The Women

 Tell me a story... about the horrors of war

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Publication date: February 6, 2024

Date read: January 31, 2024

Audiobook read by Julia Whelan

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

I'm not going to be the first person on the internet to recommend The Women, and I know I won't be the last, but I'll start this review out by saying that this is one of the best books I've read so far this year. 

Books about war are nothing new, and books about women serving in war have been popular in the past decade, so it's not like this book is presenting anything unique... on the surface. The thing is, this book presents war in a way that I haven't really seen it portrayed very often, which is the day to day, mundane aspects of war. As a nurse during Vietnam, our main characters see the horrors of war from the sidelines, which means a lot of routine interspersed with horrible death and pain. It very much reminded me of M*A*S*H, one of my favorite television shows (despite being set in Vietnam rather than Korea, the vibe is very much the same). 

What this book then did - that I was not expecting - was to take our main character out of the war halfway through the book and send her home, only to deal with the horrible way that Vietnam veterans were treated once they got back to the United States. In many ways, at least for me, this half of the book was harder to stomach than the half set in a war zone. The way that veterans were treated, especially female veterans, was so heartbreaking. It's certainly not an easy book to read, but I can't recommend it enough.

Hannah did an incredible job with her characters as well. The main character was wonderful - she went through so many stages of believable character development throughout the story. I could have read another 200 pages about Frankie. The secondary characters were also very well-written. The likeable characters were deep, realistic, and fun to follow (Frankie's fellow nurses, a few of the doctors and other side characters). And the horrible characters were more than just two-dimensional villains - they had arcs and reasons for doing what they did, even if their reasons were unthinkable to the reader. (I'm not going to say who the unlikable characters are, but they are there, and they are immensely dislikable). 

Finally, I'm sure this book is wonderful in any format, but I can't say enough about the narration by Julia Whelan. I've listened to many audiobooks by Whelan, and the thing I love is how versatile she is. She can do everything from romantic comedies to war dramas and anything in between, and it's all believable. She's by far my favorite in the audiobook world.

Overall, this is one of the best - if not the best - books I've read so far this year. It is by no means an easy read, and I had a severe book hangover after I finished. (I also finished reading it just after midnight and had to sit up for about another hour before I relaxed enough to go to sleep.) So I always tell readers that they need to be in the right mindset for this one. But despite the difficult subject matter, it is an amazing read that I would recommend to everyone. 

Rating: 5/5 stars

Content warnings (a lot): war, death of a loved one, gore, descriptive medical procedures, alcoholism, PTSD, sexism, negative treatment of veterans, miscarriage, addiction, drunk driving, suicidal ideation, forced incarceration

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

A House with Good Bones

 Tell me a story... about secrets better left buried

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Publication date: March 28, 2023

Date read: November 9, 2023

Audiobook read by Mary Robinette Kowal

Sam's excited for this rare extended visit with her mom, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them. But stepping inside the house, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above. To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

I'm fairly new to T. Kingfisher's books, but she is definitely an author I plan to read a lot of in the near future. This book had a lot to offer - especially for as short as it was (less than 300 pages) - and managed to be both incredibly creepy and laugh-out-loud funny throughout.

The type of horror in this book is almost entirely atmospheric - very little gore or even anything physical until the climax - which is probably my favorite type of horror. That unsettling feeling that comes over me as a reader, even when not all that much is happening in the story, is something I really appreciate.

I loved the characters in this book, especially Sam, although I don't think there was a poorly-written character in the bunch. Sam was very much out of her depths, and I enjoyed how real her responses felt to everything. I also highly recommend listening to the audiobook version, because Kowal did an amazing job bringing Sam to life and especially bringing the humor of the writing into her telling. I can't remember the last time a book scared me and made me (intentionally) laugh within the same chapter. 

It's hard to say a lot about this book without risking spoilers, but I loved how the story came together - it was unexpected, a bit messed up, but ultimately completely enjoyable and believable in context. I also believe that even non-horror fans can enjoy this book. It's definitely a horror, but the gore is very toned down, relying more on an unsettling environment and things "going bump in the night" than jump scares and blood. 

Overall, one of the best reads of 2023 for me. I highly recommend it to all horror/mystery fans, but will pretty much recommend it to anyone who can stomach a good "haunted house" story. 

Rating: 5/5 stars

Content warning: language, bugs, fat shaming, psychological/emotional abuse, racism

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book

The Fox Wife

 Tell me a story... about a mysterious stranger

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

Publication date: February 13, 2024

Date read: February 13, 2024

Audiobook read by the author

A young woman is found frozen in the snow. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes involved, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and men. Bao, a detective with a reputation for sniffing out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach. Until, perhaps, now. Meanwhile, a family that owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments, but not the curse that afflicts them―their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. Now the only grandson of the family is twenty-three. When a mysterious woman enters their household, their luck seems to change. Or does it? Is their new servant a simple young woman from the north or a fox spirit bent on her own revenge?

I enjoy Choo's style of storytelling and her take on magical realism. (I had read The Night Tiger previously and really liked it, and I've been wanting to read The Ghost Bride for awhile, but haven't yet). Her use of Chinese folklore is really intriguing but also - for a western reader - not written in a way that you need to know any backstory. 

This story is very much a slow-burn, with a lot of little plot points moving us through the story, but very few big exciting scenes. This type of writing is not for everyone, I know - and I don't say that in a condescending way. It's natural to want books to flow quickly through the plot, and slow-burn books are not everyone's cup of tea. I enjoy them as long as the writing is interesting and not too florid (I don't need three pages describing an item of clothing or someone's breakfast), and I think that Choo's style of writing is a good mix of beautiful and to the point.

Choo also narrates this book if you choose to listen to the audio, and I didn't have any issues with her narration, but neither is it the greatest narration I've listened to. I do like when an author reads their own work, since they know where to put emphasis when needed and I know I'm getting correct pronunciations, though. I think this book would be equally enjoyable as an audiobook or as a print book.

There were a lot of characters in this book, which did make some parts a tiny bit confusing, but the main storyline was easy to follow. And while many of the human characters were more or less average, the investigator - Bao - was very intriguing to me; I thought he was written very well and I enjoyed following his character during the chapters focusing on his life and investigation. And, of course, the fox characters were lovely and complex and I loved following their stories. 

Overall, this book is a nice, quiet magical realism story that I quite enjoyed but which is not for everyone. Readers who enjoy magical realism or folklore I believe will enjoy this story, and anyone who likes a little magic mixed in with their mysteries should like it as well. 

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Content warning: foot binding, death of a child, talk of killing female babies

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.