Reviews

While everyone else loved this book...I was just Meh. Don't get me wrong, it's a great story...I just don't like the way it was told and wish someone else had written it. There were moments when it would get close to be really inspiring...and then the timing would be thrown off by the incredible amount of detail to weird things at weird times. I didn't end up feeling like I got to know the crew at all despite the amount of detail, perhaps because it was written in such a dry, clinical manner that it didn't feel like the author got to know the heart of the boys involved either.

juliannemawae's review

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5.0

This book was a pleasant surprise. I don't tend to read a lot of non-fiction but this book was far from dry. Even though I knew from the beginning the ultimate outcome of the story, I was still captivated. There was so much that was interesting about the story: learning about the sport of rowing, reading about life in the U.S. after the Great Depression and preceding WWII, and learning about the rowers' lives. I also really enjoyed George Pocock's quotes on rowing which started each chapter. And as an avid fan of the Olympics, I loved that aspect of it as well. I look forward to watching some Olympic rowing this summer!