A review by rich2023
Home Front by Kristin Hannah

emotional reflective sad tense

4.0

-This is my first book by Kristin Hannah and I enjoyed this story. I did cry while reading this book. This book dealt with a lot of complex topics. This book dealt with war and the effects it has on people. It dealt with PTSD. 

-The friendship between Jolene and Tami was sweet. I liked how they had each others back. It was good to see Jolene grow in how she dealt with hurt and sadness. At first, she would choose happiness and avoid difficult conversations. She would move on when others hurt her. Jolene smiled even when she was hurting inside before being deployed.

-Michael was a piece of work! He was selfish and he let his grief overtake him. He was not kind to Jolene, even when she came home from the war, he wasn’t patient with her. I felt that he could have been more gracious to Jolene before and after her deployment. I wished that Michael would have stayed even though Jolene asked him to leave. He should have stayed. It was good to see the happy ending for the couple. The case he had really helped him to see his wife. The case helped him to get a glimpse of what war does to soldiers. 

I’m not a wife or mom yet but I felt that Jolene had more pressure on her than Michael did. The family wasn’t as compassionate towards Jolene. I feel that Michael would drink and work and not show up for his family because he was grieving. I guess what I am trying to say is that Jolene should have been giving more grace and space to really grief. I think there was a lot of expectation for her to just push through the pain. 

- One thing I didn’t understand is why wasn’t the alcohol taken out of the house. Stop buying wine and alcohol! 

-I really liked when Jolene visited Sarah in the hospital. She didn’t try out to give out shiny optimism. 
“She couldn’t tell this girl, this solider,how to handle her life or her injury or her marriage.All she could do was be here, standing as tall as she knew how and hope that down the road, this would be remembered, as she remembered the woman who had stood by her bedside in Germany, all those months ago.” 

- This book made think about how communication is key in a relationship, especially in marriage. 

Warnings: There is a lot of coarse language in the book. There is on sexual act between a husband and a wife. 

Concerns: Conny was the only black character in the story and the adjectives used to describe him made me feel weird. The word dark was to describe Conny.