Hallowed Ground

Oh. My. Goodness. Hallowed Ground is such a good book. It's going to be tough to review without spoilers--so much goes in inside those pages, and I wouldn't have wanted to know any of it before hand!--but I'll do my best.

Confession: I've only read this book (#4) and the third one ( Beyond What is Given in the series so far. I know, I know! Reading the first two is a definite priority. I've got Josh and Ember's first book (#1 in series, Full Measures ) in audio, so there's actually a good chance I'll be able to get it read before the semester's over. Since I know how they're going to end up (SO MANY FEELS), I'm even more motivated! ;)

So...can you read this book without having read the others? Yes, probably. Will you know all the show more backstory and really "get" the relationships of all the people and couples? Probably not--some recapping is here, but definitely not of every single detail you should know. Hallowed Ground is a powerful story all on its own, no question, but you'll get more out of it if you've read the other books first.

Hallowed Ground gripped me right from the very first page. Ms. Yarros definitely writes from the heart, and it's clear that she has experience with what she's talking about--with the alternating first person narration of the story, you really feel as if you are experiencing everything right along with the characters. They made me laugh. They made me cry. They made me laugh and cry at the same time. Thank heaven for waterproof mascara, because there was actual sobbing today on my lunch break as I neared the end of the book.

Sobbing. At my desk.

So much is going on in this story--Ember's finishing school, getting ready for graduate studies, and contemplating a summer dig in Turkey (that sounds freaking awesome, BTW. So jealous!) She and Josh have just moved in together, and Paisley and Jagger are in the other half of their duplex. Josh is now a medivac pilot, and just as they start to think that they've finally gotten some stability in their lives, bam! Josh finds out he's (along with Jagger, and Will will be following soon) heading to Afghanistan.

And so it begins...

Admittedly, much of Ember and Josh's relationship conflict could have been resolved with better communication. However, Ms. Yarros does an excellent job of making me believe that there were times when one or both of them literally couldn't have that conversation for one reason or another...and that reason wasn't always because they were in different parts of the globe. They kept going, though, as you do--as you must--and in the end every tear was absolutely worth it.

And bonus: the title comes from The Gettysburg Address. And the text of that document ends up helping Josh get his head out of his butt toward the end. Seriously, how awesome is that? Just when I thought the book couldn't get more fantastic....

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. show less

I typically enjoy romances by Yarros, but this one missed the mark. To be fair, I didn't read the other books in the series, so this was my first experience reading these characters. In this book, Ember and Josh are finally living together. Soon after they move in, Josh is deployed to Afghanistan and Ember is considering going to Turkey for a dig to use towards her PhD. Once again, they will be apart, and after a tragedy in the war, Josh is now suffering from PTSD. I don't feel the book did justice to PTSD, and perhaps because I didn't read the earlier books, I don't know why Josh and Ember were in love. Lust, yes, as they showed on many pages, but I didn't know enough about the characters to get how and why they were in love. Perhaps I show more will read the earlier books and come to a different conclusion. show less

This was my first time reading a book in this series. Having not read the previous books, I found it a little hard to keep the couples straight in the beginning. However, I had no knowledge of Josh and December's prior history. That being said, I found this to be a unique, beautifully written and very emotional story of love, loss and guilt. Ms. Yarros does an amazing job taking us through a wide range of emotions with characters that are easy to connect with. This novel will leave a lasting impression long after you are finished reading. I was hooked from the start. A must read!

ARC received from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Het verhaal van Josh en Ember gaat verder. Veel verder dan Ember ooit heeft gewild...

Josh en Ember hebben alles doorstaan: verdriet, afstand, het zware militaire leven. Dat laatste heeft zij trouwens nooit echt gewild, want nadat haar vader is omgekomen in Afghanistan wordt ze geregeld bevangen door angst om ook Josh te verliezen. Het laatste wat ze wil is hem naar Afghanistan zien vertrekken. Dat is echter precies wat er gebeurt.