“There will come a time when you’ll have a choice between staying in your trench and crawling out of it to save a buddy.”
This was such an inspiring tale following three brave women who went to war to fight for their country in 1942. While it was definitely empowering to females, I don’t think the main point was to send some feminist message. Instead, it focused on soldiers relying on one another to live to see the morning.
The three women this book centered on—Rainy, Rio, and Frangie—were incredibly strong. They were from different races and religions and it was such a relief to see some diversity in YA. Grant added so much depth to their characters, bringing each of their voices to life.
There’s Rio, the classic “good girl” who’s slowly coming out of her shell, Rainy, the tough-loving Jew, and Frangie, the African-American girl who wants to be a medic. What these young women had to deal with was unbelievable and so darn heroic, yet the author never failed to show that they were girls, too, and liked to watch movies and go out with boys and paint their fingernails.
The details about training to become a soldier and what the main characters had to go through weren’t skimped over. I think the grittiness and gory bits were added in the perfect spots and strengthened the realism of the story.
This book was honestly so much better than I expected. I really liked the first novel I read by the author, Gone, but I couldn’t stand one of his newer releases, BZRK. Thankfully, Front Lines lived up to my high expectations set by the intense survival story of Gone.
It was a bit lengthier than I think it could have been. This book was huge—over 500 pages—and I felt like some scenes were repetitive and could have been cut down. But aside from that, I really appreciated its harsh and gritty tone.
If you’re interested in WWII historical fiction or are curious as to how the US military works, I highly recommend this book. It’s both informative and touching.
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