Book Review: The Women

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Genres: Historical Fiction, War, Feminism, Romance

Pages: 472

Format: ebook

My Rating: ⭐

Did I enjoy this book as fiction? No, and I don’t know how I managed to finish it. Was it what I was expecting from a historical book labeled as feminist? No, not at all. Is “The Women by Kristin Hannah” an overrated book? Absolutely!

I guess I could start by saying, “Never judge a book by its cover", but in this case, the blurb wasn’t much help either. I was so excited about “The Women” and I didn’t want to miss the hype over it. I went into this expecting an epic story about the brave women who served in the Vietnam War. Instead, all I got was a tedious romantic soap opera dripping with some American patriotism and propaganda.

The book mainly revolves around Frankie McGrath, not any other women. It tells her story in 2 parts. It’d have been more accurate if the book was called “The Woman” or maybe "Frankie's Romantic Misadventures in Vietnam," because it’s all about her, her, and oh, did I mention, her? 

Frankie is a spoiled rich American girl from the 1960s who decides to serve as an army nurse in Vietnam. Why? Just because her crush, Rye, tells her “Women can be heroes too” and she wants to be on her family’s wall of heroes. Oh, how inspirational!

I gotta say I really hated this book from the get-go. The way it started was just ugh. Frankie and her family give off such strong Republican vibes, I presume. Her shallow motivations to serve in Vietnam and the way she wants too bad to join her brother Finley at war as if they’d be going on vacation together, was too much for me to bear.

Yes, there were some gory war scenes, protests, politics, and stuff, but I was struggling with the way Frankie acted in Vietnam as if she was on a trip to an exotic Asian country. It was more like a vacation disguised as a war. Frankie's behaviors make you wonder if she’s aware of being in a war zone. Her insta-love story with Jamie is so forced and made me question when it all happened! 

Then, I was fooled when I thought Frankie’s personality took a shift when she felt sympathy for everyone taking part in the war, questioning why there was war in the first place, cause apparently there was no clear reason. I was wrong tho. She’s instantly back to dancing with men, tanning on the beach, watching men play volleyball shirtless, and taking pictures in Saigon like a tourist until she meets Rye again.

It all turned into a cheesy love story when Rye reappears. Well, I get it; there’s no right place to fall in love. I don’t know about others, but I don’t think a war zone is a place to be horny! I don’t think real veterans fell in love between bombings or during a casual stroll through Saigon. And if there was an award for the least believable wartime nurse, Frankie would win hands down.

However, the author tried so hard to be unbiased about the war, but I personally think the portrayal is hilariously one-sided. The book mainly focuses on Frankie, her white conservative family, her love interests, her memories of Finley, and the protests in the US, ignoring the war from the perspective of Vietnamese people. It isn’t historically or culturally accurate when it comes to Vietnam. It felt like áo dài was the only thing the author knew about Vietnamese women, and I couldn’t help but cringe hard every time I saw it mentioned in the book. And that's about as deep as it gets. It’s like the author read a tourist brochure and called it a day.

To me, part 1 was alright as a women's fiction that’s not meant to be historically accurate or war-focused, while part 2 was utter boredom. The whole story takes a turn when Henry shows up and Rye returns to the picture again. And I couldn’t help but dislike Frankie; her repetitive habit of falling for married men is just the cherry on top. I have zero tolerance for cheaters, and I really abhor the romanticizing of such relationships.

By the end of this book, I was wondering what kind of a veteran nurse Frankie is. She reminisces memories from the war, calling them “good times”. Seriously, girl? You were suffering from PTSD, not on a gap year adventure. Not to mention her miscarriage and dealing with drugs and alcohol. Something was terribly off with this book for real.

If we’re talking plot, to me, the book is a chick-lit novel set in the 1960s-1970s during the Vietnamese war and that’s it. In general, the whole plot was not what I expected at all. It’s neither feminist nor empowering to women in any way. It’s ridiculous and repetitive with our brilliant main character making poor decisions and falling for married men who die in war and come back to life when they return home. Oh goodness, why did I read this?

I’m sorry but where are the women? Why weren’t the stories of Ethel and Barb told? I really liked those two, especially Barb. Their stories sound much more compelling, yet they’re shoved into the background to make room for Frankie’s endless mess.

The writing style is the book’s only saving grace. The narration is so eloquent, I have to admit it’s probably the only reason why I was able to finish the book. The way Hannah depicted PTSD is well-researched and convincing. But good writing can’t save a bad plot. I didn’t like the way this book was too focused on Frankie, ignoring all the other women who served with her. Frankie is just a very mainstream nurse who doesn’t do anything particularly heroic. She makes almost zero effort to help any nurse or whatsoever the way Ethel and Barb embrace her when she joins them.

I don’t know why I feel I’d have liked this book better if I were in my 40s or older. I really wanted to love it, but I couldn’t, it was torturous. My biggest pet peeve about this book is definitely when Rye tells Frankie, “Women can be heroes too.” That’s the feminist message? We women need a man to affirm that? Really?... It’s like saying women need a man’s validation to be heroes. What a joke! 

And let me not get started about the ending. What kind of ending was that? Yikes! The entire book feels like a story of a naïve delulu woman who romanticizes her experience in Vietnam or whatever and tries to paint herself as a hero when she doesn’t do any heroic act as a veteran. It’s a total letdown.

The moral of the story seems to be: 1- If you’re a man, you go to war and return a hero, with your wife waiting for you and an honorable future ahead. 2- If you’re a woman, you go to war, act like a tourist, have fun while serving, and come back home invisible with no future and zero life. Thanks, but no thanks. A solid 1 star out of 5 from me. Sorry, not sorry.