I really struggled with and didn't care for this book, something about Kristin Hannah's writing style is very cinematic, dramatic and over the top, it feels like I'm reading an over-acted movie? I felt that it leaned into a comedic range or I was constantly eye rolling. There was too much telling and not enough showing and it all just felt melodramatic.

I did not feel that Frankie had much personality, she was an upper class white girl who tripped her way through the book. Yes we got to see how she survived her time in Vietnam and got a lot of important nursing skills and learned a lot, but other than 'she liked nursing', what else did we know about this character? We are told she misses her brother and wishes she had a better relationship with her parents, but a couple flashback or memory scenes could have demonstrated this clearly. I never felt invested in her, and the fact that she was absolutely desperate for her father's approval became real old and never got satisfactorily resolved. I don't understand why any of the men fell for her (and they ALL fell for her), and I didn't really understand why she fell for any of them either, they were cardboard cutouts. For a book titled 'The Women' there was a lot of forced time spent on poorly-developed romance...

The biggest take-home messages of the book were strong: the USA treated vets terribly once they got home and so many of the civilians and other veterans were completely dismissive of the women who served in Vietnam as nurses. Also because mental health and PTSD were not prioritized or even recognized yet that was a huge issue. Obviously Frankie's story explores these topics but in a slow paced 'tell not show' boring way. She supposedly loved nursing but I never got that impression, the romances were poorly drawn, this book spent almost 500 pages focusing on a single woman instead of a wide variety of potential perspectives that could have really driven home the intent of the novel. Frankie conveniently had two great best friends who came to her rescue multiple times, I think a book written from all three of their perspectives could have been absolutely stunning in exploring both relationships between women and how they support each other but also the different responses of individuals to war/ similar experiences.

The book pulled a twist midway through that was then repeated and I just tossed up my hands in exasperation because this was such a cheap ploy and a dramatic stunt that lost any impact on the final pages.

Overall this was too long, boring, repetitive, and I never felt invested in Frankie. We gloss over years of her life in the last 50 pages that could have really been impactful and interesting as she recovers and gains a meaningful life. After reading other reviews, it seems like most of the people who gave it five stars are just completely gushing about the heartbreak and the emotions and these 'untold stories', but I quite like this quote from another reviewer: "Kristin Hannah likes to pile on the tragedy and trauma... It's her formula and it gets tiresome". I also agree with another reviewer who points out that there were no Vietnamese characters of any importance in this book about the Vietnam War.

I read this title for the badge, I think I would have not persevered otherwise. Overall this book didn't really land well with me for the following reasons, in no particular order:

• this is a new adult/college demographic, I feel that I am just a smidgen too old to be reading much of this age anymore, Blake felt so terribly young

• this book was way too long, I think it could have still been equally as (in)effective at ~350 pages. There were a lot of secondary characters, and though I understand that this book fits within the author's established universe and that so many of those characters are making cameos in this book as they have their own titles, it was too many characters to try to keep track of and coming into this title as functionally a standalone meant that I didn't care at all about any of those characters and it simply bogged down the story

• the main male character of Wyatt was a misogynistic cardboard cutout of a character. He constantly tells the reader/Blake that he 'has so much chaos in his mind' and 'is not the type of guy who could ever settle down' and he's 'not the kind of guy who's good for anything other than sex'-- but there is no substance or trauma there to back up any of those claims, there's no reason for him to have any real hang-ups at all. He is a total misogynistic asshole who is constantly horny and we don't see him attempt to actually emotionally connect with Blake as a person, he only admires her 'toned body' and 'perky tits' and 'tight pussy'. Multiple times throughout he infantilizes Blake and tries to control her, from where she goes to what she wears and who she attempts to sleep with, he emotionally manipulates/abuses Blake too by ordering her around and deliberately hurting her feelings or dismissing them. (and Blake is inconsistent too, she's angry then two sentences later has talked herself into forgiving him.) His disgusting commentary lasts way too long into their relationship, and his emotional feelings of love toward Blake felt completely unfounded to me, I did not understand how he arrived at that conclusion whatsoever. He may have become slightly less repulsive over the course of the book, but this was never a love interest that came across as even attractive, let alone swoon worthy.

• I find it a little ridiculous that Blake's subplot or hang up is that she feels she's "not special", and therefore this makes her destined for a life of mediocrity and unworthy of anybody's/Wyatt's attention. Because the truth is that we hardly get to see anything that does make Blake special, and by the end of this book she realizes that she would be happy to be a groupie on tour with her boyfriend and record podcasts... with the hopes of potentially making a living from that???

• despite the characters being open about using condoms during sex and despite actively seeking out and taking Plan B after unprotected sex, there is still a surprise pregnancy trope in this book. This is not a trope that makes me automatically hate a book, and I will say I actually was okay with how this plot line went, especially the inclusion of how both main characters have complicated feelings about this pregnancy and what it could mean for their futures. Especially also a little bit of commentary from Wyatt about how he feels that he has had a loss in addition to Blake feeling that she had a loss-- I did actually like that inclusion. However, Blake absolutely refusing to believe that Wyatt could have any feelings for her and her pushing him away because she is assuming how he feels (re: love and re: pregnancy) despite how he is literally telling her to her face how he feels-- this was such an indication of how immature Blake is. I think honestly Wyatt should have had a moment of reconsideration, when someone tells you who they are you should listen, Blake insisted over and over that she didn't want a relationship and that she wasn't good enough for him, that just feels like asking for trouble especially since she is now going to be just following him along on tour and not really have her own thing, it feels like it will just open up resentment and inferiority issues

• overall this book was way too long, the writing was never that engaging to me, both main characters kind of sucked but Wyatt in particular was such an asshole I could never appreciate his character. This felt like a conglomeration of a bunch of different tropes and poorly balanced subplots, far too many secondary characters that didn't serve the plot but were only present as nods to fans or to set up future book characters, and overall it didn't work for me.

(also, thought female narrator did fine but the male voice felt flat to me, more reading over performance some times)