How to rate this book! How to give a fair review. It's flaws were many and I want to be a nasty hypocrite and just talk about that and not talk about the embarrassing fact that I sneakily kind of liked it. I was going to read just one chapter late last night and I dived in and read half a book before my eyes almost gave out and I fell asleep dreaming of women on bunks.It was the likable characters that got me in. The writing was terrible. I am not sure, maybe the author is capable of stringing a sentence together but then she really needs to proofread. At first I dismissed the many errors as typos (which was bad enough) but there were toward the middle of the book some sentences that didn't make sense and one whole scene where I am not sure what happened. People were snatching each other's letters from home and waving them around and running and Lily fell into the bath with Helen (I think) but it was all quite confusingly written. Which is a shame because the parts that flowed well were romantic- the heroines were feisty and active and had friends. The book was like a female centred world where men lived on the fringes- beloved but absent husbands (and one villanous one), respected fathers, bumbling authority figures. I did enjoy that about it, how it could simultaneously be set in a very patriarchal culture and dismiss men as marginal to our interest. Even the heterosexual Eve was lukewarm on her man. I thought there was going to be a fundamentalist-misogynist saboteur at one point and I was torn between loving that the plot seemed to be twisting that way (it didn't) and the melodramatic cliche he put out over the microphone (only that fizzled to nothing) as I say I was torn between enjoying all that and desperately not wanting the heroine to die. Because it would have been quite plausible and good writing for one of them to die...only it was so much more fun that they didn't even if that meant it was just a typical romance story then (with a gay twist of course).Other things I liked- the politics (anti-racism, feminism, anti-homophobia- what a surprise) it was like cool refreshing water on my bruised soul to have those things presented so simply in black and white. I don't much like the military and the whole nationalistic aspect but I was able to accept the setting in order to have six such surpassing women to hang out with (with their stunts and their sneaky antics) I didn;t like that they were all stunningly beautiful. I realise I am in a minority here but I am sick of women all being too beautiful for words. I would only fall for a woman in real life if she wasn't perfect looking (except...but we wont go there)But I could forgive that because they were forced to forgo makeup and take to sensible shoes and unflattering zoot suits. And there was a reason for them to be working out all the time. I didn't like the slut-shaming of Sadie in the last third of the book. Was that meant to be a kind of ironic "character flaw" thing? It wasn't enjoyable although I realise the crude, lewd, bawdy humour of the fly-girls was part of what in some ways made me finish the book so quickly and eagerly.Sex scenes? There were many. Above average on the quantity I would say. They were sweet and romantic but as repetitive as hell. There were also quite a lot of scenes that went nowhere, that were just making atmosphere or something which was permissible early in the novel (a bit) when we were getting to know the characters but lost momentum later.So yeah, read for enjoyment if you like lesbian romance. I certainly enjoyed it I spent a lot of today looking forward to evening and having things done so I could curl up with the second half. Ignore the typos and the crudity (in more ways that one) of the plot and characters. Cry when terrible things happen to them, smile when they got to be in the arms they love and admire their sassy attitude to life and their far above average flying prowess.Haven't I often screamed for heroines who actually do something? For a book that passes the bechdel test? For a romance where both parties are equal? Despite any criticisms I will be reading more of this author.Oh hell even though I am going to go with my head which says 3 stars, my enjoyment was 4 stars. Make of that what you will!
Rarely do I give 5 stars, but this is really a wonderful book spanning the years. A sweet romance featuring 2 women who volunteered to served as WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during WWII. Lily and Helen met and fell in love during a time when interracial marriages were illegal in many states, so 2 women in love was not even considered remotely acceptable. One learned some important history on women in the military while experiencing a sweet love story. I laughed,I cried, and am thoroughly entertained - what more can I ask for from a book?
Do You like book Silver Wings (2013)?
Very enjoyable, feel good read about 1940s women pilots. While this is fiction, it feels well-researched. Thankfully, no boring technical discourses on flying, planes and such. The day to day duties of flying must have been pretty mundane, as they were never in the war, but they are no less dangerous. (Their services were used mainly as support--to test and deliver sometimes rickety planes, to tow targets for fighter pilot practice and sometimes be targeted themselves! and get this--demonstrate to male pilots how bombers are so easy to fly, even women can do it, lol.) But, the author managed to inject an entertaining love story, frequent and oftentimes humorous struggles for acceptance and against discrimination, and all the little anecdotes that make pilot life so memorable for the women. 4.5 stars
—Jem
