A review by belles_bookshelves
High Dive by Tammar Stein

4.0

This is hard for me to review because I liked the book, but I think it was mostly because I could relate to Arden's situation. At times it was sad and in Arden's voice you can hear the weight of the world that she feels like she's carrying. Then you see all the great things she does and sees while she traveling. The book was pretty accurate when describing how travel is in Europe (as in it kinda sucks). It was funny to read the military jargon that I only hear when I'm on post or talking to my family. Along with the mention of those stupidly chessy AFN commercials, and it's totally true that you can guess where someone is from just by the way they look! The Texans that Arden makes friend with during her trip change from interesting, to shallow, to complex. At times they seemed vapid (actually, mostly just Lola), but then you get more insight. Arden talks a lot about how she worries about her mom who is in Iraq, but it felt like she over did it at times. I can understand that though. Sometimes Arden seemed too judgmental of people. Mostly about them not understanding her situation. I liked how the author wrote about Iraq without actually taking sides. It's great to see Arden traveling and how she starts to see things differently. How she changes for the better. At first she's very cautious, both with trusting people and taking chances. I was pleased with how it all played out, even if I guessed at it. Again, I think I liked the book mostly because I could relate to Arden. I'm not sure how this book would look to other poeple but I think that it's definitly worth giving a chance.