Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Challenges: 
Around the Year in 52 Books: A category from another challenge (my Bingo Board reading challenge)
Bingo Board reading challenge: Read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah



Along with “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr I think this was probably the most hyped WWII book of this year. I say this year. Apparently they were actually published in 2015 and 2014 respectively, according to Goodreads, but I feel like this is the year they really became known (and hyped). 

This book follows two French sisters during the Nazi invasion and occupation of France. Vianne is quiet, shy and just wants to keep her family safe, while Isabelle is brash and confrontational and looking for anyone to love her like she has been craving since childhood. It’s quite hard to give a brief synopsis of this book as there are so many things going on. Not only is there the Nazi occupation forces to worry about, but the small family has its own deep wounds to try and heal, stemming back from when the mother died and the father shipped the sisters off to the countryside. Isabelle wants to join the French resistance but with a Nazi officer quartered as her sister’s house she must take precautions to keep her family safe. Against her will Vianne is also involved in the resistance when things come to a head during the deportations of Jews from all over France. We follow these two sisters as they each try to navigate a very dangerous world, staying safe, but doing their bit for the war effort without shying away. 


I started out not really liking this book too much. None of the characters were instantly likable and their was a bit of insta-love, which I am never a fan of. But as the story went on, I found myself more and more invested and each character grew on me until I cared for all of them, even though they were perhaps as different as they could be. The book had me in tears a couple of times, which is not an easy feat, so I know it hit me hard. I give this book 4,5 stars out of 5, deducting half a star for the insta-love, because there is never an excuse for that! 

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