5 *oh my heart* stars!! I have to be honest here, I'm not going to spend time telling you about the book. Read the synopsis and you'll understand what it's all about. I'd rather share with you the importance of Josh and Ember's story. 
 I'm really not sure how to describe this book to you. Normally, words like wonderful, heartfelt, gut-wrenching, and amazing might do...but, in this case, they just don't seem like quite enough. The picture I need to paint for you goes so much deeper than that. This isn't just a simple story of life and love in the military, it's a book that makes you question your choices, your convictions, your loyalty, and how hard you'd be willing to fight to keep your dreams alive. This book brought me to tears and shredded my heart. But, most of all, it showed me a reality that I didn't know enough about...and it made me grateful for those strong men and women who stay behind and fight the wars, not on the battlefield, but in their hearts and their souls...alone in their own homes. 
 Maybe it's because Ms. Yarros lives this life, or maybe it's because she's a wonderful writer (I'm betting on it being a little bit of both) but she managed to pick me up and place me dead center in this breathtakingly beautiful tale of friendship, commitment, guilt, and unconditional love. I struggled with the characters' choices, I yelled at them in my mind to fight with all their might, with their full hearts and souls, and I wept with them when the battle seemed endless. They felt real and I wanted to bear their sorrow. 
 For those few hours I spent between these pages, I was part of this fictional world. But in the days, months and years to come, I will be keenly aware and more appreciative of the sacrifices so many have made for me in the real world...thanks to Josh, Ember, and Ms. Yarros.