Reviews - The War I Finally Won

The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

921 reviews for:

The War I Finally Won is the continuation of the story of Ada and her little brother, Jamie, evacuees during WWII. In The War That Saved My Life, Ada and Jamie were evacuated to the countryside of England to live with a lady named Susan. Ada's club foot made her life difficult and her mother had refused to have it fixed. In this book, Ada gets her foot fixed but while in the hospital finds that her real mother has been killed in a bombing. Ada becomes angry and resentful at her circumstances and this sequel is about her finding her way and growing up in a time of war.

terryegreen's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rhoetger's review against another edition

5.0

A truly wonderful ending to the first book. Ada had to overcome so much, and I love her. The relationships fostered in the first book continue to grow in this book and I found tears in my eyes more than once. What a great book for children (and adults!) to read about World War II. Highly recommend the series! And wouldnât be opposed to more books about Ada and Jamie, or Stephen White!

ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

juliesplotsandpages's review against another edition

5.0

I adored this book! I adored this entire series. I've been trying to figure out how to put it into words, but to me this book was all about the relationships. Poor Ada has spent her whole life being emotionally abused and she is often very difficult, especially about things that most kids wouldn't have a problem with. But Susan takes it all in stride. She shows Ada that she's worthy of being loved, even if she's different or difficult.
I totally want Susan to adopt me. She seems to understand people. She takes the time to figure out what they're going through, and then she reaches out to them in ways that make the most sense to them.
I also teared up so many times while I read this book. That's the problem with reading a book about war - not everyone makes it. But the tears weren't always sad for me. There are some beautiful moments that had me crying too. I wish I could better describe my love for these books, but ultimately I suppose I just really connected with them. Highly recommend both books in this series!

ap1's review against another edition

3.0

I began this audiobook with my daughter and then we got distracted, so I finally decided to just finish it without her. The pacing of the story is slow enough that it was no problem at all to take such a long break from it.

The story is lovely, but I think it could have ended just a little earlier. It seemed a bit long & slightly repetitive. The first book in this series was AMAZING, but this one didn't quite reach that level for me. Ada could be annoying/whiny (perhaps I should have read it instead of listening to it, as I knew this narrator sometimes made Ada's voice extra whiny). Although this was a very good book, and I would recommend it, I did find myself wishing that it would wrap up.