The Green Soldier by J. Edward Gore - Book Tour - Book Review - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

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 this post – except the Available at Amazon picture, which takes you directly to the Amazon Book Sale Page.

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!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**

Did you find this review helpful?

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:

https://www.facebook.com/13thKyCivilWarhistoricalfiction

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18764476.J_Edward_Gore

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43478991-the-green-soldier

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/2uhdugA

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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINK:

https://amzn.to/2TVXHSG

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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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**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.