Haven Squire’s Reviews > The Nightingale > Status Update

What really got me and made me cry was when Gaetan saw Vianne and told her his daughter was called Isabelle and he had loved her all his life. And then just to top it all off she saw Ari. That really got me because they were able to be reunited. I was just reading it with tears streaming down my face. After finishing it I just couldn't help crying even more because it was just such a sad but somewhat happy ending.

I know he should be with his family and in his religion when it is safe but Vianne loved him like a mother and he saw her like that. What really got me was when they were in Paris going to the reunion though, it was revealed to be Vianne and she did a speech so her son understood all that she had been through.

I wanted her to live so badly because she really deserved to after everything she had tried to do for her country. It was also horrid that their father was executed when he took the blame right in front of her. It was getting near the end and I was thinking I know this has a sad ending but I can't imagine what it could be that would actually make me really emotional. Ari being taken away from them was a start.

Throughout I would forget about those interludes but then when they came be really curious as to who the woman actually was. It was sad to know that Sophie had died of cancer even before her mother because she was so lovely. It was also so so sad that Isabelle managed to survive the concentration camp but only lived a little while when actually back home. It is quite special that she died in Gaeton's arms though.

I cannot believe that Vianne killed Captain Beck when he tried to attack Isabelle, I didn't think she had it in her and it was good to see that protectiveness. It was horrid when the other Nazi in her house was raping her though and I just knew she was pregnant with his child. It all kind of made sense at the end that the old woman was her and the son was that child.

It was also so powerful to see Vianne eventually rebel in her own special way through saving the Jewish children and taking Ari in as her own child. Sarah being killed was honestly totally horrific especially as Rachel had barely any time to even react as she was trying to keep herself and Ari alive. It is sad that she ended up dying too in the end.

Isabelle was so rebellious and I loved her for it. She really showed the power of women in a time and struggle dominated by men. It was so powerful to read about her crossing the Pyreneese with downed pilots to bring them to safety. I also really liked her relationship with Gaeton and wished they could have had longer together because they really deserved it!

Vianne and Isabelle felt so real and I loved the focus on a sisterly relationship despite their differences and age gap. It was written so well that when I was reading about one I would be thinking how they are my favourite and I don't care as much about the other then when it got to the other I was thinking the same about them.

This took me so long to read because I got sidetracked by all the uni reading I had and came back to it once all that was over. It was so so good though. The writing was the perfect mix of totally beautiful but also not hard to understand or take in so the pages were just flying by. I have never really read a historical fiction or been interested in them but this actually surprised me.