Book Review: While He Was Away by Karen Schreck

Title: While He Was Away 
Author:   Karen Schreck
Format:  Kindle
Genre: Contemporary YA
Source: Personal Copy
Published: May 1st 2012 by Sourcebooks Fire
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 1/2

From Goodreads.com

One year–he’ll be gone for one year and then we’ll be together again and everything will be back to the way it should be.

The day David left, I felt like my heart was breaking. Sure, any long-distance relationship is tough, but David was going to war–to fight, to protect, to put his life in danger. We can get through this, though. We’ll talk, we’ll email, we won’t let anything come between us.

I can be on army girlfriend for one year. But will my sweet, soulful, funny David be the same person when he comes home? Will I? And what if he doesn’t come home at all…?

Have I mentioned that I love this trend of military books?? Especially from a YA view. There is something so real and wonderful about these books.

While He Was Away by Karen Schreck is no exception. I related to Penna on a level that I wasn’t expecting. When her boyfriend, David, gets deployed to Iraq she finds herself moping around in a state of depression. When she pulls herself out and starts to discover life, she really finds herself in a way that she never has before.

I loved the side story of Penna’s long-lost grandmother and her military romance. However, Penna’s relationship with her mother was one I struggled with. It just wasn’t doing anything for me as far as the story went and her character was flat and unlikable.

Unfortunately, I felt like the ending of this book just fell flat. I was expecting something great after a very strong start, but I found it just “meh”.

All that said? I did really enjoy While He Was Away and I am anxious to read mor of Karen Schreck’s books.