Sweden, book review

Sweden by Matthew Turner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars
I hate that I'm giving such a low review for this book because I loved the unique premise and how it gave a fresh perspective on the Vietnam War. I also appreciate the author's use of purposeful description. I saw that metaphor and allegory in it most of the time he was using it and I'm happy to read that in a contemporary novel.

However, the story dragged and I had a hard time pushing myself to keep reading it. Perhaps if I had more background knowledge in Japanese culture or the Vietnam war or military culture, I would know when we were on the verge of a shift. As it happens, I have a little knowledge of Japanese culture and I was interested in building on it. Unfortunately, I felt like I had to wait a lot before story elements moved along. I thought the character focuses were interesting (Harper was my favorite and he felt the most real), things just stalled out for me.

I would definitely try another book from the same author in the future. As I said, I liked his writing style and this unique angle. The story just needed to be a little stickier.

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