Finally we made it! This is terrible though. It took till now to finish my first book of the year so far. And I said I wanted to read 9 books this month. But, we are not talking about that right now. Today we are talking about my thoughts and review on The Nightingale. So, let’s do this.
Summary of The Nightingale
The Nightingale is a historical fiction written by the famous Kristin Hannah. If you haven’t heard of her you’ve been living under a rock. In this story we follow the lives of two sisters; Vianne Mauriac and Isabelle Rossignol. They lived in France during World War 2. Vianne, the older sister, was married with a daughter at the time. Her husband gets sent off to the war and when France gets taken over, her town is under Nazi control. She is forced to survive and try to protect her daughter and other loved ones. Her sister, Isabelle, gets connected into the rebellion and secretly delivers messages for the resistance. Eventually she takes on a more hands on approach to helping fight back. Both sisters face hardship and deal with the war in different ways, and even have different beliefs in themselves.
What I Liked
Kristin Hannah is an incredible author and is able to write really complex characters. They seem simple, but there is so much depth to them, especially as the story progresses. She writes the story in a way that draws you in, plays with your emotions, and is overall an incredible story teller. The ending was written in such a way that you really felt the rawness of what these sisters went through, almost as if you were there yourself.
What I Didn’t Like
Well, this is tricky. The best way I can tell you this is that Historical Fiction is not my genre. I looked for Kristin Hannah books because they were blowing up on BookTube and all of the BookTubers that I follow had nothing but good things to say about her books. Her books were so popular that the library had wait listed all the ones they had. Now, here is where I have to confess – this is not the first Kristin Hannah book I tackled. It’s the first one I finished. I really wanted to like her books. In fact, I tried so hard to enjoy them. But they are just not my genre.
Overall Thoughts of The Nightingale
Now, before all you come after me with pitchforks and torches, hear me out. I, personally, would not read another Kristin Hannah book. HOWEVER, I stand by what I said in the positive part of this review. She is an incredible author and story teller. Even though this was not my genre, I still gave The Nightingale 4 stars. It is an incredible story and if you enjoy historical fiction, or even just enjoy a good emotional and intense read, I will highly recommend it to you. Like I said earlier, I really wanted to enjoy these books. But, they’re just not my genre. But that doesn’t mean they are not great.
Update on Progress
So, last year I refused to include audio books in my count. However, I decided to give audio books a go this year and that is actually how I “read” The Nightingale. I will include them this year. Sometimes an audio book is the only way I can get through a book in a reasonable amount of time. I don’t have the time, or the attention span, to just sit and read a book for hours. Even if I’m really enjoying it. So, with the help of audio books, I am hoping to get through a lot more books this year. And I know I want to get through a bunch of books before May 1st so that I can take part in the next book exchange happening on May 1st. Hopefully I can finish at least 3 of the books I got from the last exchange. Well, we know that anything is possible if you try.
