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BeRad89 (48 KP) rated The War Nurses in Books

Apr 5, 2018  
The War Nurses
The War Nurses
Lizzie Page | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Gender Studies, History & Politics
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
“... a flying ambulance corps made up of a naturist, a pianist, a journalist, a lady and a widowed mother...and a non smoking schoolgirl.” This is the description of the ambulance corp of Elsie Knockers and Mairi Chisholm during World War I. Will these brave ladies' friendship and sisterhood survive the war as they live in close quarters and dodge bullets as front line nurses in a cellar?

I started this book without much hope. To me, the cover is cheap-looking, and I admit this colored my judgement. How wrong I was!!! The War Nurses ended up being a very good read. Mairi is shown in such a real light. I was amazed at what both women did during the war. To see the human side of such a brave woman was interesting. I didn't personally like Elsie, but her character was amusing and kept surprising me.

While it didn't particularly bother me, some people will not like the amount of gore and yucky stuff in this book. While I know you can't judge a book by its cover, the cover to this book is very cheap looking.

The War Nurses by Lizzie Page is a work of historical fiction. It will be published April 17, 2018 by Bookouture.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It ending up being a very pleasant surprise, as I judged this book by the cover and wasn't expecting much from it. It is an inspiring and eye-opening book. I recommend to anyone who loves powerful women, coming of age stories, WWI, medical stories, and/or historical fiction.

I was given a free copy from Net Galley and Bookouture in exchange for my honest review.
  
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ClareR (5721 KP) rated Katastrophe in Books

Dec 6, 2022  
Katastrophe
Katastrophe
Graham Hurley | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I can’t even begin to describe the storyline of this gripping novel set in the final stages of the Second World War. There is so much going on at what must have been a very chaotic point in the war. Stalingrad has been lost to the Russians, Germany is in retreat, and Werner Nehman has been taken captive. The Russians have decided that he is to take a message to Goebbels.

Katastrophe has a dark, menacing atmosphere - logical, really. This is war.
There are a number of overlapping stories, but I never confused them or the characters - that’s a mark of a good book, I always think.

It’s an excellent blend of fact and fiction, and the huge amounts of research that must have gone into this, results in a book that is both fascinating and hard to read (the torture scenes are pretty gruesome).

Despite the horrors of war, I thoroughly enjoyed this - and it was only after reading it that I discovered it was the seventh in a series. I’d better add them to the teetering tbr, then!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this. Another book I would have otherwise missed out on!