Welcome to Litsy!

A read dedicated to telling the story of the often forgotten female nurses that served in Vietnam. 21 year old Frankie is determined to serve the US as a nurse during the Vietnam War. What follows is a decade of growth, loss, grief, and crawling back from falling to rock bottom. The storyline had me smiling and cheering to raging and overwhelmed especially reading about the treatment of Vietnam veterans both men and women when they returned home.

Ok things are happening that I would like to be happening at the end of the book… WHY IS THERE SO MUCH BOOK LEFT😱😭

@staci.reads has already reviewed this book 📖 perfectly . I enjoyed it but didn‘t love it , I felt it lacked real depth & I didn‘t really engage or feel to deeply about the characters. Instead the plot just skipped from one tragic breakdown to another . It almost felt like you never really got to know any of the characters. Shame as it‘s such a worth while topic to write about and bring attention to

This historical fiction discusses a very real time in history, where history was swept under the rug. After Vietnam, we turned around and thanked the men who fought. Those Vets were not treated well. This included the women nurses who were there and left to their own PTSD, forgotten. My heart broke multiple times. Liked how it encompassed Frankie going into, staying, then coming out of her Army service. Felt rushed, one tragic romance to another.

I liked it - didn't love it. While I appreciate the author bringing needed attention to the women who served in Vietnam, it lacks depth. She rushes from tragic plot point to tragic plot point, seeming to believe that's all her readers are here for now. I felt the same about The Four Winds. It seems to have become her formula, and it makes her writing predictable and manipulative, as she tries for a tearjerker.
April #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

While I enjoyed how story driven this book was, and liked the time period and subject matter, I didn‘t really care about any of the characters too much. The audiobook narration was excellent and the time flew by, but in the end I was lukewarm on the experience.

Feels like characters in service of research, checking off a list of experiences during and after the Vietnam War and having Frankie and her friends experience them all. Having just read a biography with first-hand accounts of the front lines, this definitely feels researched and at a distance. Still, Frankie‘s persistence pulled me forward and yes to more writing on women's experience at war. Julia Whelan really is a great audio narrator. 2023

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A book‘s great gift is that through its pages, you can be transported to another time and place and gain insight to a life different than your own. My favorite historical fiction novels teach me something about our past and inspire me to research more on my own while also delivering a memorable story. ⬇️

My boy loved our greenway walk this morning! We usually walk in our neighborhood, so he digs a little change of pace.

#audiowalk #dogsoflitsy

I took advantage of Amazon's buy 2 get 1 free sale! (Plus a magazine about Taylor because...duh)

Starting the tagged book next 🤓

This book. Imagine going to that war and coming home to a country that didn‘t even believe you had been there.

I almost gave up at one point because I was frustrated with all of the love stories. I‘m glad I didn‘t though because the last 1/4 of this book was extremely powerful.

I honestly liked this a whole lot more than I expected.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I listened to the tagged book while I made some mango coulis and I love how it turned out.

Though I'm a bit worried for Frankie since she returned from 'Nam. She's not doing well in the real world and I fear she'll return to the war only to die. Fingers crossed

Last chapter…..I‘m not going to cry, I‘m not going to cry, I‘m not going to….sniffle.

#whatsnewwednesdays on page 📑 195 & really enjoying so far , I have found KH‘s books 📚 either a hit or miss . Wonder 💭 who else is reading this at the moment ? No electricity ⚡️ in my house 🏡 today & no WiFi due to A new fuse box being fitted so only thing to do is read and write ✍️ but now missing my coffee ☕️ so il be taking the pups 🐶 into town soon.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TieDyeDude @Read4life @LitsyLove @Eggs happy 😃 Wednesday !

Whew, time to get back on these book club boxes so I don‘t get piled in them.
This is a historical book about women nurses who were in the Vietnam war. What I understand is their experiences getting through that. What I know of the author is that she writes a lot of historical themed stories. Which is a genre I am working on exploring more of. I hear many good things of her, mixed on recent books. So we‘ll see.
#ouabc

My third book by Kristin Hannah. She sure knows how to write books that take you on an emotional roller coaster. My husband was a child refugee from Vietnam in the late 1970s. I don‘t think he could read this. That war destroyed so many lives :(

Book non2 of April #bookspinbingo and our bookclub monthly pick , snuggling with my little fur girl & suffering with Covid again !!! Wondering 🤔 if lm going into the Guinness book of records for contracting covid the most in a year 😖thank goodness for vaccines 💉 how bad would it be without them & thank goodness 😅 for books 📚 Wer never truly alone when we read. I wonder 💭 how many people on the planet 🌍 are reading right now along with me ☺️

Me and my current book bestie are sitting on a train with "mechanical issues" in a snow storm. In April. Should have stayed in bed.

Today's book bestie is this tome which I need to read for a new IRL book club I am trying out. Not my favorite author. Not my favorite subject. But we try new things.

I dragged this out as I didn't want it to end. I've not felt that way about a book in a long time.
The last few pages, I was sobbing. Although, I was ugly crying in parts throughout the book.

So beautifully written. The research that has gone into the book is absolutely phenomenal.
Book of the year. Hands down. If I could give 6 stars out of 5, I would. An absolute masterpiece.

"Women can be heroes." ?❤️

#readingbracket2024

I tried…I really tried. But after accidentally learning about not ONE but TWO spoilers that just turned me off, the multiple times I was told something rather than shown it and the severe case of “your research is showing” I just couldn‘t continue—and I made it pretty far. After realizing I had completely avoided reading ANYTHING for three days, it was time to add this one to the donation box.📦

What a perfect Easter Sunday 🐣

On our DC 8th grade trip and one of the students posted this photo to the group chat. She wrote: “Out of all the amazing pictures I took today, I'm posting this one in honor of World War 2 and Women's history month. The name of the woman who spoke this quote was Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. . .

Book delivery day!

This book was so incredibly emotional. Frankie was a character who was so complex but at the same time so very simple and real. I know people are complaining about the romance aspect of it...bit I feel they are missing the point of the relationships formed in combat. Have kleenex ready and be swept up into this devastating part of our history.

Sad to report Hannah‘s latest, already so beloved by so many, was just okay for me. I appreciated the story she was trying to tell, but it felt a bit choppy and rushed and soap opera-esque. I was very disappointed by the heavy focus on romance. #BOTM

I don't even know of I can write a review through these tears. I closed this book and the flood gates opened. I don't know why it hit me so hard, but it did. This is a book I will recommend for a long time, one I won't forget, and one,when it inevitably made into a movie, will not quite hit the mark. Bravo Ms. Hannah!
5⭐️

And I am crying in the waiting room of my kids' dentist.
#waitingroomreading

I ran away from home with a former medic in the Green Berets stationed in Vietnam. He was eight years older than me and came home with a heroin habit. The Vietnam War was a nightly nightmare for him that heroin just barely alleviated. This book brought up a lot of memories for me. While it provides a lot of info to those unaware of the history, the romances within it were far fetched and drew me away from what the story could have been.

“Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could always count on the women.”

Frankie McGrath is young, sheltered, and idealistic when she decides to follow her brother to Vietnam as a combat nurse. This is a raw, vivid portrayal of the horrors of war-and the bonds of friends-& the deplorable way vets were treated when they returned home.
I loved Frankie, Ethel & Barb. Everyone should have friends⬇️

Wonderful book about a nurse in Vietnam and her life when she returns home.

#readyourkindle @CBee

📚 𝑭𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒓𝒂𝒑-𝑼𝒑 📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝗪𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝗪𝐞𝐬𝐭
𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞
𝐀 𝐇𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜
𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴇᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ɢᴏᴀʟ(ꜱ) ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ? ɪꜰ ꜱᴏ, ʜᴏᴡ ɪꜱ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴇꜱꜱ ꜱᴏ ꜰᴀʀ ɪɴ 2024?

5🌟/5🌟

I wish there was an option for a 10 star rating because this book would get it hands down. The Women was an absolutely phenomenal book and I felt so many emotions this entire book.

Frankie‘s journey throughout this book was just heartbreaking and I wanted to be there for her and hug her.

Kristin Hannah is such an amazing writer. The way she can evoke so many emotions with just words is amazing.

This is definitely a pick! I must admit I was disappointed at first and thought it'd only be a so-so. But by part 2, it became a solid pick. I hadn't realized the level of disrespect vets faced returning from Nam nor did I know how utterly disregarded the women were. Not only was misinformation spread in the US, but the women who served were blatantly told they were never in Nam. I also appreciated the voice given to trauma and it's potent impact.

The Women is an immersive experience, traveling back to a time not long ago in which women were steeply denied recognition, dignity, and respect for serving their country. Hannah demonstrates the infuriating injustice, patriarchal tyranny, and mind-blowing disregard for competent veterans. Deep, flowing trauma-bonds between women are forged and they hold one another up; seeing and understanding one another in a way that the world refuses to.

Excellent. I love her writing and it felt very real.

#ItTakesAllKinds

The #OnceUponABookClub box for February that I received yesterday has this book about the Vietnam #War

I have avoided Kristin Hannah books & many war books because I have to be in the *right* mood for sad stories & that‘s been harder lately. But hey, the #OUABC box includes 4 mystery gifts to open while reading so I may have to dip in soon.😉

This book just did not speak to me. It‘s 1966 and 22 year old Frankie McGrath decides to go to Vietnam and use her nursing degree. As someone who lived through that war, I really did not know much about it. When the film “Coming Home” came out in 1978, I felt compelled to see it 15 days in a row. That‘s how shocked I was about the truth of that war. Maybe I just wasn‘t interested in this material so many years later.

#readyourkindle @CBee

I am starting with The Women.

#F&NFwithSameTopic

#ItTakesAllKinds

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“Women can be heroes, too.” If you need a book for International Woman‘s Day, this is the one. The story of Frankie, a trauma nurse in Vietnam. The first half is her service. “You survived a day at a time, however you could.” The second half is what happens after she returns home. “There were no women in Vietnam.” A little sad and a lot frustrating. But really good.

1. Vacation day today so lots of reading and Friday will be my make up birthday dinner
2. Tagged!
3. Tough but I'll go with historical fiction
Thanks @peaKnit @Cupcake12 #motivationalmonday

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️❤️😢😣

Love this book!
Heartbreaking, horrifying, appalling, frustrating.
Such a range of emotions!
It‘s a wonderful tribute to the Women of Vietnam!
I had no idea of the unique struggles they faced on returning from service! How could even the VA deny they were ‘true veterans!‘ 😡

So well researched and written! She makes you feel like you were there—for better or worse! A difficult book to read for those who lived through it.

Kristin Hannah did it again with an extraordinary story of WOMEN HEROES during the Vietnam War. I loved how Hannah captured the essence of the time with the music of the time that we all know and love.
A 5⭐️ tribute to the forgotten sacrifices of WOMEN WHO SERVED even though many said for years, “there were no women in Vietnam.” A sad read of a time marked by turmoil but so important to share especially during the upcoming Women‘s History month.

Book 8/7 finished for #FabulousFebruary and #20in4. I feel like this was a very successful readathon for me. All 8 books were physical owned books, so yay! @Andrew65

I gave this one 4.25 stars. If it had ended in Vietnam I believe it would have been 5, but that wasn't the story she was wanting to tell. All in all, it was an emotional roller coaster of a book that I think I'll remember for a long time.