Home Front by Kristen Hannah

Here is what it is about...

From a distance, Michael and Joleen Zarkades seem to have it all: a solid marriage, two exciting careers, and children they adore. But after twelve years together, the couple has lost their way; they are unhappy and edging toward divorce. Then the Iraq war starts. An unexpected deployment will tear their already fragile family apart, sending one of them deep into harm’s way and leaving the other at home, waiting for news. When the worst happens, each must face their darkest fear and fight for the future of their family. An intimate look at the inner landscape of a disintegrating marriage and a dramatic exploration of the price of war on a single American family, Home Front is a provocative and timely portrait of hope, honor, loss, forgiveness, and the elusive nature of love.

Here is what I thought...

     The first book I ever read of KH's was the Nightingale which is one of the best books I have ever read.  I think that unfortunately, reading that one first set the bar REALLY high for the rest of her novels for me.  This is #3 that I have read now and it was good but compared to Nightingale? Doesn't even come close for me.  

     All that aside, I thought it would be interesting to read about females in the military and especially female pilots. Unfortunately, we didn't get much of actual military action and involvement. This was mostly about before Jolene was deployed and after she came home, which is important, but I wanted more.  I was interested in the story and I most definitely teared up a few places but mostly because anything honoring our military gets to me in that way.  

     I liked Jolene and her feelings towards her career and dealing with being a mother deployed and missing out on family time but there were other side characters that were annoying or that I liked a lot but didn't get much time in the story.  I like that PTSD was discussed and shown through two different story-lines and also showed how lacking our country is in post war care for our soldiers. 

Good book? Yes. Great book. No. 4/5 stars

Author's site:  https://kristinhannah.com/