Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host J.
Edward Gore and his new book, “The Green Soldier”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Edward
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
The Green Soldier
by J. Edward Gore
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GENRE: YA Historical Fiction
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BLURB:
John
Gore is eighteen years old in 1862 rural Kentucky. He has struggled his entire
life with stuttering and the ridicule associated with it. Unable to speak well,
he has focused on writing. Seeing the opportunity for advancement in the
military—and with it, respect—John joins the Union army. Unfortunately, his
stuttering prevents him from warning a friend of an enemy attack and John
watches his friend die. He is racked with guilt and the fear that others saw
him fail at the key moment . . . a fear that proves prescient.
John
soon meets a girl but they must forge a friendship and then courtship through
letters, allowing him to express to her what he can’t say in person. Meanwhile
at home, John’s impetuous younger brother causes trouble with garrisoned Union
troops angry at Southern sympathizers.
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EXCERPT TWO:
There’s
been some light fighting every day with the rebels close behind us, and
especially once we settled into Knoxville. There were some rebel sharpshooters
who dug a rifle pit just outside our walls and they were picking off some of
our soldiers now and then. A boy would be talking or looking around and then
he’d either scream or just fall back dead. A regiment with the Second Michigan
was ordered to take care of those sharpshooters. Our men ran out, but they were
fired upon, and when they got to the pit they found more than they’d bargained
for. The Johnnies were in the woods waiting for them and fired without mercy.
Less than half of our soldiers came back alive. Now their sharpshooters target
our officers. Three days ago a lieutenant was giving out orders and in the
middle of his talking he just fell over. Graveyard
dead. He never knew it.
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MY BOOK REVIEW:
This
book is written completely in a letter format between the three main
characters, Civil War Soldier, Private John “Johnny,” Gore, his younger brother,
“Jimmy,” and Johnny’s recent love interest, Annie.
This
book first starts out before chapter one, with a single letter from Great-Granddaddy
Jim aka the Jimmy in the book and is addressed to Lenwood his grandson explaining
that he kept all these letters to memorialize his brother’s (Johnny’s) courage and
their family’s heritage.
The
story that these letters tell is both sad and brave. Like with most war stories there is good and
bad, but it’s a story that should still be told and one that deserves to be
told.
This
book revolves around Johnny and his family and friends while he begins his tour
with the U.S. Army during the Civil War.
Johnny has a significant stutter that causes him awkwardness, embarrassment,
and shame. Johnny feels that the U.S.
Army will help him overcome that battle if he can only find a way to get
promoted or receive a medal then he will automatically be granted respect. Unfortunately, it isn’t long until Johnny
realizes and begins to understand the intensity, consequences, and the chain
reactions of war, that he begins to rethink his military ambitions.
During
a specific battle scene, a close friend and fellow soldier of Johnny’s is
killed. Johnny actually may have been able
to warn and save that friend if only it weren’t for his stuttering handicap. Feeling guilty and responsible for his friend’s
death, Johnny feels even more humiliation when he believes the rest of his
troop witnessed his shortcomings.
Johnny
continues to feel helpless and weak until he meets a girl, Annie that he becomes
smitten with and is able to finally express his true feelings with over letters
that don’t allow his nerves or that pesky stutter to get in the way. I felt like this is one of the best parts of
the book. For someone who has trouble
with their words and may never have gotten a chance to actually woo a girl
because their nerves and stutter would always prevent them from saying what
they wanted or could say, this actually gave Johnny a chance he probably would
never have got back home. Annie’s
character felt like a silver lining over a dark, stormy war cloud and gave
Johnny a chance at something unique he wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise.
Since
this book is about the Civil War there are some very dark scenes and mass casualties. I have to admit it was a bit hard to read
some of those passages, as they were quite sad, and I’ll be honest I did skim
past a few of those lines here and there.
Overall,
there is definitely a story that needed to be told here and I’m glad that I was
able to read it and share in this author’s family history.
All
in all, I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend this book to all YA
Historical Fiction readers!
If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/RAOXSION2Y6H9
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AUTHOR BIO:
Edward purposely avoided history classes in
college because he felt they were boring. Years later he read the Shaara
trilogy, opening his eyes to how fascinating the Civil War could be. He
recalled as a boy his grandmother telling him of his ancestor, John Gore, who
fought for the Union. Visiting battle sites and participating in reenactments
has made the Civil War more than just pictures and words. Instead he could feel
the fear, excitement, grief and anger.
Born
and raised in central Kentucky, not far from John’s birthplace, Edward
currently lives outside of Nashville, TN with his wife, two kids and a
goldendoodle.
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CONNECT WITH EDWARD:
Facebook:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINK:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Edward will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Edward ~ Good morning! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting. I'm glad you liked the letters between John and Annie. Even terrible circumstances can provide good opportunities sometimes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I appreciate getting to find out about another great book. Thanks for all you do and for the hard work you put into this. Greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt, thank you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new book and on this nice review. This sounds like a wonderful read.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bea. I hope you like it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review!
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt and I would love to read your book.,
ReplyDeleteThank you Bridgett. I hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDelete