Book Synopsis:
Annie Sinclair's Virginia home is in the battle path of the Civil War. Her brothers, Laurence and Jamie, fight to defend the South, while Annie and her mother tend to wounded soldiers. When she develops a romantic connection with a Union Army lieutenant, Annie's view of the war broadens. Then an accusation calls her loyalty into question. A nation and a heart divided force Annie to choose her own course.
My Review:
3.5/5 stars. This book was enjoyable, but it wasn’t super engaging to me. I felt like the plot kind of dragged on. The best part of this book was the different perspectives on the Civil War, but the rest of it was just okay.
The most interesting thing about this book was the way it showed a different perspective of the Civil War than what you usually learn about in school. The protagonist is a Confederate, and her brothers fight in the Confederate Army. It shows that there were good and bad people on both sides. Some Unionists were just as racist as some Confederates, while some Confederates were just fighting to defend their family and home, not because they wanted slaves. It wasn't just a black and white issue. I liked seeing that portrayed in this book.
Another thing I enjoyed was that the protagonist was very into books and reading. I like when people like books, it makes it easier to relate to them. Poetry was also a big theme in this book, which I don't really care about, but the fact that she liked reading in general was nice.
The writing structure was not my favorite. Some of the sentences felt very long and hard to read at times. That's just a small thing, but it's something I noticed.
For a good portion of the book, Annie kind of has a flirtatious relationship with a Colonel - then General - that her brother introduces her too. It's kind of messed up, because she's 15 at the time and he's 28 or 29. For about the whole first half, Annie is obsessed with him and at one point even cries herself to sleep because he doesn't notice her during a parade. It was weird and annoying to read about. Luckily, she gets over him - because she finds out he's actually married and has a child - and the person she ends up with seems much closer to her in age, but still.
The pacing was the weakest part of this book. The plot itself was enjoyable, but the main plot of the book that's mentioned in the synopsis doesn't actually get introduced until about 2/3rds of the way through. Everything before that felt like it was one giant, drawn-out, exposition section to get to that point. A lot of stuff happens before the advertised plot, so I don't understand why that couldn't have been included in the description or made more of the focus.
This book had a romance thread, but I wasn't compelled by it. Normally, I love added romance plots, but I felt it wasn't developed enough in this book. The love interest seemed nice enough, but nothing made me super invested in their relationship or it's development. It was kind of flat.
Content Warning:
No language, but OMG is written out a few times. There's not much romance besides hugging and kissing a few times, with it not described at all. There is a lot of violence, since it takes place during a war, but it's not super graphic. Injuries and wounds are described and death is talked about a lot, but it doesn't give lots of detail.
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