I literally don't even know where to begin with this one. I know for sure that I am not capable of doing it justice. This book is one of my favorite I've read in my life! Kristin Hannah is an incredibly amazing author and she definitely did this book justice. It was so beautifully written, the plot laid out so perfectly, the characters drawn uniquely and in novel ways. I'm so impressed with what Ms. Hannah managed to do with this book.

I lived during the Vietnam war and had a boyfriend from high school who served in it and his twin brother was killed in it. This book focuses on the women of that war, specifically Frankie McGrath, a young nurse whose experience in Vietnam led to her PTSD after returning to the United States. Her parents should have been proud of her, but that wasn't her experience at all. One thing that I found absolutely awful for her was the lack of pride her parents exuded, especially her father who had a wall of "heroes," but the only way she could get on that wall was to get married. And even though she served as an Army nurse in a horrific war, she would never have an Army picture of herself on that wall because the "men" were the heroes. Her parents even LIE to their friends and others about where Frankie is and don't admit that she is serving in the war. Worse than that, when she returned home society didn't believe she'd been in Vietnam because the country had been lied to about women serving there, so she was treated with utter disrespect.

I am sure I will never forget this book and I know that I will read it again. It's too important of a topic and being a woman, it's a good reminder of how women have been "kept in their place" by societal expectations. Thankfully we've come a long way but we still have quite a ways to go. I am proud of my dad who served in WWII and the Korean War, and I'm proud of all the approximately 6,000 women who served in the Vietnam war as well as any other war they served in, in any capacity.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for sending me this book for review. Opinions are mine.
Everyone told me to read this book and they were right. I couldn’t put it down. I read this almost 500-page book in three days. It’s the first full Kristin Hannah book I’ve read, not being able to get through The Nightingale because it was too heartbreaking.
Quoting Kristin Hannah on the @momsdonthavetimetoreadbooks podcast, “The Women is about the nurses, the young women in the 1960s who volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War. It’s their story of both going to war and coming home and what it was like.”
This is a long book. But it was a long war. I think what this book drives home even more is that those who were lucky enough to come home never fully recovered – mentally, physically, emotionally.
Frankie is a young American woman whose life has been changed by the Vietnam War. She enlists as an army nurse, trying to make her father proud, but having no clue what she’s getting into as Americans were lied to about the war for years – the harsh conditions, the death tolls, and even who exactly was fighting the war and why.
The war chapters were of course hard to read, but riveting. I’ve never read a book set during the Vietnam War – a very different kind of war in the jungle. But when Frankie comes home, that’s when she really starts to feel the effects of the War and realizes that many Americans not only didn’t support the war, but also the veterans, and they especially didn’t believe any women had been in Vietnam at all. Frankie questions how she’s supposed to put her life back together when her service isn’t even acknowledged.
Overall, this book is really about the enduring friendship of people who go through the same things together. While there were romantic relationships and those were extremely compelling, the central relationship in this novel was really Frankie, Ethel and Barb, nurses together during the war.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a fantastic. novel about nurses during the Vietnam War. The reader is transported to the battlefields of Vietnam and there is so much that I, as a reader, was not aware of. The characters are well developed and the novel is well researched. It is certainly a novel that deserves many accolades! Thank you to Kristin Hannah, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this excellent novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

The Women is an engrossing tale of a young, naive girl who enlists to go to Vietnam as a nurse. What she encounters there will change how she looks at the world, but the thing that really rocks her is not the horrors of war, but how she is treated upon her return to the States. It is a story that we have heard often from Vietnam vets, but never from the point of view of a woman. It brings a little-known historical capsule into the mainstream and shows us another facet of women's rights that have been hard won. As usual, Kristin Hannah has penned a novel that lets you feel in the middle of the action of a historical time. An engrossing read.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was absolutely incredible as all Kristin Hannah books are. I loved learning more about the Vietnam war from this lens. KH always evokes a lot of emotions and overall this was my favorite book of this year!

This is only my second novel by Kristen Hannah, with my first being True Colors (which I loved!).

This novel follows Frankie, both during and after her two tours served in Vietnam as an Army Nurse. Frankie, who goes overseas young and optimistic returns home suffering, like many soldiers, from undiagnosed PTSD.

I liked this book and the ending was touching, but I do feel like at times it dragged on. I wish her time in Vietnam was a bit shorter, because I felt it was the same daily descriptions. I also felt that when she returned home, we saw similar repetition in the story. While I think the novel does a great job showing how difficult returning from war was to a country that didn't respect those who served, at times it was just too much for me.

I will still continue to read her back list because I know so many of her books come with great critical acclaim! This one just wasn't 100 percent for me!

Epic tale. Amazing female stories as per the usual with Kristin Hannah. As a child of the 70s I understood Frankie and her life. I’m loving the increase in historical fiction about this period of time, especially that of Vietnam and the war. Kudos to Kristin for increasing the awareness.

I really liked listening to this book, rather than reading it. As a fan of the TV show MASH, it was fascinating to connect the experiences of the nurses in The Women to things I'd learned previously. Frankie, the main character, was a complex and well written person. She went from debutante to the best Army nurse around, but in an authentic way that made me root for her; she worked hard and earned everything she got. I loved the relationship- during and after the war- between Frankie, Ethel, and Barb (her nurse roommates in Vietnam).

The only reason why I'm giving this book 4 stars instead of five is because of the (to me) repetitive, destructive nature of Frankie's relationship with Jamie. I understand that Frankie was unsupported (apart from her girlfriends) by everyone and suffering from undiagnosed PTSD, but her decisions to consistently fall into a relationship with Jamie seemed like too much. I am so glad she got to have a sort of redemption in the end- that was the perfect way for her to end up in life.

I absolutely LOVE Kristin Hannah and I will read absolutely anything she writes! Give me her grocery list and I'll drop everything I'm doing to read it!

As always, her characters are super fleshed out and developed, you truly feel like they are real and you are going through the book with them. The only reason I didn't give this a full 5 stars was because I really struggled with connecting with Frankie. Yes, she was a fully developed character, but one I didn't particularly enjoy. With that said though, while most of the time reading a book with a MC I didn't enjoy would ruin the book for me, Kristin Hannah is so talented that I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless of my dislike towards the MC.

I Love Kristen Hannah's historical fiction and I cannot wait to dive into her next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by this author, and it won't be my last. I loved how immersed I became in the story and read it in one sitting. I was 100% engaged from beginning to end. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. I give it 5/5 stars.

This author is so incredibly popular and I can't believe I hadn't read their work before picking up this one. I thought it was extremely well done. Get the tissues ready because this was such an emotional ride. I loved the characters and how real and raw they were. This book broke my heart and it was exactly what I needed to get out of a reading slump. I would highly recommend it.

Kristin Hannah has written a powerful novel about the Vietnam War, the nurses who served, and what it was like for them when they returned home. There are very few historical fiction novels about the Vietnam War. As I was just a child during this time period, I did not know much about it. I knew that the Vietnam vets did not come home to fanfare and that it was very difficult for them. I did not know that the average American had no idea that women served over there. Having grown up watching the TV show, MASH, with nurses serving in the Korean War, I assumed that the American public knew that there were women serving in Vietnam. I was unaware that even the Veterans Administration didn’t acknowledge the women’s service and did not provide them with any help. War is horrific and the soldiers who served in Vietnam experienced the unthinkable. Many people do not think of the medical personnel and what they experienced. Their experiences were much worse than I imagined. Hannah’s novel is eye-opening! I learned so much.

The main character, Frankie, is a strong and courageous woman. When she returns home from Vietnam, she is broken and suffering from PTSD. She does not have a support system at home. This is the story of her time in Vietnam, but more importantly, it is the story of her struggles when she returns home. Hannah describes her experience in gritty detail. It is the story of friendship, courage, heartbreak, trauma, self-discovery, and resilience. It is a story that is a must-read about a time period in our history that is often overlooked in the area of historical fiction.

The Women is one of the best books that I have ever read! (Hannah’s earlier novel, The Nightingale, is also one of the best books that I have ever read.) It is sad. It is emotional. It stayed with me long after I read the last page. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Full disclosure - this review/feedback only applies to the first 50% of the book. I cannot finish it. I missed the publication date because of the marketing boycott, so I checked the audiobook out from my library. It is very well written, with fleshed out characters, and details that immerse you in the narrative. It's brilliant. It's also so hard to read. I found myself sobbing more than once during the events of Frankie's service. I've reached the part where she comes home, and honestly, I can't handle any more angst. My heart hurts too much already.

In 1965, nursing student Frankie joins the US Army Nurse Corps in order to serve her country during the Vietnam War.

"Women can be heroes."

While working in Army hospitals in Vietnam, Frankie not only saves the lives of countless American men injured during battle but also builds strong friendships, both platonic and romantic. This heart wrenching story follows Frankie as she completes two tours in the Army before returning home only to find it difficult to assimilate to a quiet life at home. She especially struggles with these questions: (1) I served in Vietnam just like my brother Finley, so why is my father endlessly proud of his service but ashamed of mine? (2) What does it mean to be a woman? and (3) Why are the societal rules different for men and women?

"It wasn’t just physical wounds that soldiers would take home from Vietnam. From now on, all of them would have a deep understanding of both man’s cruelty and his heroism."

Since my father was drafted into the Vietnam War, this book was one of my most highly anticipated reads this year. While I was enthralled by the historical aspects of this novel as well as the unique circumstances of a female serving as a nurse, I could have done without some of the romantic complications towards the end of the story.

While this book was very good, The Great Alone (5 stars) remains my favorite book by this author followed by Winter Garden (5 stars), Home Front (5 stars) and The Nightingale (5 stars).

Location: Coronado Island, California; Vietnam; Kauai, Hawaii; Charlottesville, Virginia; Missoula, Montana

Kristin Hannah is an amazing author and consistently outdoes herself! Whenever I need a heavier historical well researched book I definitely search her books out. Can't wait to get hurt by the next one!

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Kristin Hannah is the queen of historical fiction. This book has resonated with so many people. Loved discussing it with my mom, who was a nurse. Always well written, heartfelt, and impeccably researched.

This was EPIC! Frankie McGrath is a complex character who just reals you in with her innocence, selflessness and sacrifice and we follow her journey of growth and change. From losing a sibling in the Vietnam war, volunteering to join the Army Nurse Corps and overcoming all obstacles thrown at her (tragedies, love, war) to the 2nd part of the book... the aftermath. After surviving 2 tours, Frankie now faces the unwelcome return home, PTSD and emotional turmoil as well as deception.

I can't tell you how many times this book make me cry and really hope Frankie makes it.

Kristen Hannah always delivers, but this is her best yet.

Just when you think Kristin Hannah has written your favorite book ever she says hold my pen and publishes and even better book. She is by far my favorite author and recommend all her books to everyone!! This book is about the Vietnam war and the incredible women who served.

Many thanks to Kristin Hannah and St Martin’s press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I didn't know much about the Vietnam war or the involvement of women but I learned a lot, especially with what these women did day to day and the reception they came home it. Really enjoyed this book.

I was very grateful to receive a “Read Now” copy of this book. I held off reading it so that I could read it this month with my book club. Oh, how I wish I hadn’t waited. By far, this is the best book I have read in 2024. I have never read a book about Vietnam but I feel this captured the experiences so well. I had two uncles who fought in Vietnam and reading about these experiences, I am so much more thankful that they survived and came home to us. Wow. What a story.