The Lines Between us By Amy Lynn Green

Summary

A WWII novel of courage and conviction, based on the true experience of the men who fought fires as conscientious objectors and the women who fought prejudice to serve in the Women's Army Corps.

Since the attack on Pearl Harbor, Gordon Hooper and his buddy Jack Armitage have stuck to their values as conscientious objectors. Much to their families' and country's chagrin, they volunteer as smokejumpers rather than enlisting, parachuting into and extinguishing raging wildfires in Oregon. But the number of winter blazes they're called to seems suspiciously high, and when an accident leaves Jack badly injured, Gordon realizes the facts don't add up.

A member of the Women's Army Corps, Dorie Armitage has long been ashamed of her brother's pacifism, but she's shocked by news of his accident. Determined to find out why he was harmed, she arrives at the national forest under the guise of conducting an army report . . . and finds herself forced to work with Gordon. He believes it's wrong to lie; she's willing to do whatever it takes for justice to be done. As they search for clues, Gordon and Dorie must wrestle with their convictions about war and peace and decide what to do with the troubling secrets they discover.

Positives

THIS. BOOK.

First off, the smokejumper thing is cool. I’ve never read a book with smokejumpers in it, and I didn’t know there were CO smokejumpers before this book either. The descriptions drew me in.

Dorie is amazing. While some of her antics made this introvert cringe, I also liked her fire and her refusal to be kept down. Gordon was also fantastic in his own way, and I appreciated that a quiet, peace-loving character like him finally got his chance in the spotlight. I related a lot to his struggle to know when to step up and act and when to stand down and wait.

The mystery definitely kept me going. I had no idea who it could be, all the ones I had figured out got knocked out one after the other. Never would have guessed the true culprit.

I really appreciate how much she explores viewpoints in her story. She didn’t set one up as the good guy and the other as the bad guy. She took a look at ALL angles of an issue. She showed bad guys who believed good things and good guys who believed bad things. That alone would be enough for me to recommend this book. We need more books that make us think instead of hitting us over the head with morals. (Personal opinion, for what it’s worth. ;) )

She also didn't try to talk her main character out of his opinion. It was nice to see someone stand firm in the beliefs they know to be true, the things that matter, even as they grow and change. On the other hand, it was balanced out with the characters' willingness (or eventual willingness) to admit when and where they were wrong and make amends.

Negatives

None.

Conclusion

The Lines Between Us did not disappoint after her debut novel. It made me think about my own lines while it quickly made a line to my bookshelf.