There was a lot of this that had the feel of a Kate Quinn novel. If you weren't already aware of my reading proclivities, this is high praise.

The story is told in a dual timeline perspective with two separate protagonists and I felt like the organization was really spot on. The writing is well-structured and does a great job of capturing the historical feel of both timelines (1918 WWI France and late 1970s US). I could definitely have used a bit more bulk and development to the story, so a longer book would have likely gotten even higher ratings from me, but it was still a fascinating read from both historical content and entertainment perspectives.

The female protagonists are both really well balanced and felt genuine. I enjoyed that they were both told from an introspective point-of-view and that I felt like the reader could really get to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This helped them to really come alive on the page. I was more attracted to the WWI story line, but more attached to the 1976 protagonist. There is a great discussion of misogyny throughout the secondary timeline and a small slice of racism discussed in both timelines. I particularly struggled with Kathleen's story line, in the sense that her treatment seriously boiled my blood. There was definitely a high amount of emotional response from me throughout these parts of the plot. I appreciated the author's note at the end of the novel with regard to the historical accuracy of these moments as well.

I knew that the timelines would tie together in some way (because that is just the nature of these types of stories), but I did not predict how that would happen until it was beginning to really unfold. I appreciated that lack of predictability and, though it wasn't a complete bombshell for me, it definitely added to my enjoyment of the novel.

The War Librarian is absolutely worth the read and I will be adding Armstrong's debut novel to my TBR for a hopefully soon read.