The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The War That Saved My Life is about a girl and her younger brother who live with their horrible mother. WW2 starts and they are sent to the countryside to live with a woman, Susan, who didn’t want to take in kids in the first place. She is not in a great emotional state but she takes care of them. It follows their journey together especially how they grow and survive. The war is ever present in their lives. It is a sad and uplifting book. I had a physical reaction to the beginning portion detailing life with the mother and there are many sad, aggravating situations in this book. I can totally see how people would love his book and connect to what was going on. I felt a little cozy and heartwarming while reading. I don’t have kids and I am typically not a huge fan of them, so I found myself lacking that strong connection. I found Jamie annoying sometimes and a little brat. I felt sorry for Ada but it was very surface level as I also found her a little too much. Sidenote, I got this recommendation from the Currently Reading podcast, and the podcast also made similar comments about the Swiss Family Robinson as Jamie does in this book. This is definitely a book for young readers and it is not something that I fell in love with. I enjoyed it but found some elements grating. It would be a great read to share with your kids. Overall, it was decent.
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