Not by Sight by Kate Breslin - a book review

The World War 1 era has always intrigued me.  It was the period my grandparents lived through and I love reading about what life may have been like for them.  This novel is set in this time period.  I wish I could say that I loved it, but it didn’t hold my interest like I expected it to.  It’s a typical ‘beauty and the beast’ story with a very predictable ending.  There is some mystery involving uncovering traitors and spies but it the author didn’t go deep enough to make it interesting for me.  The romantic aspect develops very slowly and again, is very superficial.  I wish there had been more about the actual war.  The only in-depth descriptions seem to be when the female main character, Grace, is describing the landscape to the main male character, Jack, who is blind.  There were some humorous moments involving escaping livestock, sewing mishaps and ditch digging.

As always, I encourage you to make your own determination.  You might really like this book. I hope you do!

You can read an excerpt here.

This is the blurb from the back cover: 

“In the spring of 1917, all of Britain's attention is on the WWI war front and the thousands of young men serving their country on the front lines. Jack Benningham, dashing heir to the Earl of Stonebrooke, is young and able-bodied but refuses to enlist despite the contempt of his peers.

A wealthy young suffragette, Grace Mabry will do anything to assist her country's cause. Men like Jack infuriate her when she thinks of her own brother fighting in the trenches of France, so she has no reservations about handing him a white feather of cowardice at a posh masquerade ball.

But Grace could not anticipate the danger and betrayal set into motion by her actions, and soon she and Jack are forced to learn the true meaning of courage when the war raging overseas suddenly strikes much closer to home and their fervent beliefs become a matter of life and death.”

You can learn more about the author on her website.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House and Baker
Publishing Group through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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