The Nightingale

I was excited to read this, based off the reviews I thought I would love it. Unfortunately, I don't think it lives up to the hype. The second half is much better than the first, where the story is bogged down by the pettiness and idiocy of the characters. Vianne's central motivation seems to be do nothing and wait until her husband comes home, while Isabelle wants to flagrantly antagonize the Nazis at every turn. I am surprised she wasn't arrested or shot in the first few days of the occupation, her attitude was maddening. Opposing the Nazis is noble, but doing it by spitting in their faces is just going to get you killed. Add in the fact that the two sisters have a history of guilt and abandonment between the two, meaning they are at odds every step of the way, and the beginning of the novel was very frustrating.

“Why do we have to give them our radio, Maman?” Sophie asked. “It belongs to Papa.”
“We don't,” Isabelle said, coming up beside them. “We will hide it.”
“We will not hide it,” Vianne said sharply. “We will do as we are told and keep quiet and soon Antoine will be home and he will know what to do.” This basically sums up the first half.

Now imagine if the author has wrote a book where the two sisters patched things up early in the story, and skipped all of this antagonism. They could have worked together. I don't think it would have lessened the ending, but it would have made a much better book.

Also, did it bother anyone else that Isabelle's her codename is literally her name? Nightingale = Rossignol. She goes to all this trouble of getting a fake name and papers, but then uses her own surname as her cover. That was maddening. When you look at conversations like this, but replace Nightingale with it's French translation, it seems very strange.
“The Germans are looking for the Rossignol, Isabelle.” “That's old news, Ian.” “They're trying to infiltrate your escape route. Nazis are out there, pretending to be downed airmen. If you pick up one of them...” “We're careful, Ian. You know that. I interrogate every man myself. And the network in Paris is tireless.” “They're looking for the Rossignol. If they find you...” “They won't.” She got to her feet. He stood, too, and faced her. “Be careful, Isabelle.”

Overall, I felt like the second half is much stronger than the first, very moving and sad. But I felt like I kept getting tripped up by weird passages. Like “I am trussed up like a chicken for roasting. I know these modern seat belts are a good thing, but they make me feel claustrophobic. I belong to a generation that didn't expect to be protected from every danger.” This is a ridiculous parallel to make, not dying in a car crash is something you should definitely make an effort to protect yourself from.

I'd recommend All the Light You Cannot See or City of Thieves over this hands down.