make-it-right, well-thats-pointy, i-dont-wanna-be-just-friends, bleached-bread, boy-with-luv, cheer-up-baby, i-wanna-be-me, im-in-love, yall-need-some-hobi-water, im-the-one-i-should-love

Book Title: The Nightingale
Standalone or Series: Standalone
Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Romance, WWII
Recommended Age Rating: 14+
Reasons Why: Sex (multiple mentions and brief descriptions), rape, violence, alcohol, and mild language
Recommended for Fans of: Strong female leads and women fighting for themselves
Overall Rating: A
Brief Summary: Isabelle and Vianne are sisters living in Paris during WWII. Both girls are very different and deal with things in their own way, but th ...more

1 like · Like · see review