"Just Once" by Karen Kingsbury

3 stars personally

The main Bible verse theme for this book was Joshua 1:9, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (KJV)

There were also several Psalms mentioned which I liked, but I looked them up in the King James Version myself instead of just reading it from the book because it was in a different translation than I read.

Positive Content/ What I liked about this book:

-How this book was similar to a split-time novel was intriguing how it changed between years.

And where most of the story was set in the past, it made you feel as if you were there in the past with them.

-I also loved the heart-to-heart brotherly relationship, Hank and Sam had. The brothers genuinely cared about each other, loved to have fun and would do whatever it took to protect the other sibling.

-Irvel Holland being an OSS spy/ undercover "nurse" was really interesting and the part where she delivered messages and put a bouquet of daisies by a Japanese bridge (I think) that signaled US allies to bomb the bridge reminded me of something that would be from the TV series "Hogan's Heroes" (if you've watched this show you'll understand what I mean).

-I liked that Hank told fellow soldiers about Jesus, and prayed with them during his time in the Marines. Leading several of them to Christ before many of them lost their lives in the fight for their country and for the liberty of the Jewish people.

-I loved how Ruth Cohen and her last surviving relative, Chloe had a comeback near the end.
Ruth was Irvel's Jewish best friend and her spy and code breakng partner in the OSS.

-The characters' passion for helping the Jewish people.

Negative Content, Language,Triggers, Violence:

-Hank and a girl he had been dating, (Maggie) came in from college from out of state for Thanksgiving to celebrate at Hank's parents' house and after the celebration Maggie stayed the night there "In the other end of the house."

This was the 1940's, so I don't know how expensive or convenient hotels were, especially during the war.

But it's never really a great idea for boyfriend/girlfriend or a couple that's been dating each other to stay overnight at each other's houses even if there is family and said couple is on opposite ends of the house from each other.

It could look like they're living together even if that's not the case and can put a blemish on both their family's reputations.

-Near the end of the book there was one comment that Irvel made after explaining to Hank about her work as a spy in the OSS, three days before their wedding: “I wanted to share my whole heart and soul with you. Before we share our bodies.”

To me, this was honestly unnecessary and inappropriate. It would have been more appropriate to have said, "Before we share forever together." instead.

-Hank and Irvel's honeymoon is mentioned and talks about them looking out over the balcony of their hotel room and then turning back to their room.
Nothing else is mentioned after that, but still.

Language:
- h*ck ×1

-d*ngit ×1

Other than this there was no language, which I appreciated. "Just Once" is the first book I've read that was set in the WWII Era, and I liked that she wrote it without a bunch of uncalled for cussing that I'd heard about some other war era books.
It can be done!

Triggers/Violence:

-Some of the things the soldiers witnessed during battles and missions were mentioned (may be a trigger if the reader has personally experienced war):

>"An explosion lit up the night, right in front of Hank. Bodies and limbs and mud and plants were flying through the air..."

>"Hank wondered if the sound of enemy fire would ever stop. Before morning hit, they took losses they had never expected, and there were dead marines everywhere, including one whose face Hank would never forget. The face of Bill Bailey."

>"A hundred other images crowded those, men blown to pieces, barbaric images from Buchenwald."

-There was also mention of what happened to the Jews during this era, as well as the terrible plans Adolf Hitler had for them:

>"In his speech, Hitler blamed the failure of the effort to take over the Soviet Union on weather. He also threatened the entire Jewish population in Europe . . . with annihilation.”

>“There’s talk of Hitler creating a ‘final solution’to the Jews across Europe.” Irvel’s face grew pale. “He wants to kill them, Hank. All of them.”

>"They liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. The things Hank saw that day would stay with him all his life, scarring him, burning his conscience and searing his soul with a sort of pain man was never meant to experience. Bodies stacked forever high, ravines filled with human ash, and mountains of shoes and jewelry. But also 28,000 living prisoners—most of them on the verge of succumbing to starvation. The very air smelled of death. Hank and his fellow troops could not comprehend that the human heart might be capable of such atrocities."

>“It was the most terrible place. But we helped rescue more than twenty thousand prisoners. They were starving to death, skin and bones, all of them.” What was this? Irvel stared at him, chills running down her arms. “You helped liberate Buchenwald?” She put her hand on Hank’s knee. “My friend Ruth, she had family there. It was the one thing we both wanted to see happen.” “A thousand prisoners were kids, some as young as four.”Hank stared off, like he was seeing the death camp again. “And there was this one little girl. She was only two. Brown hair and the most brilliant blue eyes. She kept crying for her mama.” He shook his head. “Both her parents were dead, poor little girl.” He looked at Irvel again. “I’ll never forget the look in her eyes, the sound of her voice as she cried for her mother.” Irvel put her hand alongside Hank’s cheek. “You’re a hero, Hank. I wish Ruth could know that you were one of the soldiers who liberated Buchenwald.” Then he told her the rest of the story. “There’s a reason I was there to help with that mission.”He explained that he had signed up again—for the Army that time—all so he could have a chance to free Jewish people from the death camps."

This is most of what is mentioned.

All of these were mentioned, without on-page scenes.

Other Triggers, etc. :

-A few brief mentions of blood and soldiers' wounds.

-The state of a surviving soldier's uniform is mentioned: >"His uniform was a stiff mass of blood and open wounds and body odor."

-Irvel having a hard pregnancy and not being able to have more children because of it was mentioned, but not overly detailed.
It said she was in pain so much that she screamed as Hank drove her to the hospital. From labor pains I'm sure.

Hank prays and recites bible verses over them on the way to the hospital, Psalms 23.

(After they get to the hospital, it's all waiting, the birth is not on page.)

Hank waits in the hall, praying and later the doctor brings to him his newborn son. He tells him they gave her 2 quarts of blood and that she is doing much better.

Both Irvel and the baby live.

Romance Content:

-In my opinion the romance in this one was a bit overdone.

Hank and Irvel kissed and danced a lot, and I don't mind a few sweet kisses spread out through a book within reason, but they probably kissed 10 times in the space of 4-5 pages back to back. And the kissing scenes seemed to repeat too often.
It was in the middle of the war, and of course they would be happy to see each other, but it seemed a little over the top.

Extra:

For the most part I enjoyed this book with the exception of some things above.

In the end, I wish the characters hadn't seemed to age quite so quickly, and it would have been nice to see some more slowed memories of the kids and granddaughter of Hank and Irvel with them before they died. I also wish Charlie had visited them more often instead of the visits being so far apart. It was realistic to how time really does fly, though.

But it was a little sad how everything seemed to end so fast.

I was not required or signed up to review this book by a review site, but I just felt the need to of my own convictions. I bought this book at Hobby Lobby.

I would say what drew me most to read this book was the breathtaking cover and the WWII spy theme. ( )

I'm not surprised that Karen Kingsbury wrote a World War II book since everyone seems to be doing so these days. She touched on a lot of subtopics, but mostly the battles in the Pacific. I liked that the characters expressed their faiths naturally so it was there, but not heavy handed. The more recent story of Hank and Irvel was sweet too. ( )

First sentence: Red was the last color, the very last. That's what Dr. Edmonds was saying. Irvel Myer's mind would splinter and fracture and fade under the burden of Alzheimer's, and she would forget the love that long ago caused her world to stop and stare in awe.

Just Once is a story with framework. The outer frame is Irvel and Hank recording their love story with a personal camcorder in 1989. Irvel has recently been diagnosed with dementia/Alzheimer's. The couple wants to record their love story for each other--something to view together on good days and bad--and for their children, grandchildren, etc. These tape(s) become lost but are rediscovered by either a grandchild? a great-grandchild? The inner frame, the "main" story, the heart and soul of the novel, is a series of flashbacks. These flashbacks follow Irvel and Hank during the 1930s and 1940s.

This has a "Notebook" like feel to it, but it is so much better--in a way. Less drama/trauma. Less smut. I enjoyed Irvel and Hank in both timeframes. I did. They were delightful characters. The book is strongest when it it sharing the romance. The book is weakest, however, when sharing details about their work during the Second World War. Which is fine. No complaints that I didn't feel historically grounded in the war details. Some books you do, some books you don't. The romance was strong. ( )

"She fell asleep believing God had a plan in all this. Even now."

What a story!!

It's been a long time since I picked up one of Karen's books, so when I seen the cover this one up for review on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it!

Irvel's back story didn’t disappoint- it was so wonderfully written, and yet heartbreaking in a couple parts due to the war that was going on then.

Her friendship with brothers Hank and Sam was so sweet to read about. They just had the best of times together.

I really liked reading about this time period too. The 40's was an interesting era, filled with both good and bad changes and events. The fashions were awesome, and so was the music!! (Such as the book's theme song, "Moonlight Serenade" by Glenn Miller.)

There were however a few things I didn't care for, and some things that could be triggers for some people and wouldn't be good for young readers either.

Things I didn't care for:

A female that's engaged is talking to her fiancee and said:
“I wanted to share my whole heart and soul with you. Before we share our bodies.”
While what she's referring to and about is natural and normal, I felt this was put too bluntly.

A guy is dating a girl and he brings her home to his parent's house to stay over the Thanksgiving break. While they were each in separate ends of the house and the guy meant well, this was a bad decision on both their parts and was compromising to their characters and reputations.

Language: minimal- dangit and heck used 1× each.

Triggers: bloodshed and loss of body parts during the battles of World War 2.

While the majority of the story was great, if the negative content listed above was not included it would have been a 5 star read for sure.

Thank you to the publisher Atria Books for the complimentary e-book I received to review through Netgalley. A positive review was not required of me and the thoughts above are my own. ( )

I really loved the premise, a WWII spy and a love story in one? I’m all in. The reality was disappointing. Within the first quarter of the book, the same river story was repeated three times, the spy bit was mentioned but not elaborated on, the love story is blah, and while there is a definite message being pushed here, I am no longer interested in how these characters fare. Such a great storyline was hung out to dry and I’m disappointed in the delivery.
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review ( )