Carol

Radar Girls [Book Review] #HistoricalFiction @HarlequinBooks #NetGalley #WW2 #BookTwitter #BookBlogger

July 27, 2021

Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman

Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman (cover) two young women sit on the wing of an old airplane

Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, WW11, Hawaii, Women’s Air Raid Defense, Friendship

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Welcome to my stop on Harlequin Trade Publishing’s 2021 Summer Blog Tours for Historical Fiction. Thanks for the invitation Justine.

Harlequin Historical Fiction 2021 Blog Tour Banner (showing the covers of three books)

Thanks #NetGalley @HarlequinBooks for a complimentary eARC of #RadarGirls upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Inspired by real women of the Women’s Air Raid Defense (WARD) during WW11, Radar Girls is the story of new recruits and unsung heroes. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Daisy, a gifted horse trainer, enlists in a top secret program that recruits women to replace men who have joined the war. Their high stakes assignment is to guide pilots into blacked-out airstrips and track unidentified planes over the Pacific Ocean. The young women face many challenges including forming a team, working in a male-dominated field, facing unequal treatment of women, and surviving a war.

Women's Air Raid Defense: five women from WW11 sit around a table looking at charts

Image Source: Wikipedia

My Thoughts:

TL; DR: I loved it!

I’ve been waiting and waiting to bring you this review of Radar Girls since I read it in March. If it had been published earlier it would have made my More Like These Please! post.

Usually in a review, I discuss several factors (setting, writing, characters, themes, etc.). Because Radar Girls checks all the boxes of a 5 star read, I’m highlighting enjoyability.

Enjoyability Factor: I’ve mention before about the importance of the enjoyability factor when rating books. This story checks all the boxes of a perfect read for me. First, I trust this author to bring me a great story (filled with excellent research, vivid descriptive details, characters to root for, and engaging from page one), so that helps me relax into the read. I love balanced plot-driven and character-driven stories. I adore learning something new and women breaking into the field of radar during wartime captivated me in this way. Radar Girls isn’t overly long (easily read in 2 days for me). The story is told in chronological order (with a few flashbacks) from one perspective which makes for smooth and quick reading. I love inspirational, admirable, and gutsy characters; bright, pioneering women; and thoughtful themes (friendship, unequal treatment of women, women supporting women, believing in yourself, grit, determination, wartime tragedies, and perseverance, etc.). Radar Girls has a side of romance which always adds an enjoyment factor (but doesn’t dominate the story) and a mystery to solve. The Hawaiian setting is lovely and it’s evident how much the author loves her home state. Radar Girls is unputdownable and highly entertaining. All of the factors mentioned contribute to one enjoyable read!

Honestly, the enjoyment factor is the highlight of this review. Radar Girls is simply a well told, multilayered story. Probably my favorite of Sara Ackerman’s work (Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers, The Lieutenant’s Nurse, and Red Sky Over Hawaii). Radar Girls would make a great selection for book club!

If you’re looking for a compulsively readable summer read, please consider Radar Girls! It’s engaging from the first page. Highly recommended.

My Rating: 5 Stars

Rating: 5 out of 5.
Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman (cover) Image: two girls sit on a wing of a plane

Radar Girls Information Here

Meet the Author, Sara Ackerman

Author Sara Ackerman

Sara is a USA Today bestselling author who writes books about love and life, and all of their messy and beautiful imperfections. She believes that the light is just as important as the dark, and that the world is in need of uplifting stories. Born and raised in Hawaii, she studied journalism and later earned graduate degrees in psychology and Chinese medicine. She blames Hawaii for her addiction to writing, and sees no end to its untapped stories. Find out more about Sara and her books at http://www.ackermanbooks.com and follow her on Instagram @saraackermanbooks and on FB @ackermanbooks.

QOTD:

Is Radar Girls on your TBR?

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

Find me at:
Twitter/X
Instagram (Threads link in bio)
Goodreads and StoryGraph
Pinterest
Reading Ladies Book Club on Facebook

***Blog posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.

Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photos are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.

© ReadingLadies.com

39 comments

  2. Excellent review Carol. This sounds like it ticks all the boxes for me too. I have the audiobook to listen to and I am going to do that as soon as I finish what I am reading now. Your review has me quite antsy now.

    Reply

  3. Enjoyability is my number one reason I love a book. If I can immerse myself completely then it’s worth it!

    Reply

  5. This will definitely go down as “ Instagram made me do it:)”. I read your review today, went to pick up laundry supplies at Walmart and saw “Radar Girls”prominently displayed. I’m headed out on a 2200 mile trip next week , it’s going straight in my luggage, knowing that you found it to be compulsively readable!

    Reply

  6. Thanks for putting another author on my radar, Carol. I haven’t come across her before, but with all those stars I will be checking her out. ❤📚

    Reply

  25. Thanks for this, I was confusing Radar Girls with Radium Girls and didn’t really want to read about women being poisoned by radiation! Radar sounds so much more interesting! And I have not read Sara Ackerman before. I think enjoyability is a MUST! Thank you.

    Reply

  26. How in the world did I miss this in 2021? I’ve requested it on CD from the library since reading your review just now. Thanks to you I will never get to half the books on my TBR! LOL!

    Reply

  27. […] Sara Ackerman is on my auto-buy author list, and I’m an Ackerman completist. Her histfic stories are set in Hawaii (what’s not to love?!). They are well-researched histfic and contain elements of friendship, women supporting women, thoughtful themes, and sweet romance. The stories are filled with vivid descriptive details and memorable characters. I can recommend them to anyone. Although I’ve enjoyed them all, my very favorite is Radar Girls. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply