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music_girl93's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Gore, Alcoholism, Body horror, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Miscarriage, War, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Cursing, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence
jeeprn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Violence, Medical content, Blood, Infidelity, and War
halestorm802's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War
Moderate: Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Drug use, Alcoholism, Gore, and Infidelity
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
teacherkmd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Alcohol, War, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Grief, Drug use, Death, Child death, Infidelity, and Car accident
snug_with_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, War, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Miscarriage
bringmybooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, & Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.
Review: One of my favorite authors, Kristin Hannah continues to prove that she has an unbelievable way with words. It's unbelievable how quickly she sucks you into a novel and makes you care so much about all of the characters. There are parts of her books (especially her more recent ones) that are a bit melodramatic and require a bit of suspended disbelief, but to be honest I don't know that it bothers me so much.
While there is a bit of heightened drama on the interpersonal side, the research and care that Hannah provides to the historical aspects of her novels is top tier and so welcomed. I feel like I learned a ton about the Vietnam War that I was not aware of before (mostly the women's experience of it), and I was very grateful for this book so that I could do more of my own research.
I did really enjoy the characters in this novel, even when they're making the most piss poor decisions - but my favorite part of the novels, and pretty much all of Hannah's novels, is the way she writes relationships between women. I do think this book is her penultimate example of that, and the relationships between the Frankie and her two best friends will stick with me for a long time.
Overall Rating: ★★★★★ / 4.63
Rating each element of the book out of 5★
Characters ★★★★
Atmosphere ★★★★★
Writing ★★★★
Plot ★★★★
Intrigue ★★★★
Logic ★★★★
Enjoyment ★★★★
Pacing ★★★★
Dialogue ★★★★
★ did not like / ★★ it was okay / ★★★ liked it / ★★★★ really liked it / ★★★★★ loved it
Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Torture, Miscarriage, Murder, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Pregnancy, War, Alcoholism, Cancer, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Self harm, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
jeggert10's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: War, Toxic relationship, Child death, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Cursing, and Miscarriage
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Abortion, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Rape
wellreadjen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I found the story about the women in Vietnam engaging and very interesting. I thought the way the sun the or crafted that story as well as the story about their treatment and struggles once home was well done. However the romance aspect of the book I found very poorly done and almost made me put down the book in annoyance. 3 love interests and two are married. The other is a trained psychiatrist who deals with vets and he doesn’t help her get help while they are together even though she is obviously struggling? And the guy it is implied she ends up with was one of the married guys. He did get divorced I guess but he still tried to get together with the main character while he was married. Not a stellar character in my opinion.
It also felt like the author went out of her way to basically say “waiting until marriage to have sex is outdated and stupid” but every time the character had sex with someone people got hurt and things got worse. Ope. Also the random references to abortion even when no character was seeking an abortion was also very odd putting as a prolife woman reader.
Anyway. I felt this had a lot going for it and was dragged down by a poor attempt at adding romantic drama to the book.
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Infertility and Racism
Minor: Abortion
booklvrkat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Suicide attempt, and Miscarriage
bearybooky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Racial slurs, War, Violence, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Alcohol, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy