I read the last 2/3 of this book as quickly as I could, even taking it along in the car to read while my husband drove to church so I could finish it faster. But not because I loved it so much -- because I was very frustrated by what was going on and wanted to get to the end as quickly as I could so I'd know how it ended and could move on with my life. Which means it was very suspenseful and engrossing, but that I personally didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.I think the trouble is that I loved the first book in the Wings of Glory trilogy, A Distant Melody, and the two follow-ups couldn't quite live up to it. I reviewed that one here, and A Memory Between Us here, and as I read back over those reviews, I can see that I really hoped that books 2 and 3 would touch me the way the first did, but for various reasons, they didn't.
Blue Skies Tomorrow focuses on the oldest Novak brother, Ray, and a woman named Helen who lives in his hometown. I really enjoyed that a lot of this book took place stateside, with lots of details about the home front. Helen is a widow, and we learn that she was the victim of spouse abuse. She makes some decisions that were understandable, but that frustrated me greatly and had me shouting at her in my head to be smarter and more sensible. Both Helen and Ray got in a lot of danger, and I liked them a whole lot, so I wanted desperately to protect them, but obviously that doesn't work when they're fictional and I'm not.
So. Great characters, lots of suspense, and written even better than the first two books. But once again, for very personal reasons, not a book I loved. But you might! And I know Sundin has written more books set in WWII, so I'll give them a go at some point.
Particularly Good Bits:
For the first time, she yielded to his comfort. Jesus didn't take away her tears, he received them. he didn't take way the memories, he shared them. he didn't take away the hurts, he felt them. Somehow, with the Lord, she could bear it (p. 143).
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for violence, including multiple instances of a woman being beaten.
This is my seventh book read and reviewed for the I Love Library Books challenge.
Well, we obviously had the same experience where we HAD to finish reading this book "because I was very frustrated by what was going on and wanted to get to the end as quickly as I could so I'd know how it ended and could move on with my life." oooohhh yes. I don't think any other novel got me as stressed out as that one did.
ReplyDeleteThis was actually the first book in the series that I read (I won a free copy of it), and I liked it enough to want to read the other books in the series, but it wasn't my favorite- the first book is by far my favorite in the series and I really liked it a lot. So yeah, for personal reasons this wasn't my favorite, but Sarah Sundin is a good writer and fantastic at creating realistic characters you honestly feel like you know.
Okay! It wasn't just me! Because wow, yes, such a stressful reading experience! I spent like an hour one night, sitting on the edge of my bathtub reading it after everyone went to bed because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until either Helen or Ray got out of peril.
DeleteI think if I'd read this one first, I would never have read another of her books. Good for you for trying another! Because Sundin really is a good writer, especially to conjure up some caring for her characters that we stress out over them.