Home Front by Kristin Hannah

Grade: D+
Not particularly recommended. 

I'm sure I gave at least one book in The Hunger Games trilogy a D+, so I should say that this Kristin Hannah was slightly better than that.

Home Front is the story of Jolene, an army helicopter pilot, and her family; husband Michael, a lawyer, daughter Betsy, a bratty teenager, and Lulu, the four year old.  Jolene and her neighbor and bestie Tammi are sent off to Iraq, leaving their husbands as single parents.  Michael disapproves of the war and has a hard time dealing with Jolene being called to duty.  Betsy is just a miserable teenager who acts out because she misses her mom and is scared that she won't come home.  The war continues and Jolene comes home, but nothing is the same.

This book read like a slightly better Jodi Picoult book.  The writing is just meh, and the plot twists predictable and sappy.  Kristin Hannah also has a love affair with the word mulishly, as it is used over and over and over again.  I did read an ARC edition so hopefully that changed.  The characters are trite and straight out of a Lifetime movie.  Naturally Michael is anti war, because what else would you expect from a military spouse whose wife is a proud soldier.  And naturally with Michael being a lawyer, he would get a case involving PTSD, because how else would he learn what his wife is going through.  It's only fitting that Jolene goes from being a control freak mom to having to learn to let someone else be in charge, no matter what your magic binder of directions says.      

I was hoping for a fun beach type read, but instead got this, nearly 400 pages of mediocrity.  I should have known from the cover being all pink and pretty, and also the book being the same size and thickness of a Jodi Picoult, but the ladies in my book group looooooooove Kristin Hannah, so I gave her a try.  Not helping matters was my darling husband who just glanced at the book on the kitchen table and asked if it was a box of tampons.  I'll give her another chance since the book group has chosen Night Road as the other Kristin Hannah selection.  She gets one more chance and that's it.  Life is too short to spend reading books by bestselling authors hoping that there is a good read amongst all the dreck.