Review: Just One More Day by Jessica Blair!

 

Publication date: 5th February 2015

Paperback edition: 384 pages
Source: Kindle
Rating: 3.5/4 stars
Synopsis: When Britain declares war on Germany in 1939, Carolyn Maddison is still a schoolgirl. Her elder brother Alastair wastes no time in joining the RAF as a flying officer, and Carolyn decides that when she is eighteen she will follow him into the service by joining the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

While reporting to the Air Ministry in London she meets a good-looking, charismatic pilot, Charlie Wade, currently employed in propaganda work. He believes that with her calm demeanor and resilience, Carolyn should work as an Intelligence officer, and suggests she serve on an active bombing station. At her side throughout the courses and postings that follow is Lucy Gaston, naturally quick-witted and sparky, a perfect foil for her friend.

The young WAAFs both obtain prestigious postings in 5 Group Bomber Command, where they perform the vital tasks of briefing and debriefing aircrew returning from operations over Germany. Lucy, an incorrigible optimist, falls head over heels for a member of a Lancaster bomber crew while Carolyn resists her feelings for its dashing pilot. She decides it's not worth the risk of loving a man in wartime. . . only to wonder if she has done the right thing when a new WAAF on the station sets her cap at him.

For Lucy and Carolyn, life on a WWII bombing station brings drama, heartbreak and suspense in this touching love story.

This book isn't my typical read at all and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I had seen it on my own, but I was surprised with an early review copy by the UK publisher, and the cover really drew me to it! The synopsis sounded really interesting as well, so I wanted to give it a go and read a book outside my comfort zone! I also don't think that I've read a book set during World War Two before, but I know quite a few things about that time from learning about it in school, so I was looking forward to finding out more! This book was really good! It wasn't so much a romance book, but it was more about the value of friendship and family during a disastrous and destructive time! There was romance in it as well though, which I liked and it added a lot! While I liked this book, it did take me over a week to get through! I had to force myself at certain stages to continue reading it as well because it isn't my typical kind of read! I did like it though! The plot was really good and written very well! It was very, very detailed and it really showed the amount of work that women did during the Second World War! I just found it all really interesting, and that even though it did take me a while to get through, I'm really glad I stepped outside my comfort zone to read this book! The characters were very real! Carolyn and Lucy were the main characters and this book was about their friendship and about them finding love and trying to keep everything together during a devastating war! I loved both Carolyn and Lucy! They both had similar personalities, which is what made them likable, but they had differences too! I felt like Carolyn went through more than Lucy though in this book, but they were always there for each other and they were such good friends! They remained good friends all the way through this book as well! I also loved that both characters found love and that they were able to find love during such a difficult time! I loved that their main focus wasn't about finding love though and that it was to do as much as they could to help during the war! This showed the kind of people they were! They really impressed me and I found both characters very intriguing! This book was written from multiple point of views, which confused me a little as the book progressed, so I had to take my time with it and try and work out whose point of view it was! There were also a few characters whose point of view just appeared and I had no idea who they actually were until a few chapters later! I liked the different point of views, but I would have enjoyed it more if it was indicated as to whose point of view it was so that I wasn't as confused! I can completely understand why this book is a standalone! The ending was beautiful and both main characters were happy and the book ended at a really good place! The cover for this book suits it perfectly! It has that war feel to it, which suits the book and it's even more stunning in person! Big thank you to Piatkus for sending me an early hardback copy of Just One More Day for review!