An "okay" gift.
Despite being well written with excellent WWI research, I just found this "love story/spy/pacifist" story hard to believe. This book is definitively not "All Quiet on the Western Front" and if turned into a movie, it would not be "Paths of glory".
Rated of 5
by Rebbie M. (Parrish, FL)
Lots of historical detail, little emotion
I love the era of World War One, and was looking forward to being whisked away by a riveting story complete with the historical details of that fascinating period. The historical detail was there, and I particularly enjoyed the description of the famous Christmas truce, but beyond that, I felt that the story lacked emotion. I couldn't sympathize with the protagonist because the prose was dry, almost in the style of a report. There were no haunting descriptions or accounts of the wrenching emotions that a soldier in the trenches would experience. The author is a historian turned novelist, and even though the history was accurate, I had to make myself finish the book.
Rated of 5
by Molinda C. (APO, AE)
"Gifts of War", like some gifts, not all I hoped for.
"Gifts of War" did not draw me in in the way that I had hoped. As a person in the military, I was interested in this book as a work of historical fiction. In that sense, Mackenzie Ford delivers. Her story is set within the chaotic backdrop of England during WWI. She writes so that the reader has a sense of the fear and recklessness that the British lived with during that period. Unfortunately, the story drags a bit and seems a bit contrived at key junctures so that it is all too neatly tied up in the end. This was not a page turner for me.
Rated of 5
by Elaine B. (franklin, MA)
Surprisingly Literary Descriptives
I really loved the descriptive passages in this book. The historical passages and informative context of World War 1, although a painless way to learn history, were not what kept me reading. It was the word pictures of the sights, smells, and sounds so beautifully written and transporting. A really pleasant surprise!
Rated of 5
by Iliana P. (Austin, TX)
Gifts of War
While I found this novel had a wonderful premise, I was never convinced this was set in the WWI time frame. The events were there and the action but there was a certain mood lacking.
I found the narrator's first person use took away from the narrative especially when he would break out and say something like "you have to remember that in 1914 in the British army we had no helmets." Interesting fact but I didn't see how he addresses the reader. This happened often enough and it's just something I don't particularly care for as it takes me away from the story.
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of 5
by Catherine H. (Nashua, NH)
of 5
by Iliana P. (Austin, TX)
