A review by sheila_p
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

4.0

I feel like there is this expectation of what a war story should be and yet this war these boys are fighting, seems to defy expectation. Is that my naïveté or the fact that these boys are just that, boys, and how could either of us possibly know what to expect of an un-winnable war? I loved this book and its mumbled, disjointed storytelling. The characters were rich and yet blurred, the way boys fighting a war, and those who love them, must be to survive. I am never able to read stories like these without thinking of my son and he sat next to me, watching football, as I read the second half of this book. This book is ultimately about what war does to a person and the choices you make to survive. I am grateful there are books that make me think deeply about the questions, as this one will, and more grateful that I am among the lucky that am able to see, hear, smell and touch my child as I think.