G1077 E-Reading Book Review for The War Between Us by Sara Creviston Lee
Author: Sara Creviston lee
ISBN: B01AJFYMQS
Publisher: Createspace
Type of book: inspirational, AMWF, Korean-American, loyalties, war, prejudices, WW2, small town, Indiana, religious, christianity, Pearl Harbor, living, choices
Year it was published: 2015
Summary:
Alex Moon is not the enemy.
Six months after Pearl Harbor's tragedy, Korean American Alex Moon is sent away from his home in California for refusing his father's request to join the fight against the Japanese. On his journey, Alex is attacked and stranded in the small town of River Bluff, Indiana. To everyone else, he looks like the enemy.
Unexpectedly, Alex is befriended by a local girl, Lonnie Hamilton, who comes to his defense, saving him from doubt and despair while placing herself in the cross hairs of prejudice. Alex falls in love with his ally---a love that is clearly forbidden. Torn between his dual identities, Korean and American, and grappling with how everyone sees him, Alex must wage the war within himself---of defending who he is, resolving his tortured feelings about the war, and fighting for the woman he loves.
Characters:
There are a lot of main characters, but primary ones would be Lonnie and Alex as well as Lonnie's uncle and her mother, and also a few town residents. Lonnie is blonde haired and blue eyed and is meek, sweet, gentle and tends to be quiet and keeps her own issues inside. She is also the oldest child and takes her responsibility very seriously. She is very responsible and helps out those who need her help. Alex Moon is impulsive, tends to be irresponsible and sees himself as more American than Korean. I am nto sure whether or not he might have empathy and understanding in beginning, but he did gain some towards the end. He is also bitter and seems to enjoy teasing Lonnie a whole lot. One of the characters I liked is the mechanic who employed Alex to fix cars who is best described as intuitive and understanding. Other characters, I felt, had latent prejudices towards Alex.
Theme:
Goodness can be found everywhere
Plot:
The story is told in third person narrative from Lonnie's and Alex's points of view. I am a very big fan of learning about Asian culture, especially when it comes to Korean culture, and while I did gain some more insight into birthday cookies (need to ask someone about them soon!) the novel wasn't as in-depth as I hoped it would be. I also wasn't comfortable with how hard Alex Moon had to prove
himself that he was just as good if not better than Americans. (Unfortunately, I understand its the truth, that minorities have to prove they are better than majority in order to be seen as human.) but its not a comfortable truth.
Author Information:
(From HFVBT)
About the Author
Sarah Creviston Lee was born and raised as a proud Hoosier. She can usually be found tinkering in the kitchen with WWII ration recipes, haunting local antique shops, homeschooling her kids, clacking away on her laptop writing one story or another, or watching old school movies with her family.
She currently lives in Maryland with her husband, three children, and flock of feisty chickens.
In 2016, her book, The War Between Us, received the Editor’s Choice Award from the Historical Novel Society.
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Opinion:
In the winter of 2015, I was very interested as well as a bit desperate in trying to read The WAR BETWEEN US, so I was pretty happy to get a chance to read it at long last. However, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. I remember telling my best friend, God rest her soul, about this book and about whether or not I should read it. (My main issue is that some of the bloggers have described it as a christian novel, and as some who know me, I don't read nor like christian novels.) She told me a profound message that stayed with me, and that I found to be the truth in this book. First of all, I'll assure my fans, this is best described as inspirational novel, and by that I mean yes there is a great deal of faith, but I never sensed that characters attempted to convert one another. Instead its a tale of a small town and how prejudices play in shaping how people are towards one another. There is plenty I enjoyed about the book, and there is plenty where I often questioned myself about why I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. For the things I liked is the addictive and smooth writing, that characters are both good and evil, and how vivid the town has felt. What I didn't enjoy is the focus on church, and I also wasn't used to an inspirational style of writing where there was barely any actions taken by the characters. In truth, the book reminded me of Mona Hodgson's series (I only read Mona Hodgson because I won it in a goodreads giveaway...) Although not a proselytizing novel, there was still plenty of inspirational elements within the pages.
This is for HFVBT
Blog Tour Schedule
Friday, December 7
Feature at Tar Heel Reader
Review at Passages to the Past
Saturday, December 8
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Monday, December 10
Review at Bri’s Book Nook
Feature at Old Timey Books
Feature at What Is That Book About
Tuesday, December 11
Feature at The Book Junkie Reads
Wednesday, December 12
Feature at A Book Geek
Feature at The Caffeinated Bibliophile
Thursday, December 13
Review at Creating Herstory
Interview at Passages to the Past
Friday, December 14
Review & Excerpt at Clarissa Reads it All
Review, Excerpt, and Q&A at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Saturday, December 15
Feature at The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog
Monday, December 17
Excerpt at Jathan & Heather
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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