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A review by worldsunlikeourown
Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman
4.0
Find this review and more on my blog at Worlds Unlike Our Own.
Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Daisy Wilder is recruited to join a top secret program for the U.S. Military, the Women’s Air Raid Defense, to replace male soldiers who are increasingly being sent into war zones. The WARDs are responsible for guiding pilots and tracking unidentified planes in the Pacific, and many think that women will not be capable of such an important job, but Daisy is determined to prove herself.
Though I have been reading a lot of WWII historical fiction lately, it was all European based, so this was the first book I read set in the South Pacific and related to Pearl Harbor. I loved learning about the WARDs and it was really interesting how in depth this story went into the work the women were doing, taking the time to explain how radar works and how pilots were guided in the blacked out zones. It’s rare to see this level of detail in historical fiction novels and I enjoyed it a lot. The setting of Hawaii was well depicted, and certainly a change of pace from the gloomier backdrop of other such novels I’ve read recently.
Daisy was a marvelous heroine. Having dropped out of school following her father’s death to support the family, she has been a bit of a loner, preferring the company of the horses she cares for working on a ranch. But in joining the radar girls, finds a group of close friends and their bond is wonderfully portrayed as they help each other through love, loss and the horrors of war. This book showed very well how the war changed these women’s lives completely and the sacrifices they had to make in this time. Despite the entire story being from Daisy’s perspective, each of the characters’ stories were very well developed and so realistic that they’re easy to relate to.
This isn’t a very long book, so I felt like the story spent a disproportionate amount of time focusing on romance subplot and the mystery surrounding the missing horse. I’ll admit these, along with the various other incidents were interesting, and they made the story more realistic, but I was hoping for more of the book to be centered around Daisy’s work and overall, just a little more exciting.
However, this was a quick and enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to checking out more books set in this era, particularly around Pearl Harbor and Hawaii. I would definitely recommend this book for historical fiction fans!
Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Daisy Wilder is recruited to join a top secret program for the U.S. Military, the Women’s Air Raid Defense, to replace male soldiers who are increasingly being sent into war zones. The WARDs are responsible for guiding pilots and tracking unidentified planes in the Pacific, and many think that women will not be capable of such an important job, but Daisy is determined to prove herself.
Though I have been reading a lot of WWII historical fiction lately, it was all European based, so this was the first book I read set in the South Pacific and related to Pearl Harbor. I loved learning about the WARDs and it was really interesting how in depth this story went into the work the women were doing, taking the time to explain how radar works and how pilots were guided in the blacked out zones. It’s rare to see this level of detail in historical fiction novels and I enjoyed it a lot. The setting of Hawaii was well depicted, and certainly a change of pace from the gloomier backdrop of other such novels I’ve read recently.
Daisy was a marvelous heroine. Having dropped out of school following her father’s death to support the family, she has been a bit of a loner, preferring the company of the horses she cares for working on a ranch. But in joining the radar girls, finds a group of close friends and their bond is wonderfully portrayed as they help each other through love, loss and the horrors of war. This book showed very well how the war changed these women’s lives completely and the sacrifices they had to make in this time. Despite the entire story being from Daisy’s perspective, each of the characters’ stories were very well developed and so realistic that they’re easy to relate to.
This isn’t a very long book, so I felt like the story spent a disproportionate amount of time focusing on romance subplot and the mystery surrounding the missing horse. I’ll admit these, along with the various other incidents were interesting, and they made the story more realistic, but I was hoping for more of the book to be centered around Daisy’s work and overall, just a little more exciting.
However, this was a quick and enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to checking out more books set in this era, particularly around Pearl Harbor and Hawaii. I would definitely recommend this book for historical fiction fans!