One Was a Soldier Part II - the spoilery half of the review
This post contains spoilers for the entire book up to and including the last sentence, as well as some speculation about the future. Please don't read this if you haven't read the book and ever have any intention of doing so, which I obviously recommend (though you should read the series in order - trust me). This post is mostly for txduck :)
(and thus, I resisted the urge to use my Sam/Jack wedding icon)
OMG, Clare and Russ! The homecoming drive! The awkward Saturday morning when Anne walked in! The marriage conversation that followed! The desperate sex later that night! The proposal! I loved it all, but nothing so much as the night before the wedding when they made their vows in the forest. When Russ said that in his heart, they were already married? *swoons* And I so loved Clare's answer, which so aligns with my own beliefs about marriage, that I wrote it down before I returned the book to the library:
"Marriage is a sacrament. An outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace. The only thing the church can do is recognize what we've already created between us."
I considered myself married to my husband for years before we actually made it legal. The wedding was about the outside world, the legal technicalities, and celebrating with our families and friends. But the commitment had existed long before the ceremony, and that's why neither of us feels that our relationship is different since we got married. We already were.
Returning to the book, I loved that the wedding was told from Hadley's point of view instead of Russ' or Clare's. We'd already read their true marriage as told by Clare, so it wasn't necessary for the wedding, and Hadley's PoV kept the scene from being too fluffy. The later scene with Hadley and Kevin was heartbreaking, but I get that not everyone could have a happy ending (on a similar note, I think it worked that Trip had to retire and Eric's marriage is not yet resolved; he has a long way to go to earn back his family's trust). But I'm still hoping it will work out for Hadley and Kevin in the end. He's done a lot of growing up, but she still has trust issues upon trust issues, and I get that she'll need time. My guess is that he's going to start dating someone else, and that's when she'll realize that her feelings are deeper than she wants to admit even to herself. But oh, that moment when he asked her to look him in the eye and tell him she didn't want to be with him, and she thought to herself how incredible it was that he still believed she couldn't lie to his face? And then she did? My heart ached for both of them.
I have to say that I didn't guess about Clare getting pregnant, but it makes perfect sense. She was on the pill, but she was also taking antibiotics, which mess up its effects. I should have seen it coming! And though the reasons Clare and Russ previously gave for not having kids made a lot of sense, I'm excited to see what their child will be like. With those two for parents, it'll be one stubborn kid, that's for sure! Also, I think it's going to be a girl because of that little bit of foreshadowing at the beginning when Russ sees the little girl who looks like their child would...
So yeah, this book was an amazing combination of heartcrushing, gorgeous angst and deeply satisfying squee. I just loved it.
(and thus, I resisted the urge to use my Sam/Jack wedding icon)
OMG, Clare and Russ! The homecoming drive! The awkward Saturday morning when Anne walked in! The marriage conversation that followed! The desperate sex later that night! The proposal! I loved it all, but nothing so much as the night before the wedding when they made their vows in the forest. When Russ said that in his heart, they were already married? *swoons* And I so loved Clare's answer, which so aligns with my own beliefs about marriage, that I wrote it down before I returned the book to the library:
"Marriage is a sacrament. An outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace. The only thing the church can do is recognize what we've already created between us."
I considered myself married to my husband for years before we actually made it legal. The wedding was about the outside world, the legal technicalities, and celebrating with our families and friends. But the commitment had existed long before the ceremony, and that's why neither of us feels that our relationship is different since we got married. We already were.
Returning to the book, I loved that the wedding was told from Hadley's point of view instead of Russ' or Clare's. We'd already read their true marriage as told by Clare, so it wasn't necessary for the wedding, and Hadley's PoV kept the scene from being too fluffy. The later scene with Hadley and Kevin was heartbreaking, but I get that not everyone could have a happy ending (on a similar note, I think it worked that Trip had to retire and Eric's marriage is not yet resolved; he has a long way to go to earn back his family's trust). But I'm still hoping it will work out for Hadley and Kevin in the end. He's done a lot of growing up, but she still has trust issues upon trust issues, and I get that she'll need time. My guess is that he's going to start dating someone else, and that's when she'll realize that her feelings are deeper than she wants to admit even to herself. But oh, that moment when he asked her to look him in the eye and tell him she didn't want to be with him, and she thought to herself how incredible it was that he still believed she couldn't lie to his face? And then she did? My heart ached for both of them.
I have to say that I didn't guess about Clare getting pregnant, but it makes perfect sense. She was on the pill, but she was also taking antibiotics, which mess up its effects. I should have seen it coming! And though the reasons Clare and Russ previously gave for not having kids made a lot of sense, I'm excited to see what their child will be like. With those two for parents, it'll be one stubborn kid, that's for sure! Also, I think it's going to be a girl because of that little bit of foreshadowing at the beginning when Russ sees the little girl who looks like their child would...
So yeah, this book was an amazing combination of heartcrushing, gorgeous angst and deeply satisfying squee. I just loved it.