The Women

 Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation.

This was my first Kristin Hannah book but it sure will not be my last. The way that she can make you feel so many emotions and so deeply is amazing. This book is about VERY heavy topics and you will cry your eyes out.

I was not alive when the Vietnam war was going on and did not know what our veterans had to endure when coming home. It was even harder for the women veterans who were basically told you are lying because there were not women in Vietnam or that they did not matter since they did not see combat. It breaks my heart that they had to endure all that after their amazing sacrifice.

Thank you Kristin for writing this incredible book and teaching me more about a time in our history that is not talked about near enough 

Loses one star for adding too much cheesy romance into an female-centric story that could have stood on its own.

Wow! As a military wife, whose husband had been deployed 7 times, both for war and just to train, this book gave me all the feels. I love how Kristin Hannah just draws you into her books. She is a must read for me every time.

Wow. This was a great book about a topic about which I knew very little. 

In the first half of the book, Frankie McGrath goes to war, volunteering to become a nurse in Vietnam. This was by far my favorite part of the book. It was believable and heart-wrenching. I felt like I was right there with Frankie as she became immersed in the horrors, the purpose, and even the occasional joys of her days in Vietnam.

The second half, which took place after Frankie returned home, didn't resonate as much with me. I felt like it tried to represent every woman who went to Vietnam, and in doing so somehow diminished each of their experiences. It was no longer Frankie I was reading about, but a “woman who went to war,” who experienced every possible outcome upon her return. Nonetheless, it was an amazing story—and I cried at the ending.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. 

This story is about Frances McGrath who becomes an army surgical nurse during the Vietnam War and everything that she went through. Kristin Hannah did an amazing job with this novel. The research that must have went into it was incredible. From the time Frances (Frankie) touches down in Vietnam, you felt like you were actually there. She lands in a place where all the smells, sounds and activity are overwhelming and she really has no idea what she has gotten into.

In time, and with the help of her bunkmates, Ethel and Barb, she becomes an accomplished nurse and helps to save many lives. Meanwhile the world back home is becoming increasingly upset about the war and is lumping those who are serving in it, with the government decisions that are being made. Frankie starts to receive letters from home talking about protests and flag burning and combined with the work she's doing it is very disheartening.


The story follows some of the veterans from the time they began in Vietnam to what it is like when they come home, battered and bruised, both physically and emotionally. It talks about the PTSD that they suffered as well as the anger at a country they felt turned their back on them.

It was an incredibly emotional read and I laughed and cried throughout the book. I really couldn't put it down and became so involved in Frankie's story that I even dreamed about it. The best read of the year.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and Ms. Hannah for providing me an ARC to this fascinating novel. Currently, this is set to come out in February of 2024.