The audiobook was even better than reading the book. Frankie will always be one of my favorite characters. Kristin Hannah being characters to life and by the end of the book they seem like a part of your life, that you don’t want to end. I really loved the first half of the book. The second half was depressing but real. I wish the few love interests she had didn’t all come back to life after she thought were dead. That made is a little unbelievable. I still loved it!

This book was such a great read. It really grabs you as the reader with the way Kristin Hannah writes. The story is touching and heartbreaking. Another great historical fiction book by Kristina Hannah!

This was my first experience with Kristen Hannah’s storytelling style and I can definitely say I now understand the reason why everyone on the internet is constantly recommending her books. Her writing style is absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

This book was SO beautifully written. I’m not normally an emotional reader, but Ms. Hannah always seems to find a way to make me cry. Absolutely loved this story and even had my whole book club read it as well!

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.
The Queen, Julia Whelan did not disappoint. I will listen to most anything she narrates.

I had high hopes for this book, after reading The Four Winds, however, I was very disappointed from this.

First the pros: I'm glad that there is a book that talks about women who served in the Vietnam War. It is very important for them to be acknowledged for their service. Kristin Hannah is an incredible writer to make you feel all the emotions and see the horrors. I liked how it showed Frankie's PTSD post-war and the struggles she had coming home and trying to share her expeiences with her family.

Now the cons: The biggest issue for me were the mulitple romances, the men she chose, and the multiple "and they were really alive!" I just couldn't get past that, espeically since the second half just became about the men. Which is strange for a book called "The Women". Other issues I had was that the book was too long and Frankie goes through all the things. It's like there was a checklist and she had to experience everything on that list. I would have preferred if this was a novel with 3 interconnected stories about 3 different experiences from Women who served or were affected by the war. I think it would have been a bigger impact to the readers.

I hope that people still try this book, even though I didn't enjoy it. So many people love this and you might love it too. And the audiobook is really good. It's narrated by Julia Whelan and she's just a star with her narratations.

While there were many elements of The Women that I genuinely appreciated, overall I found myself feeling frustrated upon completing this book. I'm also a little surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response this book has received.

What I enjoyed:
- Julie Whelan's narration of this audiobook was perfection. I will listen to anything she narrates. Her ability to capture different voices, convey different emotions, and pace the story perfectly is truly impressive.
- Kristin Hannah's writing is compulsively readable. The Women was a quick read and quite the page-turner, and I enjoyed Hannah's overall style of writing.
- I also appreciated the author's attempt to shed some light on the experiences of women veterans of the Vietnam War, particularly their treatment upon returning after the war.
- I loved the female friendships in this book, and I wish Hannah had pushed those storylines further.

What didn't quite work for me:
- The romance elements were SO overly dramatic. They were both predictable (heavy, heavy foreshadowing) while also feeling contrived to the point of being unbelievable. The romance storylines also made me really dislike Frankie. (Don't get me wrong, the men were scummy, too, but I at least wanted to be able to root for the protagonist.)
- This was a very Western-centric narrative of the Vietnam War, which shouldn't have been surprising given the protagonist and the story, but it felt like any time she wrote about Vietnamese civilians, it was in the context of being helped by the nurses. There were a few mentions of the "atrocities" of war and the war crimes committed by the United States Army, but again it was really just to provide context for why the war was viewed so unfavorably, and thus impacted Frankie's ability to reintegrate into her community.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

I loved this story. If you enjoy historical fiction this is NOT TO BE MISSED!

Hannah writes the story of these forgotten men and women so well. Not many people want to talk about the Vietnam War. I had no idea the role women played in this war and the price they paid. The narrator was also fantastic! I cast the movie as I was reading . So good! I wept.

From the very first page Kristin Hannah has you hooked with the life changing story of the women who committed themselves to their county and the scarf ices made in the face of war. Love, loss, friendship and family The Women has it all. A devastatingly telling that will leave you emotionally invested.

I love love loved this book. I am a big Kristin Hannah fan to begin with and she does a wonderful job of making historical fiction come to life. The women of the vietnam war is not something I knew much about, I certainly didn't know about the treatment they received after coming home from the war. So this was heartbreaking and at times very hard to read, but I think it is a very importn story to tell. I liked Frankie as a character and loved her friends as well, I wished we got to hear a little more about their stories as well instead of focusing so heavily on Frankie's life but I still loved it overall. I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and it was easy to listen to.

I am definitely the minority here. While there is a lot to love about this book, it is probably my least favorite Kristin Hannah book,

Incredible. This story and the narration are at the top of my list for this year. Kristin Hannah is such a talented writer. I’m on a quest to read all of her books and this one was my favorite so far.

Thank you for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

Another great book by Kristin Hannah. Definitely a recommended title to either read or listen to. I look forward to more of Kristen's novels.

Of all of Kristin Hannah's books, The Women is by far my favorite. I loved, and appreciated, getting to read a story about Vietnam from the perspective of a woman who served. Hannah's storytelling is unmatched and narrated by Julia Whalen just brought out that much more enjoyment of the story for me. The Woman follows Frances "Frankie" McGrath and her fellow nurses who served in the Army Nurse Corps during the height of the Vietnam War and the experiences they had upon returning. I shared this story with my grandma who was a nurse for over 40 years. While she didn't serve in the Army Nurse Corps, she could vividly remember the surgeries detailed in this novel and the treatment of those who served in Vietnam. The Woman is a must read for everyone and a reminder that we must do better for those who sacrifice everything to keep others safe.

Once again, Kristin Hannah made me feel the entire spectrum of human emotion in one book. Every single emotion I can think of - grief, joy, disgust, betrayal, fear, contentment, etc. - I felt during this book, and her ability to accomplish this will never cease to amaze me. I've learned that I need to space out her books so that I have time to fully process them before moving to the next.

As for this story, it was brilliant. She offered such a unique insight into the Vietnam War, and particularly the experiences of the women who were there. I learned so much about history, which is often neglected in more mainstream sources.

Overall, I am awestruck at just how much this book has impacted me.

This book was so amazing! I knew going in that KH would rip my heart out and stomp all over it, but I didn’t expect how epic the journey would be. This is my favorite KH book to date! It took me months to finish it only because I’ve had loved pass away this year and grieving and reading this book at the same time was too much.
I cried from beginning to end. (I’m a crier though so normals may not have the same reaction 😂) If you’re a crier, like me, have a box of tissues ready. I am from a military family and have experienced boot camp myself, so my feelings for this book are soul deep. ❤️. I think KH captured this time in our US history so accurately and vividly, that even those who aren’t criers will feel deeply for this story as well.
I loved this friend group of women! They were so strong, brave and supportive of each other.
Absolutely an amazing book! Highly recommend!!
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I knew very little about how the women who served in Vietnam were treated. Really moving portrayal of sisterhood and bravery - and I learned a lot (per usual with any Kristin Hannah historical fiction). Some of the drama was a little too predictable but overall, this was still so good.

Julian Whelan is a brilliant narrator. And so the story begins with her alluring voice quality and character voices. So many layers to this novel. It is a history lesson, a study of deep friendships and family members, finding oneself in a world that is often unaccepting and so many layers fall one upon the other. The first part of the book, taking place in Vietnam, was often times hard to listen to. Yet, so wonderfully described with pain, loss, and sorrow. I could go on and on but my suggestion is to read it. Kristin Hannah has evolved from her former style of writing. I always love her books but this one takes her craft to a new and wonderful level of being there. It is life in a bottle. A bottle with cracks and spills that is glued back together only to crack again. Read it.

Kristin Hannah has a way of writing so well, and so poignantly. I always feel like I learn so much from them, and this one is no exception.
I loved this book, and felt so understood reading it.

The Women by Kristin Hannah
Publication date: February 6, 2024

Date read: January 31, 2024

Audiobook read by Julia Whelan



Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

I'm not going to be the first person on the internet to recommend The Women, and I know I won't be the last, but I'll start this review out by saying that this is one of the best books I've read so far this year.

Books about war are nothing new, and books about women serving in war have been popular in the past decade, so it's not like this book is presenting anything unique... on the surface. The thing is, this book presents war in a way that I haven't really seen it portrayed very often, which is the day to day, mundane aspects of war. As a nurse during Vietnam, our main characters see the horrors of war from the sidelines, which means a lot of routine interspersed with horrible death and pain. It very much reminded me of M*A*S*H, one of my favorite television shows (despite being set in Vietnam rather than Korea, the vibe is very much the same).

What this book then did - that I was not expecting - was to take our main character out of the war halfway through the book and send her home, only to deal with the horrible way that Vietnam veterans were treated once they got back to the United States. In many ways, at least for me, this half of the book was harder to stomach than the half set in a war zone. The way that veterans were treated, especially female veterans, was so heartbreaking. It's certainly not an easy book to read, but I can't recommend it enough.

Hannah did an incredible job with her characters as well. The main character was wonderful - she went through so many stages of believable character development throughout the story. I could have read another 200 pages about Frankie. The secondary characters were also very well-written. The likeable characters were deep, realistic, and fun to follow (Frankie's fellow nurses, a few of the doctors and other side characters). And the horrible characters were more than just two-dimensional villains - they had arcs and reasons for doing what they did, even if their reasons were unthinkable to the reader. (I'm not going to say who the unlikable characters are, but they are there, and they are immensely dislikable).

Finally, I'm sure this book is wonderful in any format, but I can't say enough about the narration by Julia Whelan. I've listened to many audiobooks by Whelan, and the thing I love is how versatile she is. She can do everything from romantic comedies to war dramas and anything in between, and it's all believable. She's by far my favorite in the audiobook world.

Overall, this is one of the best - if not the best - books I've read so far this year. It is by no means an easy read, and I had a severe book hangover after I finished. (I also finished reading it just after midnight and had to sit up for about another hour before I relaxed enough to go to sleep.) So I always tell readers that they need to be in the right mindset for this one. But despite the difficult subject matter, it is an amazing read that I would recommend to everyone.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Content warnings (a lot): war, death of a loved one, gore, descriptive medical procedures, alcoholism, PTSD, sexism, negative treatment of veterans, miscarriage, addiction, drunk driving, suicidal ideation, forced incarceration

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.