Kirsten Holmstedt

Holmstedt features the stories of 12 different women who were deployed to Iraq during the early years of the war. They are pilots, nurses, truck and humvee drivers, public relations journalists, mechanics, filling every job available to them. Although they are not allowed in combat many of these women found themselves fighting alongside their fellow soldiers in many extremely dangerous and life-threateing situations. Some were gravely injured and others lovingly cared for those who were in show more need of help. All bravely followed orders and paved the way for female soldiers who would follow in their footsteps. Being the mother of a young woman in the Air Force I found this book very difficult to read at times. It was hard not to see my own daughter in such frightening circumstances and some of these women's stories brought me to tears. Please let there come a day when none of our sons and daughters have to face deploying to a war zone. show less

There is probably a good book in the topic here, but this effort suffers from its amateurish, though earnest, writing. The women's stories, while probably compelling in real life, come off flat here. The author spends a lot of time on details that start sounding repetitious, while skirting most of the tough issues.

It took me a long time to finish this, as fluffily-written as it is, because it will make you feel like a lazy asshole. There's no reason to read this if you're not considering going into the military or doing research.

Despite the horrible writing, the stories of women serving in Iraq are compelling enough to make the reader want to finish the book.