When this book popped up in my Goodreads feed, I was immediately intrigued and made a mental note to go back later and look closer at it. When I did, I was SO excited! There’s actually a young author (besides me) who’s writing World War II historical fiction!!! 🤩 Anyway, I knew immediately from the description and reviews that I was going to like this book and ordered a signed copy from the author.
My mother read it aloud to me and my younger siblings in the evening (we range in age from 13 to 26), and we very much enjoyed it. I think it’s a well-written story bringing the history of WWII to life through the eyes of a young American soldier.
How I wish there were more WWII books like this one! It’s just what I look for in a historical fiction book: a plot built around the real history, focused on action, not romance, well-written, a large cast of unique characters, and strong Christian messages naturally woven in.
I especially liked how it balanced the ideas of just war and fighting against evil with also loving your enemies. And while it’s written from the point of view of an American soldier and shows that the Nazis were evil, it also gives some glimpses into the perspective of the Germans and humanizes them, something I liked, as I’m about half German and have been doing a lot of in-depth research on Nazi Germany for my writing lately. There were several other elements I also really liked, but I don’t want to give too many spoilers, so I’ll refrain from saying any more!
My mother said it includes everything a Christian mother would want in a war story, which I think says a lot! It clearly shows the horrors of war without going into graphic detail.
And there’s lots of good, clean humor! I think there was something that made us laugh in every single chapter!