I was at the used library and saw the Nightingale, so I went and bought back. I also bought another of her books at my college library. I picked up another book of hers called “The Four Winds” at the bookstore.
I think the fact that I now own at least a few of her books tells me that I am a fan of her concepts and plot lines. Have you read any of her books? What did you think of them?
For me, what I like about “The Nightingale” was the historical setting and characters. They worked for me because the relationships had enough depth to keep me invested. Also, I feel like the characters kept me invested until the end, in most of other Hannah’s other books, it’s the characters that kept me invested.
In “Firefly Lane”, what shocked me the most was the other main character dying. I didn’t really expect to see that twist coming in the end, and it knocked me off my rocker. For a story about two best friends, you’d think there would be celebrations and promises, not a sad ending that takes away from the themes of friendship.
I enjoyed the Great Alone. I really like the Nightingales but I felt like I got kicked in the gut by the ending. I can’t face another of her books after that!
I have read only two, “Firefly Lane” and “Winter Garden”, I can’t say I hated them, but I believe I’m not the target audience for these books. Especially winter garden, I usually find the fairy tale endings pretty boring and predictable, but when the author goes out of they way just to make it happen, it leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I can really appreciate her way of creating the setting, I feel like her characters are predictable and follow the same archetype, the woman that chose carrier over love and familly and the family that chose the carrier and succes of a familly and love and each of those women wishes she had the life of the other.
I really enjoy The Great Alone though the ending was not my cup of tea and knocked it from a four star read to a three star one. I’ve looked at her other stuff to see if I want to read another one of her books and nothing else she’s written appeals to me.
I have read most of hers - my favorite is The Great Alone, followed by the Nightingale and then Four Winds. Home front is also good - a good look into a side of culture I knew very little about.
I’ve only read The Nightingale. I loved the book because I love historical fiction and for me it was new to see the WW2 from a female perspective.
I really liked how the book presented a female who’s a warrior and is fighting in the frontline and also another female warrior who’s fighting as a mother and a wife during the war.
I think she’s a great writer but I’ll probably not read her other books because I struggle a lot with books that are so heart breaking and Kristin Hannah will break your heart.
True… it was interesting to see how the two sisters portrayed different images of strength. I liked that Vianne wasn’t sidelined in favor of her sister, and we were given this perspective that is often ignored.
I’ve read three: The Nightingale, Four Winds, and The Great Alone. I liked them all, but I am a huge fan of Historical Fiction. I have heard people didn’t like Winter Garden.
I loved The Great Alone, but I think she should include a clear TW that the plot is heavily centered around the issue of DV, not just a father struggling with PTSD from the war. As a DV survivor, I felt like she didn’t make that clear in the synopsis and it was a bit surprising considering it is a major plotline in the story.
I read her romances but stopped reading when she switched to fiction.
I’ve read Winter Garden, The Nightingale, and Firefly Lane. For some reason, the last one is the only one I liked. The characters really came alive for me. It read like a more well-developed, cleaner version of Judy Blume’s Summer Girls, with a strong female friendship at its heart. In Winter Garden, the women characters were too cold, detached, and unemotional for me to relate to.
The Great Alone is the only Kristin Hannah book I have read. I liked the tone she set for that novel, but the story I was interested in ended basically at the 50% mark, and then everything that happened after that felt either unnecessary or preposterous. I can get down with a preposterous plot in certain genres, but that ending was egregiously unrealistic, imho.
I’m not saying I’ll never pick up another book by her again, but the experience has made me way less interested in picking another Hannah book up anytime soon.
I have only read Firefly Lane & the sequel (forget the name) and didn’t like the follow-up book as much.
It did actually make me tear up which is very rare for me.
I really liked The Great Alone and I didn’t like The Winter Garden. I DNFed Four Winds and the Nightingale. I love historical fiction but I think she relies too heavily on trauma for my taste.
I’ve read 3 of 4. my mom has gotten me them for Christmas over the past couple years. I like them a lot. Sure the historical fiction can be a little heavy handed (I kept expecting Woodie Guthrie to show up in the 4 winds) and the plot can be a little “Lifetime” movie reminiscent, but I enjoy the mother daughter stuff (which probably explains why my mom gifts them to me)
I find them super . . . manipulative, for lack of a better word. Almost like she’s not trying to tell good stories, she’s just trying to evoke strong emotions in her readers.
I’ve read Firefly Lane, the Great Alone and Four Winds. Of the three The Great Alone was my favorite because I really enjoyed the subject. I think the deep wilderness of Alaska is fascinating and the family dynamics were very well done. I finished Four Winds but I didn’t really enjoy the experience very much. For some reason it just dragged for me even though I really wanted to like it.