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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
reflective
fast-paced
Because the author is entitled and disgustingly liberal. I picked it up to relate to other military sppuses and was reminded of exactly why they're so awful
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abortion, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Simone shared her life's experiences in a way that felt very relatable. This book made me feel all the emotions and I felt like I knew all the people in the book. I enjoyed getting a look into the lives of some of the wives of the military. The only thing I wished for was a little bit more information on how her transition to Washington went and how the other wives felt about her leaving. I wanted to learn more about how her marriage transitioned to the new location, did they learn how to better communicate while he was deployed to help her anxiety?
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual content
“You get used to it never getting easier.” I don’t usually read memoirs and I really know nothing of army life, but I really enjoyed this book- it read like a fiction book in ways- the author really had a great writing style that let people into her world. Simone’s husband Andrew decided to join the military sort of out of the blue and it was shocking for her since they hadn’t had any connection to the military or anything before he mentioned possibly wanting to join. She actually had jokingly said she’d leave him if he joined (this was before they were married.) He went to training a few days after they got married. She left a great journalism job she’d only had for 1.5 years to help him achieve his dream. Over time she meets “the wives” - various wives of the people in her husband’s unit. She doesn’t think they’ll become friends due to nothing in common besides their husbands. Eventually a few of them get close almost out of necessity for needing each other during the various trials and tribulations of the army life. Army life was tough and even the wives have to be tough as well and often times tough on each other.
I don’t think I could handle the uncertainty, the anxiety, the constant wondering if your spouse was still alive. They would get “red messages” that would inform them of injuries and casualties in a unit, knowing it wasn’t their spouse but could have been. I totally understood Simone’s perspective in the book and really could put myself in her shoes. I’ve seen other reviews saying she was anti-army but after reading all they go through, I get it. Especially when she hadn’t really signed up for this when they first met. It could really take a toll on a relationship and I can’t imagine feeling so alone, especially once she was pregnant. It’s also hard because the wives barely get any information shared with them and barely hear from their husbands. A lot of them don’t have family around so have to rely on themselves and those wives around them.
There is a moment in the book where she tells her husband “you have no idea what I went through” and her husband says “you don’t know what I went through” - and that sums up the book really and married army life. It is so hard in both of them - hard to be in the army and hard to be the one who stays home.
I don’t think I could handle the uncertainty, the anxiety, the constant wondering if your spouse was still alive. They would get “red messages” that would inform them of injuries and casualties in a unit, knowing it wasn’t their spouse but could have been. I totally understood Simone’s perspective in the book and really could put myself in her shoes. I’ve seen other reviews saying she was anti-army but after reading all they go through, I get it. Especially when she hadn’t really signed up for this when they first met. It could really take a toll on a relationship and I can’t imagine feeling so alone, especially once she was pregnant. It’s also hard because the wives barely get any information shared with them and barely hear from their husbands. A lot of them don’t have family around so have to rely on themselves and those wives around them.
There is a moment in the book where she tells her husband “you have no idea what I went through” and her husband says “you don’t know what I went through” - and that sums up the book really and married army life. It is so hard in both of them - hard to be in the army and hard to be the one who stays home.
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
My husband served in the Air Force for almost 29 years. I was part of that life for about 22 of those years (not counting time dating long distance, which I also suppose is part of military life). My experience felt really different from Simone's for a number of reasons. Fortunately, my spouse was not in a unit that deployed all the time, and I know that adds a whole layer of stress and anxiety to her story that I have not experienced. My military spouse experience was probably easier in many ways, although all military spouses make sacrifices and concessions to one degree or another. I did feel there was a fair amount of judging, condescension, pretentiousness, and complaining on the author's part. Ultimately becoming a military spouse is a life you choose. Everyone's experience is different, but one thing you have to be is flexible.
{library, audio}
{library, audio}
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
tense
medium-paced