I listened to this and thought it was an excellent audio book! I remain grateful to those people who pushed me to give audio books another chance and emphasized the importance of narrator and story when choosing which books to listen to versus read.
Sympathetic Character
The Women is broken into two parts and part one was amazing. I give it a complete five stars. I loved Frankie, I loved her friends, and I loved following along with her experiences and her growth as a nurse and as a person. Part two though, part two almost felt like a different book. The pacing was different, the character development was different, and the story, was very different. My heart went out to Frankie, and truthfully to the nurses who went through these experiences as well. I can’t even imagine being treated like this upon return to the USA.
Two Different Stories
In part two, Frankie didn’t make great decisions and although, as a reader, they were frustrating, they were still believable. What made part two harder to read was the pacing. The story got way more introspective, and it dragged on in places. In addition, a few scenes stuck out as being a big coincidence even though there were ‘explanations’ for them. I still felt they were a bit too easy.
I’m still on the fence regarding the ending. Sometimes I like how it ended, and sometimes I feel like things were wrapped up with a pretty little bow.
My Rating
Overall though, I did really like this book and I do give it 4 stars.