This is an easy book to review due to how absolutely wonderful it was. I’ve read a lot of WWII books in my short life and I love it when I stumble across one that feels ‘different’. A story line that hasn’t been done before. 

This book was magical. The magic comes from the vivid writing that makes you feel as if you are standing right next to the characters. The dialogue that you can hear. The characters that you won’t be able to help yourself from falling in love with. Another artistic addition the author took with this book were the short, quick alternating chapters. You don’t have to worry about staying up too late to finish a chapter in this book. Some ‘chapters’ are only a paragraph long. I love the chaos that this style added.

I understand all the mixed reviews. I can really see why those who disliked the book feel the way they do. It also doesn’t help when books are hyped up to an extent where they are placed on a pedestal. The reader goes in there with expectations that even the best books won’t be able to satisfy. Winning a Pulitzer? That’s a pretty high bar to set.
     This isn’t the type of book that builds up for the big ‘ah-ha’. That seems to be what a lot of people are missing. They are looking for the ah-ha. The author builds you up with great characters and makes the reader think they are being set up for that critical moment in life that explains it all. Yet, that’s life. We are waiting for the build up to end. The pinnacle moment to happen where we can sit on a beach somewhere and say to ourselves, yup, this was worth it. Yet life goes on. There is no real great ending. Life goes on until it doesn’t anymore. 
     That is the angle I took with this book. That is why I enjoyed every second of it.