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katiejohns's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Grief, Death, Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Miscarriage
emskidua's review against another edition
5.0
Soooooo beautiful! Topics such as racism, discrimination, interracial relationships, and war are handled so wonderfully! You really feel this story as you read it!
jbarr5's review against another edition
5.0
BRIDGE OF SCARLET LEAVES by Kristina McMorris
Really enjoyed all the learning in this book. Starts out with a brother and sister(TJ and Maddie) who each have a friend (jo and Lane). The male friend (Lane) is Japanese and he has fallen in love with Maddie.
Back in the 1940's marriage between two different racial groups was taboo, but they went and got married anyways hiding it for a while from others. The day they returned to their home town from their honeymoon was the day that Japan bombarded Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. From there the book follows each of the four as they struggle to get through the hard times of their lives and how they strive to get it all back together once. This book takes you all over the world and I really liked how you could feel you were there with the descriptions of the surroundings and what was going through each of their minds.
TJ is the baseball pitcher and his best friend is Lane til TJ finds out Lanes's married his sister.
Maddie is a violist and has scholarships to pay her way at the Juilliard School of Music in NY but plans change.
Her best friend Jo sticks by her in good and hard times and plays for the womans baseball league during the war.
Lane is torn between camps, the war, his Japanese heritage and loving his American wife.
War, food rations, birth, death, POW and farming bring this book together ending with an explanation of the stars in the sky that two are looking at from different places in the world.
Love the Japan inspired recipes at the end also. Found myself wanting this book to continue on as I didn't want it to end.
Really enjoyed all the learning in this book. Starts out with a brother and sister(TJ and Maddie) who each have a friend (jo and Lane). The male friend (Lane) is Japanese and he has fallen in love with Maddie.
Back in the 1940's marriage between two different racial groups was taboo, but they went and got married anyways hiding it for a while from others. The day they returned to their home town from their honeymoon was the day that Japan bombarded Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. From there the book follows each of the four as they struggle to get through the hard times of their lives and how they strive to get it all back together once. This book takes you all over the world and I really liked how you could feel you were there with the descriptions of the surroundings and what was going through each of their minds.
TJ is the baseball pitcher and his best friend is Lane til TJ finds out Lanes's married his sister.
Maddie is a violist and has scholarships to pay her way at the Juilliard School of Music in NY but plans change.
Her best friend Jo sticks by her in good and hard times and plays for the womans baseball league during the war.
Lane is torn between camps, the war, his Japanese heritage and loving his American wife.
War, food rations, birth, death, POW and farming bring this book together ending with an explanation of the stars in the sky that two are looking at from different places in the world.
Love the Japan inspired recipes at the end also. Found myself wanting this book to continue on as I didn't want it to end.
kdurham2's review against another edition
4.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Another historical fiction that took me completely by surprise! Set in a time that I feel doesn't get too much press - the time after the attack on Pearl Harbor and about a group of people that felt discrimination but it isn't always publicized - the Japanese community. I was familiar with the the attack itself and what became after it, but only in a general history sense, definitely not the detail that is told through this interracial couple who defeat the odds.
Another historical fiction that took me completely by surprise! Set in a time that I feel doesn't get too much press - the time after the attack on Pearl Harbor and about a group of people that felt discrimination but it isn't always publicized - the Japanese community. I was familiar with the the attack itself and what became after it, but only in a general history sense, definitely not the detail that is told through this interracial couple who defeat the odds.
machadofam8's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Not at all what I expected. Powerful and heartfelt - enjoyed this immensely.
pebbles1984's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars, but barely. Everything in this book, the story, the characters and the writing, were just so-so for me. It could have been much better.
bibliopage's review against another edition
4.0
An emotional novel set during WWII. I liked reading this one!
creepepaper's review against another edition
3.0
In this historical fiction, an already controversial relationship between Maddie Kern, a white American, and Lane Moritomo, a Japanese American, just began to blossom when Pearl Harbor is suddenly attacked by the Japanese. The attack throws Lane and his family into a spiral of unwarranted racism and drags Maddie into the mess. The story grows more complicated as Maddie's brother enlists in the army and Lane is forced to leave his home.
This story was informative and enjoyable, but I felt a strong disconnect from the characters. I'd been warned several times about the tear-jerker I was getting myself into and mentally tried to prepare myself. However, that was unnecessary as anything traumatic that happened to the characters, although sad, didn't strongly affect me because I never felt close enough to them. The relationship between Maddie and Lane was swift and didn't really take time to explore their romance. I couldn't decide if this was a romance novel or a drama with some romance or an action novel. The romance was definitely muddled and not focused on enough for me to be invested in their relationship.
I honestly felt the first 35 chapters were mostly unnecessary as I assume it was meant to build their relationship and show their hardships together, but it didn't stick the landing and wasn't successful. Things began to pick up once actual war-time began.
To be fair, I think a lot of the flaws of this book lie in the fact that it's not my typical genre and I'm hyper critical of romances. That's why I awarded this book 3 stars instead of 2 as I know it started at a disadvantage from me. Overall, the story was enjoyable and I felt I learned a lot as I feel school briefly glossed over the Japanese internment camps and the cruelty toward them during WWII.
This story was informative and enjoyable, but I felt a strong disconnect from the characters. I'd been warned several times about the tear-jerker I was getting myself into and mentally tried to prepare myself. However, that was unnecessary as anything traumatic that happened to the characters, although sad, didn't strongly affect me because I never felt close enough to them. The relationship between Maddie and Lane was swift and didn't really take time to explore their romance. I couldn't decide if this was a romance novel or a drama with some romance or an action novel. The romance was definitely muddled and not focused on enough for me to be invested in their relationship.
I honestly felt the first 35 chapters were mostly unnecessary as I assume it was meant to build their relationship and show their hardships together, but it didn't stick the landing and wasn't successful. Things began to pick up once actual war-time began.
To be fair, I think a lot of the flaws of this book lie in the fact that it's not my typical genre and I'm hyper critical of romances. That's why I awarded this book 3 stars instead of 2 as I know it started at a disadvantage from me. Overall, the story was enjoyable and I felt I learned a lot as I feel school briefly glossed over the Japanese internment camps and the cruelty toward them during WWII.