The Nightingale Review
*May be some spoilers!*
Author: Kristin Hannah
Pages: 438
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of tricks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions in Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them. she is forced to make one impossible decision after another to keep her family safe.
Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion, and circumstances, 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.
My Thoughts
Right off the bat I loved the writing style. From the very first pages, I thought that Kristin Hannah wrote beautifully and I loved her descriptions. They were so well done and smooth that I really felt like I was in France with Vianne.
I also loved the characters in this book, each one was so distinctive and so deep in their character building. One of my favorite characters to read was Captain Beck because even though he was a Nazi, he still kept his humanity. I loved reading about a character that broke the mold of a stereotype. I felt like Captain Beck represented a very important topic: Not every person in a stereotyped group of people fit the stereotype. Another character I really enjoyed was Vianne. Isabelle was the wild, heroic sister that was fearless and would do anything for what she believed in. But, I thought that Vianne was so interesting to read because she was like the average woman in war. She felt all of the things that an ordinary woman would feel: loss, fear for her children, shame from wanting to follow the rules to keep her family safe, worry. All of these things are what an average woman would feel, so I loved getting to watch her grow through the war and find the courage to do what was right despite how terrified she was.
Finally my favorite part of this book was for sure the end. I completely did not expect the ending at all, Hannah had me fooled the entire book. As much as I enjoyed this book for some reason I had some issues at parts to be completely immersed and riveted with the story. I felt like sometimes it was a little too separated between the sisters, but that probably has everything to do with my expectations coming into this book. I thought that Isabelle and Vianne would be more sisterly throughout the book and be more connected, but that is not what happens. However, the end of this book completely remedies this. All lose ends are tied up, there's a surprise that at least I didn't expect, and you get all the closure that you wish to get.
Favorite Quotes
"In love we find out who we want to be, in war we find out who we are."
"'Men tell stories', I say. It is the truest, simplest answer to his question. 'Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us,
Because I was a little off kilter throughout the whole book, I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars (I still don't know how to put in a half star, so if anyone knows please tell me!), but I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.
If you have read this book please comment and tell me your thoughts because I would love to know! Happy reading!
Author: Kristin Hannah
Pages: 438
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of tricks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions in Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them. she is forced to make one impossible decision after another to keep her family safe.
Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion, and circumstances, 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.
My Thoughts
Right off the bat I loved the writing style. From the very first pages, I thought that Kristin Hannah wrote beautifully and I loved her descriptions. They were so well done and smooth that I really felt like I was in France with Vianne.
I also loved the characters in this book, each one was so distinctive and so deep in their character building. One of my favorite characters to read was Captain Beck because even though he was a Nazi, he still kept his humanity. I loved reading about a character that broke the mold of a stereotype. I felt like Captain Beck represented a very important topic: Not every person in a stereotyped group of people fit the stereotype. Another character I really enjoyed was Vianne. Isabelle was the wild, heroic sister that was fearless and would do anything for what she believed in. But, I thought that Vianne was so interesting to read because she was like the average woman in war. She felt all of the things that an ordinary woman would feel: loss, fear for her children, shame from wanting to follow the rules to keep her family safe, worry. All of these things are what an average woman would feel, so I loved getting to watch her grow through the war and find the courage to do what was right despite how terrified she was.
Finally my favorite part of this book was for sure the end. I completely did not expect the ending at all, Hannah had me fooled the entire book. As much as I enjoyed this book for some reason I had some issues at parts to be completely immersed and riveted with the story. I felt like sometimes it was a little too separated between the sisters, but that probably has everything to do with my expectations coming into this book. I thought that Isabelle and Vianne would be more sisterly throughout the book and be more connected, but that is not what happens. However, the end of this book completely remedies this. All lose ends are tied up, there's a surprise that at least I didn't expect, and you get all the closure that you wish to get.
Favorite Quotes
"In love we find out who we want to be, in war we find out who we are."
"'Men tell stories', I say. It is the truest, simplest answer to his question. 'Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us,
Because I was a little off kilter throughout the whole book, I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars (I still don't know how to put in a half star, so if anyone knows please tell me!), but I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.
If you have read this book please comment and tell me your thoughts because I would love to know! Happy reading!
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