Book Review: All My Love, Detrick - Roberta Kagan

 


“All My Love, Detrick” is the first book in a series by Roberta Kagan. This book was originally released in 2012 and, per the editor, has been edited for re-release. I’ve read another WWII historical fiction series (Blood Sisters) by this author, so I’m a bit familiar with her style of writing. This book, however, reads like a first book - even after being re-edited. There are A LOT of characters in this book - we’ve got the two main characters - Leah and Detrick. Toss in families, friends, acquaintances, romantic interests, and … it gets a bit confusing at times keeping track of who is who. I believe, having not read the sequels, that maybe those characters get fleshed out in subsequent books, but for some (especially Dorothy), I would’ve preferred an introduction in this book and then fleshing out backstories in separate books. Additionally, this book drags regarding pacing and also due to so much happening with minor character arcs. I don’t know how much time passes in this book because the only references to time passing are historical events (and one event I’m still wondering where the author got her information - I cannot find reference to the event happening the way she described it online). Another reviewer claimed this book is a romance novel set with the background of WWII and I have to (sorta) agree. There’s a lot of insta-lust (not my favorite trope) between many characters. I would say that the *bones* of this book are there, but there’s so much fluff surrounding the bones that the love story between Leah and Detrick gets bogged down. I wanted to like this book more than I did as I know Ms. Kagan can write … but this book wasn’t as polished as I would have liked. Overall somewhere between 2 and 2.5 stars.