It Took a War

It Took a War  by Emily Ann Putzke

Summary Taken from Goodreads: 1861 - Sixteen year old Joe Roberts leads a mundane life as far as he’s concerned. His world spins in the same circle each day: working at his family’s store, taking his sisters on boyish escapades and bickering with his rogue of a cousin, Lucas. Joe can’t understand why his mother allows Lucas to live and work with them after all the pain he caused their family. When war is declared, Joe is quick to join up and become a soldier with the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, but war is nothing like he imagined. To make matters worse, he must endure having Lucas in the same regiment. Can Joe put the pain of the past behind him? Forgiveness is easier said than done.

The Civil War time period has always fascinated me. I found out of this book when I somehow stumbled on Emily's blog. I don't even know how I got there, I was probably just clicking names of people who have commented on blogs I read as I sometimes do. When I saw this book I saved it on Goodreads so I would remember to get it when it came out.

It Took a War is a shorter story, not that that matters. I've read plenty of amazing short stories. While the story could have been longer, I liked the shorter feel to it. It kept things condensed, giving them more impact. The characters still felt lifelike, which doesn't seem easy to manage in shorter stories.

The book takes place over a few year time span. Joe joins the war at a young age, with the same eagerness a lot of boys did back then. To them the war was going to be fun, they would go out for a few months, stop a rebellion, and come home to normal life. 

During the story Joe begins to realize this isn't going to happen. His first battle he realizes how hard war is. I was glad the Author mentioned this. Sometimes with war books the characters aren't effected by wars and killing. It is nice to read a book where a character finds the battles shocking, even freeze up and get confused during them.

I enjoyed the story and will be keeping an eye on Emily's blog in the hopes more might join it sometime in the future. 

To learn more about the Author, you can find her blog HERE