Tag: world war 2

Book Review: The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Historical fiction romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Noelle Salazar
Publisher: Mira Books
Release Date: July 2nd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A stunning story about the Women Airforce Service Pilots whose courage during World War II turned ordinary women into extraordinary heroes

1941. Audrey Coltrane has always wanted to fly. It’s why she implored her father to teach her at the little airfield back home in Texas. It’s why she signed up to train military pilots in Hawaii when the war in Europe began. And it’s why she insists she is not interested in any dream-derailing romantic involvements, even with the disarming Lieutenant James Hart, who fast becomes a friend as treasured as the women she flies with. Then one fateful day, she gets caught in the air over Pearl Harbor just as the bombs begin to fall, and suddenly, nowhere feels safe.

To make everything she’s lost count for something, Audrey joins the Women Airforce Service Pilots program. The bonds she forms with her fellow pilots reignite a spark of hope in the face war, and–when James goes missing in action–give Audrey the strength to cross the front lines and fight not only for her country, but for the love she holds so dear.

Shining a light on a little-known piece of history, The Flight Girls is a sweeping portrayal of women’s fearlessness, love, and the power of friendship to make us soar.

ABSOLUTELY A NEW FAVORITE.

Read in a day alert. If you’re a historical fiction fan, add to your TBR ASAP. Oh my gosh I’m in a puddle over here, little bird. *cue tears*

I loved the story of Audrey and her cohorts turned closest friends. What a hard life so many of them chose to walk to support the fight in WW2. Not being recognized until long overdue for everything they gave in the fight against Germany. I haven’t learned much about this facet of history and appreciated getting a nuanced story.

THE ROMANCE. Definitely the forefront of this book and it was everrryyything. EVERYTHING. I was begging the author to give me a happy ending. Waiting for this book to make me sob (which tears frequently hit my eyes throughout). Nothing short of miraculous how those final pages went down. Perfect ending. My heart is still feeling all of the emotions Audrey and James love story elicitied.

Seriously, if you’re at least a romance fan. Read this one. It was a stunning book and I can’t believe myself for letting it sit on my shelf for so long.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: closed door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes (specifically Pearl Harbor), multiple deadly plane crashes, a loved one MIA, PTSD, depictions of grief and depression

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Book Review: The War I Finally Won (The War That Saved My Life #2) by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: MG Historical Fiction
Length: 387 pages
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Publisher: Dial Books
Release Date: October 3rd, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ada and her younger brother, Jamie, now have a permanent home with their loving legal guardian, Susan Smith. Although Jamie adapts more easily, Ada still struggles with the aftermath of her old life, and how to fit into her new life.

World War II continues, and forces the small community to come together and rely on one another. Ada has never been interested in getting to know her friend’s family—especially Maggie’s mother, the formidable Lady Thorton. However, circumstances bring them in close proximity along with other unexpected characters.

Ada comes face to face with another German! This time she isn’t sure what she should do. How can she help the ones she loves and keep them safe?

Ada’s first story, The War that Saved My Life, won a Newbery Honor, the Schneider Family Book Award, and the Josette Frank Award, in addition to appearing on multiple best-of-the-year lists. This second, marvelous volume continues Ada’s powerful, uplifting story.

AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE FIRST.

Ohhhhh my gosh. My heart. Ada. Jamie. Susan. The whole dang cast. READ THESE BOOKS. What an absolute gem for all ages.

I didn’t know if a second book was going to have enough plot in Ada’s life to further an entire second book and I stand completely corrected because this had everything it needed. I love the growth in Ada and yet how you could still feel her age. And not in that annoying, roll your eyes, kind of way. In that raw, going through grief and big changes and big emotions, kind of way. I loved it. It was executed so perfectly for this kind of book.

This was definitely a read that made me cry (iykyk). Many times I was brought through a flurry of emotions because of the travesty of war and heartbreak it causes. Yet, I love the hope that’s also infused. The love shown for those different from ourselves and extending needed hands of friendship and compassion. Many, many good things in this duology y’all. I will recommend it up and down. One of my new all time favorite World War 2 historical fiction books.

Overall audience notes:

  • Middle grade historical fiction
  • Language: none
  • Violence: surgery
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a loved one, debilitating sickness resulting in hospitalization, war themes

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Book Review: When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 240 pages
Author: Marjorie Herrera Lewis
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: October 2nd, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s a man’s game, until now…
Football is the heartbeat of Brownwood, Texas. Every Friday night for as long as assistant principal Tylene Wilson can remember, the entire town has gathered in the stands, cheering their boys on. Each September brings with it the hope of a good season and a sense of unity and optimism.

Now, the war has changed everything.  Most of the Brownwood men over 18 and under 45 are off fighting, and in a small town the possibilities are limited. Could this mean a season without football? But no one counted on Tylene, who learned the game at her daddy’s knee. She knows more about it than most men, so she does the unthinkable, convincing the school to let her take on the job of coach.

Faced with extreme opposition—by the press, the community, rival coaches, and referees and even the players themselves—Tylene remains resolute. And when her boys rally around her, she leads the team—and the town—to a Friday night and a subsequent season they will never forget.           

Based on a true story, When the Men Were Gone is a powerful and vibrant novel of perseverance and personal courage.

FOOTBALL FOREVER.

I feel like this got an extra star purely for the fact that I love football. And I loved that there was a female coach who refused to let her team down when everyone else in town wanted nothing to do with her.

It’s a very quick read. Which was a pro and a con. I was hoping for a bit more depth in characters and general story. What I did get was fine, but rushed. There were thrown in tidbits of Tylene’s past and why she’s fighting so hard to have her football season. It did help me grasp the fierce nature of wanting these boys to not have to go to war just yet. Letting them be young just a little longer. Those sentiments really hit home in the midst of World War 2.

I wish there was more back story at the end. I wanted to know how the rest of the season went as this book only covers the 2 weeks leading up to their first game of Tylene’s season. Tylene was a strong woman who clearly understood the game. I love how she made jaws drop and men shut their mouths as she proved over and over that she would be the best person for this job.

If you’re a football fan + historical fiction lover, I would try this one out! It was a good combination. And I really felt the rush and remembrance of the fall football atmosphere.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: bullying, misogyny, mentions of losing men in WW2, loss of a baby, PTSD (a side character)

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Book Review: The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Author: Kristin Harmel
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: July 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

EMOTIONS.

I had a lot of up and down with this one, but by the end I was really invested in getting some kind of ending I could be satisfied with. And even though it took awhile, I loved the way this ended which solidified a great book for me.

One of the things I struggled with was Eva’s Mother. I could understand the grief and despair she was feeling, but kept being angered at how much she taking out on Eva. There was never a chance for them to truly reconcile and it hurt my soul watching the relationship slowly deteriorate because of atrocities outside of their control.

World War II historical fiction is common in the genre. While sometimes I find the stories repetitive, I thought this one took on new aspects. I liked the focus on the children and of a Jewish woman working to forge papers to help those around her. Not to mention the romance sub-plot thrown in was SO SWEET. I mean, definitely tore my heart out, but also the development was spot on. The action and movement kept me interested and I enjoyed reading this as an audio book. Even when you could kind of see things coming, the whole of the plot still took me by surprise.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction [WW2]
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses, one little detailed open scene
  • Violence:
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, depictions of World War 2, suicide (a small paragraph with depiction of method)

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