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A review by chriscat12
Purple Hearts by Michael Grant
4.0
Wow. So I guess I'll just take the chance to review the whole series while I'm here. I've read a lot of World War Two books over the last few years, and a lot of them deal with heavy topics, not shying away from tragedy in wartime. But many of them were books dealing with women in intelligence work or the French Resistance, and so this had a very different feel to it. Of course, women in the Resistance was historically accurate, whereas Front Lines is an alternative history.
And yet, it was so well-researched, and the brutality of war was just there, glaring at you through the whole trilogy. I hadn't read a book where the characters are, well, on the front lines--the gritty, disturbing battle scenes, the realization that, yes, women were not in the front lines and drafted like men back in the 1940s but that the detail in terms of the battlefields such as D-Day and Sicily, they were real. Bullets could kill someone next to you, and you'd have to watch, and massacres and death camps were all so frighteningly real, as were the Gestapo. Grant does so well in bringing to life a very real, in-your-face story of the war, of three different divisions, or areas, of it: medical, a front lines combat soldier, and intelligence. Thus, the novels could be hard to read in some senses--the gore, the blood, the un-sugar-coated descriptions of wounds and injuries. Of what life was like on the front. I'm honestly glad for all this, though, because it helped me have a deeper understanding of what the war was actually like from a soldier's perspective.
It was amazing how he was able to go into so much detail about all of these, and how often Frangie, Rio, and Rainy met up and their stories entwined. I loved all three characters and watching them all grow (most noticeably Rio), was impressive. I loved reading about Rio, Jenou, Cat, Jack, and their squad, and began to feel very protective over them as the stories went on. Strand, though, Strand pissed me off, the misogynistic little jerk. I also really liked Rainy and Frangie, and how all three women had different, distinct enough personalities that showcased their humanity and their strengths--and, good gosh, their bravery. All three women were put into horrific situations in all three books, and yet, they kept going, kept fighting, and seeing their journeys and knowing what happened to them at the end was very satisfying.
All this being said, I didn't like the romance. Maybe, again, it's because I'm not a romantic, but I felt like, in the second book, too much of Rio's story focused on Strand vs Jack, especially Strand, and less as Rio as a soldier and a person.
Anyway, overall this was well-done and I do recommend this series!
And yet, it was so well-researched, and the brutality of war was just there, glaring at you through the whole trilogy. I hadn't read a book where the characters are, well, on the front lines--the gritty, disturbing battle scenes, the realization that, yes, women were not in the front lines and drafted like men back in the 1940s but that the detail in terms of the battlefields such as D-Day and Sicily, they were real. Bullets could kill someone next to you, and you'd have to watch, and massacres and death camps were all so frighteningly real, as were the Gestapo. Grant does so well in bringing to life a very real, in-your-face story of the war, of three different divisions, or areas, of it: medical, a front lines combat soldier, and intelligence. Thus, the novels could be hard to read in some senses--the gore, the blood, the un-sugar-coated descriptions of wounds and injuries. Of what life was like on the front. I'm honestly glad for all this, though, because it helped me have a deeper understanding of what the war was actually like from a soldier's perspective.
It was amazing how he was able to go into so much detail about all of these, and how often Frangie, Rio, and Rainy met up and their stories entwined. I loved all three characters and watching them all grow (most noticeably Rio), was impressive. I loved reading about Rio, Jenou, Cat, Jack, and their squad, and began to feel very protective over them as the stories went on. Strand, though, Strand pissed me off, the misogynistic little jerk. I also really liked Rainy and Frangie, and how all three women had different, distinct enough personalities that showcased their humanity and their strengths--and, good gosh, their bravery. All three women were put into horrific situations in all three books, and yet, they kept going, kept fighting, and seeing their journeys and knowing what happened to them at the end was very satisfying.
All this being said, I didn't like the romance. Maybe, again, it's because I'm not a romantic, but I felt like, in the second book, too much of Rio's story focused on Strand vs Jack, especially Strand, and less as Rio as a soldier and a person.
Spoiler
I also didn't really appreciate how all three women ended up with someone. I mean, yes, most people are romantically-inclined, and it wasn't too heavy a focus for Rainy and Frangie, thankfully, so this is probably just a personality thing on my end, but there is romance. Though, I wish Cat had found a girlfriend, that would have been fun to see! Or that one of the main three were into women, but that was not the case.Anyway, overall this was well-done and I do recommend this series!