The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
FALL CHALLENGE 2019
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Group Reads Discussion - The Huntress
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I really enjoyed this book, I'm not overly liberal with the 5 star rating, and books that I put on my wish list for birthdays and Christmas are ones that I would rate more. This is on that list.I loved all the characters, they all had distinct well meshed personalities. The flow between the different time periods didn't jar be as some books do, and worked well into the story.
The great thing about historical-fiction is that it might just teach you something new. While I have read about the women aviators of WWII, no thanks to school, this was a fascinating read, and heartbreaking as you knew how it was going to end, one way or another. Women are useful during a war, but not after. These women had guts, determination, passion. I would use the term fearless, but they do fear, the author is determined that we know this, and how the women push and guide themselves, and each other, past their fear.
And learning some folklore, BONUS. And how I wish I was a quarter like Nina.
Mod
I thought the book dragged on a little long. And Jordan was a bit too good to be true. I couldn't wait to get back to the other subplots.
But like Deborah said above, "The great thing about historical-fiction is that it might just teach you something new." This book was intriguing enough that I want to know more. A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II or Night Witches: The Amazing Story of Russia's Women Pilots in WWII might have appealed to me more. I would be interested in separating Quinn's fiction from fact.
This was a very enjoyable read. The set-up of the book is very similar to some of Quinns other books, combining multiple timelines that come together in the end. Some of the timelines were more interesting than others. Especially the story of Nina Markova interested me. However, most of the storylines had a bit of a slow build-up, although they seemed to be essential for the story.
Just as an FYI - The Huntress is in the Kindle Monthly Deals this month - at least in the UK.
I really liked this book. I found all the various plot lines engaging. It was a page turner for me, as have been the two other Kate Quinn books I’ve read previously. The post-war period of bringing war criminals to justice was a little bit new to me, so I found all that quite interesting. Initially I didn’t think there would be enough “military” in it to really be a good military novel, but there turned out to be quite a bit with the Soviet women pilots, so good choice!
I've never read any books from Kate Quinn before, but maybe I should because I really loved The Huntress. It was engaging and the characters were all wonderful. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and this book is one of the best historical fiction novels I've read. I just wish I could read more about Jordan and Tony.
For me this is a 5 star read. I have loved the Kate Quinn books I've read before and will read any that she writes at the moment.The voices of all the characters were distinct (something I feel Kate Quinn often excels at).
While the mystery of who the huntress is didn't last long, the story was compelling and I loved seeing how the threads were bought together and how she was shown in all her aspects as a human, not a caricature of evil.
Historical Fiction (and WWII historical fiction especially) is one of my favorite genres. I liked that this was a little different than any of the other books I have read. I liked the idea of hunting down the war criminals after the war. As mentioned by others I found Nina's storyline facinating. It is amazing how much women contributed to the war but we don't learn about it in school.
Lisa MDHistorical fiction has always been a favorite genre of mine, though I sometimes shy away from one more WWII novel. I found the story of the Night Witches fascinating, because I had not previously heard of them until the publication of this novel. I enjoyed the alternating stories of the characters and switch between time periods. Even though it was easy to figure out early on who the Huntress was, I felt the real mystery was how the lives of all the characters intersected and their stories were revealed. This was an engaging story, sometimes a little slow. I give it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.
Laurah30I reread this book and found it to be quite thrilling even though i knew what was going to happen. The way the author built suspense into the plot line through the characters of Nina, Anna and Jordan was pretty chilling and ingenious. The subject is difficult yet important and I thought it was a book well worth reading and rereading!
I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked the story overall, and I find myself thinking about it quite a bit even though I've finished it. I guess my complaints are mostly character-related. I liked Nina and her story, but everything about her was too extreme. I liked Jordan, but she annoyed me. Sometimes the author made her seem totally oblivious, and at other times she was sharp as a tack. Ian was sometimes a pacifist, sometimes brutal at the flip of a switch. I was worried that the Huntress was going to turn out to be decent and explain everything away at the end. I also don't see her going meekly back to Europe, or why she should fear Nina quite as much as she did. The book could've been a little shorter as well. Wow, I've got a lot of negative feedback considering that I did enjoy it overall! I think it's just that I had high expectations based on the Goodreads rating, so I'm being extra harsh.
This is so not in my normal reading wheelhouse, but I'd read the other two already. It took a while for me to get into it, but I actually really enjoyed it. I loved Nina's back story, though I didn't love her present-day character much. And I loved Jordan with Ruthie, and her struggles with what kind of life to imagine for herself, what she should vs. what she did want. I had to keep reminding myself what decade we were in, though, as there weren't a lot of environmental details to keep me in the present-day timeline. My only regret about the story was that we don't get to know the Huntress herself, and that we don't get to know her mind and motivations. But I guess the story isn't about her, really. Oh, and I thought it was about twice as long as I would have liked... but I read it, every word!
I've read a lot of historical fiction set around WWII. This, however, wasn't as much about the war as most of the other titles I've read. Like the title suggests, it is more about one person, nicknamed The Huntress, and the team of people trying to track her down so she can pay for her crimes. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by this one. I haven't read The Alice Network yet, but I have to believe it is better.I couldn't get into the investigation, I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I found the entire premise a bit unbelievable. The initial incident between The Huntress and Nina didn't feel to me like it would haunt them forever. Nina flew dozens of missions for the Soviets and, I assume, heard plenty of war stories from her fellow comrades and from Germans after their surrender. Yes, the incident was the closest she came to her own death, but it still seems a bit thin.
I do want to read The Alice Network, but I hope my lackluster feelings about this book don't interfere with my enjoyment of it.
It is O.K. I did not really want to read it, but the others in the other categories did not appeal to me either, and I had read Every Heart a Doorway for the last challenge. So I have listened to this one on audio. And it is O.K.The Russian's story was the best, even though I think it was the most cliche'd. But it was "tough guy" cliche, which is, I guess, unusual for a woman character in a book that has many "ckick lit" components. Chief among the annoying latter were the sections which took place after the war.
The Russian pilot Nina was completely well-rounded though. And I loved her group, The Night Witches. The cliche'd part only came from how Hemingway-esque she was presented sometimes, as if her manliness was being tested. But maybe I am wrong and that was the least cliche'd of the various parts of the book -- and maybe that is the reason why I felt the "chick lit" presence in certain parts more than in others.
I am sure my POV offends some folk with how sexist I see the storyline and character presentation. But I think the author has purposefully constructed the story to where the reader has to think about how different genders might treat situations differently.
I really enjoyed this book. Although it took me a bit to figure out who was who, once I got that, I was into it big time. Anna remained a bit of a mystery, but I think that was intentional as she was the one being hunted and part of being hunted is being discovered. It felt like the writer was allowing the other characters to discover parts of themselves in the process of hunting Anna.
Ian, Tony, Jordan and Nina were all flawed characters whose interactions brought struggle and healing.
I enjoyed the interpersonal play in the lives of the characters and the writing overall. I gave it 4*.
Maybe I’m tired of the WWII stories. I looked forward to this one and while it wasn’t bad, it somehow didn’t live up to my expectations. I knew almost at once who the huntress was and was surprised that one of the questions in the back asked when did you figure that out. It was pretty obvious to me. I also found the sections of Nina living on the lake with her father quite tedious. I felt her backstory could have been conveyed in a manner that wasn’t so fantastical. I know a lot of people will like this book, I just feel it wasn’t exactly for me.
SweetMelissaI really enjoyed this book and rated it 4 stars. I really enjoyed the background story of the Night Witches and will be looking for some non-fiction books about them.
I'm really glad this was one of the picks for this challenge as I had not heard of this book before and I'm glad I read it.
The most enjoyable parts of the story for me were those about the Night Witches, because, as others have mentioned, I didn't know anything about them historically and I found it intriguing to learn of them. I had trouble with the switch from Nina's past sections in 1st person and the change to 3rd person and broken English in the present, although it did help me keep the time periods straight while reading about her. I did notice the "chick lit" vibes that Nick mentions above and definitely some of the sexist parts of the romance. I liked the stories enough not to give those issues too much weight, but I gave it 4 stars because of the writing and content in those sections. Overall, it was an interesting book and a couple of the plots kept me turning the pages.
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Alice Network (other topics)A Dance With Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II (other topics)
Night Witches: The Amazing Story Of Russia's Women Pilots in World War II (other topics)
The Huntress (other topics)
The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.