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A review by llama_lord
When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 by Barry Denenberg
3.0
This is a rare dud in the Dear America series. I was expecting to really enjoy it since the Civil War is one of my favorite periods in American history, but unfortunately the horrible writing sucked all of the fun out of this book for me.
The one thing that I liked about this book was that the protagonist, Emma, loved books and often related emotionally with the characters she read about. It's always nice to have a character with a love for reading and it was nice to see that portrayed positively.
That was pretty much the only positive this book had. The diary entries were short and uninspired. Emma's voice did not feel like a fourteen year old girl's and was inconsistent - one entry she would sound something like "I ardently pray for the safe return of our valiant Confederate troops and passionately long for a solution to this seemingly eternal conflict between the states!" while the next entry would be like "I wonder if boys think that I'm pretty?" I feel that this was because the author had very little insight into the mind of a teenage girl.
Not to mention that the book was very, very boring. Even when fairly interesting things start to happen in the plot the dull writing keeps the reader from ever feeling involved in the story. Plus there were historical inaccuracies, as other reviewers pointed out.
I was so disappointed with this, especially because I think that a diary from the perspective of a Confederate girl could have been really interesting. I wouldn't recommend this one, even if you're a fan of the series.
The one thing that I liked about this book was that the protagonist, Emma, loved books and often related emotionally with the characters she read about. It's always nice to have a character with a love for reading and it was nice to see that portrayed positively.
That was pretty much the only positive this book had. The diary entries were short and uninspired. Emma's voice did not feel like a fourteen year old girl's and was inconsistent - one entry she would sound something like "I ardently pray for the safe return of our valiant Confederate troops and passionately long for a solution to this seemingly eternal conflict between the states!" while the next entry would be like "I wonder if boys think that I'm pretty?" I feel that this was because the author had very little insight into the mind of a teenage girl.
Not to mention that the book was very, very boring. Even when fairly interesting things start to happen in the plot the dull writing keeps the reader from ever feeling involved in the story. Plus there were historical inaccuracies, as other reviewers pointed out.
I was so disappointed with this, especially because I think that a diary from the perspective of a Confederate girl could have been really interesting. I wouldn't recommend this one, even if you're a fan of the series.