Sorry kids, no feet.

This book had five star potential. Then the end came and the author kind of shot himself in the foot. At the onset of this book, I found myself so immersed in colonial Boston. I could just envision all of the various streets and landmarks as Abigail made her way around Boston. And then the end happened. Ugh.

As an American, I am pretty ashamed of the little knowledge I have of the American Revolution. This is a "war" (Is it considered a war? There wasn't exactly a Congress around to declare war.) which brought about the creation of the country I call home. I know there were some guys named Washington, Jefferson, and Hancock. I know there was something called the Declaration of Independence. Places like Boston and Philadelphia were big deals. That's about it. I know very little about the politics and specific events of the Revolutionary War. I know more about the French Revolution than I do the American one. There isn't even a little bit of French in my DNA (well, there might be but that's a different story). The only reason I was able to envision Boston as well as I did, was because Boston is an important story line in the game Assassin's Creed III. Seriously, it's sad. After reading this book, I have an enormous list of places and people I need to research.

Assassin's Creed III did ruin the book for me just a little As soon as Benjamin Church was introduced, I found the voice in my head screaming "NO!! Don't trust him!! He's a Templar! He's working for the British!" He wasn't exactly a Templar (unless you believe those things ;) ) but he was still a traitor. .

By the end of the book, there were few surprises left for me. Mariah being pregnant-saw it coming. Somehow they always end up pregnant. Ezra dying-saw it coming. Ezra's half-brother, really his son-saw it coming. Abigail ending up raising said son-saw it coming. I was however a little disappointed in the changing of his name. I kind of liked Jonah. Lumley and Warren-saw it coming. The only character who surprised me was James. I spent most of the novel waiting for him to die. Having all of those suspicions confirmed brought me down a little. I think the mark of a good historical novel is making the reader care about what happens to the characters even if they already know what's going to happen. Yes, in this case, the main characters were fictional so it wasn't predetermined what would happen but by the end I didn't really find myself caring what happened. For such a terrible event, I feel like the Lovell family made out pretty good. One brother in prison? That's not really a bad outcome when you consider what generally happened to families during times of war and uprising.

There was one aspect of the book that really drove me insane. I almost brought the book back to the library after reading it. I was upset when Abigail had sex (or whatever they did) with Colonel Cleaveland. I felt like it was a complete slap in the face to women. "The biggest contribution I can make to the war effort comes from between my legs so I guess I'll use it." That's exactly how I felt about Abigail after reading that chapter. I might have felt differently if the author had given Abigail some depth at this point but I didn't really get the impression it was an agonizing decision for her. Part of her wanted it so she did it and the help it provided to the provincials was an added bonus. The author made it seem like sex was a bigger deal to Cleaveland but only because he had been manipulated and it made him look foolish in front of other men. I have so many thoughts about this specific part of the book that it is really difficult for me to put them all into words.