3.5 stars, rounded up. Three authors teamed up to write this WWII novel set in the Philippines, and I think there were too many cooks in the kitchen. I don't know how the writing was divvied up, but having read both Lawhon and Meissner before, this book didn't measure up to my previous experiences with their novels. The story follows three nurses - an Army nurse, a Navy nurse, and a civilian Filipina nurse - as Japan captures the Philippines and they each undergo countless tribulations as prisoners of war. The book was well researched and I learned a lot about this portion of WWII history. It was bleak, but still a story of resilience and deep friendship. Overall, the character development was a little lacking, and I struggled to keep the various storylines and light romantic interests straight. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for a digital review copy.

I loved the setting of this book. It was an interesting departure from WWII fiction set in Europe, and it provided some great insight into the events happening in The Philippines at the time. Unfortunately, despite taking place amidst such pivotal and heartbreaking events, the story fell a bit flat for me.

I found the pacing was off, which affected both the plot and the character development. In attempting to build mystery surrounding each main character's motivations, the authors delayed too long in providing much-needed detail. Ultimately, I became frustrated and didn't grow attached to any of them.

The plot was somewhat chaotic, with the characters moving around so much that I felt disoriented. It felt as though the priority was to adhere to historical events at the expense of the story, and I believe the book would have been more effective with a shorter timeline. In my opinion, the authors tried to do too much with this story, and it just didn't quite hit the mark.

Thank you to the authors, Harper Muse, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

WHEN WE HAD WINGS (Pub 10.18) Authors @ariellawhon and @susanmeissner write some of my all-time favorite historical fiction novels and I had a feeling that new-to-me author @kristinamcmorris could only add to the powerhouse. I was right. Thank you to @harpermuse and @netgalley for the early copy.

The literary world is not lacking for WWII stories, but it was missing a fascinating untold story of the nurses serving in the Philippines in August 1941, who quickly formed a strong friendship and later became POWs after the Japanese occupation. The harrowing and emotional experiences of Eleanor, Lita and Penny were cleverly crafted and expertly researched which made for compulsively readable historical fiction. Their courage and resilience left me stupefied on more than one occasion.

If you like stories about women with unrelenting strength and irreplaceable friendships- add this to your TBR.

These three master storytellers came together to give all of us this exquisite piece of literature, and I, for one, am very happy about that!! I love my historical fiction, and with this book I was able to learn so much more than the typical WW2/Pearl Harbor drama. We're taken to the Philippines and are given a very close up look into what it looked like for Army nurses at that time (my dad's rank and profession, coincidentally enough - which is part of the reason I requested this egalley). The nurses on this team are all female and we're shown all the ins and outs of being captured by the Japanese Imperial Army and held in several different POW camps, a very harsh reality indeed.

I like that the romance didn't drown out the plot, which was very essential to the storyline, but it was still given enough of a presence for an element of happiness in a time and place where there were very few things to be happy about. Sort of like a light at the end of a long, dreary tunnel.

A few things that made me subtract a star from this otherwise fantastic book... The relationship between the three women. We're not given much of a backstory on their bond/friendship. Just that they worry about each other immensely while held at different/separate prison camps. Was it that they went through Basic together? Met at parties after graduation? But even then that doesn't really work because 1 of the girls is Navy. And at least 1 is Army. So their Basic/Boot Camp would have been separate. Did they meet at Tech/Training school? When they were being trained on how to be a military nurse? I'm still wondering about this after reading the last page and it's bothering me.

Thanks netgalley for giving me the advanced pdf so that I can share my thoughts and opinions with y'all 💛

The premise of this book caught my eye as it was a topic I had not yet read about. but I found the storyline to be far too convoluted to follow. I believe the fact that there were three authors played into this odd story format. There were several times during the story when I was unsure who was speaking or how we suddenly went from inside a cave to outside the cave without explaining how we got there.

This book had potential but it was not something I could finish.

When We Had Wings is one of the best WW2 historical fiction novels I’ve read. It’s the story of three very different women, two from the U. S. And one from the Philippines, and their accomplishments and struggles as nurses in the Philippines. Be prepared for some tears mixed with feelings of joy as we follow our heroines through their initial deployment, imprisonment, and beyond.

I’ve read a lot of WW2 fiction, but hadn’t read much about the war in the South Pacific. With three “Can’t Miss” Authors, I knew from the start this would be a winner. I was also intrigued by the fact that the 3 protagonists, while all nurses, represented three different groups, a Navy Nurse, an Army Nurse and a civilian Filipino Nurse. They formed a friendship socially while working in the Philippine in 1941, just before Manila became involved in the war. Once the Japanese invaded, their assignments weren’t always in the same place, but their friendship was foremost in their minds as they sought news of each other. We go in and out of their individual lives with alternating chapters, while reading of the hardships endured by patients, providers and civilians. The atrocities committed by the Japanese make it extremely difficult for the nurses to provide care to their soldier/patients.. It’s only recently that I had heard about “The Angels of Bataan and Corregidor”, thru documentaries and articles. These authors brought life to these angels and put me, the reader right there as they made a hospital in a cave, suffered as POWs , etc., The Nurses are resilient, as is their friendship.
#Netgalley. #Whenwehadwings

This book had the best of the best co writing it and I had to request.

I was not disappointed. WWII showed us the strength of so many hero’s and the nurses in this book were incredible. Although a few times I felt like it was a textbook, over all I was endeared to the characters and heartbreak.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

“When We Had Wings” is a WWII historical fiction book that takes place in the Philippines from 1941-1945 by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner. Let me first applaud these authors for telling a story that long has needed to be told. About 30 years ago I stumbled across a book written by a US civilian POW in Santo Tomas and later Los Banos. I had had no idea, before reading that book, that there even were internment camps in the Phillippines. So, when this book became available for a preview I so hoped I’d be approved to read it because this was a book I wanted to read. And I’m so glad that I was not only approved, but that this book was enjoyable. If you want to know more about what life was like in the Philippines before Pearl Harbor and also what life was like under Japanese occupation of the Philippines, this book is for you. If you want a story that also tells a bit about nursing under those conditions and surviving on decreasing amounts of food in a way that tells the truth but also does justice, then this book may be for you. One of the things I wished was that the authors’ resources had been mentioned - there are a number of books written about the Philippine occupation and I’m always wanting to learn more about that time period. I do wish that the pace had been a bit quicker in some parts of this tale - sometimes it dragged and needing tightening (I think one story is repeated twice). I also wish that there’d been a bit more doing and less showing, but that’s a minor quibble of mine. Overall, this is a great book about a topic that I haven’t seen much written about in the historical fiction realm. I have read books by two of these authors and was pleased that they had banded together to write this book.

A truly great novel about the little known events regarding nurses and being prisoners of war during WW2. The story is truly inspirational and the hardships endured by these heroines is heartbreaking. A true must read for all.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

i am amazed over how good they collaborated over this book. this book gave me vibes from the tenko series, which was aired in the 1980 s i believe. it is about 3 female friends incarcetated under horrible conditions during ww2 in asia. i loved how they fought the enemies, how the stood up for themselves and others. even though the book deals with heavy topics, it also has some glimmer of hope in it. even though i loved the book, some chapters needed for me more meat on it, it was some easy soloutions. but that is just my opinion. thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc

I am always amazed how multiple authors can write a book together and these three did such a fabulous job.

This novel is about the friendship of three women during war.

August 1941- U.S Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom goes to the Philippines. She meets two other women who strike up a friendship when they meet at the Army Navy Club.

They bond and each have had a difficult past. Eleanor meets Penny and Lila. Bonding over the loss of a husband, lost love and promises, yet their future remains unclear.

At first the are enjoying life in the South Pacific and dealing with light nursing duties, but then Pearl Harbor is bombed. Next the Philippines is attacked and the three are sent to different internment camps.

This novel tackles so many topics and things that happened during that time in history. I enjoyed that the novel follows up with the ladies after the war.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperMuse for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

It was the three authors collaborating on this book that was enough for me to push the request button. Perhaps the second reason was the WWII setting and storyline of three nurses( Penny, Eleanor, Lita) in the Philippines who become Japanese POWS. We certainly read about the harsh conditions that the nurses endured while trying to take care of each other and hold out hope that soon the allied forces would arrive.

I found that the plot moved slowly and that sometimes I was being "told things" in the same tone of a history textbook. Also, as much as I loved the three characters, I feel like Lita was my favorite. She offered a perspective( as a Filipino nurse that was of mixed race) that I had never encountered anywhere else in fiction and I felt that I always wanted to return to her particular narrative. It would have been great if it was just her but I am guessing three authors and three characters is sort of the equation that works here. Although I don't want to spoil the ending, can I at least state in my review that I appreciated the "realistic "conclusion for each of our characters? Also, thanks to all three authors for keeping the romance to a low vibe and not letting it overshadow the main vein of the plot.

All in all, a good historical fiction that I am going to plant "safely" at a three star rating.




Goodreads Review Published 26/09/22
Expected Publication Date 18/10/22
#WhenWeHadWings #NetGalley

This was a very interesting book. I learned so much! I can honestly say that I know little of the Pacific theater in WW2. This book has opened my eyes!

The nurses portrayed were amazing, working, and struggling each day. What a difference they made in the lives around them. I understand these are fictional women, but some women named in the book are real people. I can't even imagine being in their shoes and staying strong. In some supplement reading I read that all of these nurses that were taken captive survived the war. That is an amazing fact

War is brutal, and this shows this to a T. We talk about the Germans and the Russians, but the Japanese were there too. And perhaps the Americans were to in our internment camps, I don't know.

Thank you for bring more historical facts into my universe in a way that I could get involved. This was a great collaboration of authors. I appreciated that it stayed clean, no language except one small word, no gratuitous sex.

When We Had Wings is a riveting account of the Japanese takeover of the Philippines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 1941, told seamlessly by three authors through the lives of three nurses.
The three nurses representing the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the Filipina community, Penny, Eleanor, and Lita, experience hospitals with few supplies, orphans facing starvation, and the horrors of prisons and internment camps in Manila, the Bataan Peninsula, and Corregidor Island. The Philippine assignment was considered ‘paradise’ at the time each enlisted but after the declaration of war they must come to grips with atrocities and realities of warfare.
The history of the Philippines, the political and social upheavals, along with demolished cities and details of conflicts add to compelling personal accounts as the three nurses are separated for years and wonder who survives. The detailed descriptions of their personal contributions, experiences and sacrifices evoke feelings ranging from pure disgust to extreme delight, as they became the first female prisoners of World War ll.
General MacArthur declared, “I shall return!” This commitment keeps hopeful readers interned with the “Angels of the Bataan and Corregidor” when the tanks roll in, hatches open, and they hear in a distinct American accent, “Hello, folks”. God Bless America!

I just loved this book! It is set in the Pacific theatre of World War II, specifically in the Philippines, and begins shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The book centers on a friendship between three nurses, one Navy, one Army, and one Philippina civilian. As their world is devastated by the invasion of Japan, they are often separated, as they endure and are witness to unspeakable atrocities, torture, and loss. The book is chilling in its recounting of what both the Allied military and Philipine and other civilians suffered at the hands of the Japanese invaders. The authors have created memorable, compassionate and strong characters to represent both the nurses and others caught there at the time, and all those they encountered, aided, and sometimes lost. It is also a hopeful, beautiful story of friendships that endure, despite the ravages of war. The three main characters, Penny, Eleanor, and Lita are ones that will live in my memory! I also have a personal reason for this book to be particularly meaningful to me, as my father served in the Pacific, although not in this area. He rarely spoke of his experiences, and I now realize why that may have been. I did receive a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Written by three terrific authors that I follow, and set in WWII, this book has a quickly evident difference to other WWII historical fiction. Not only is it set in the Philippines rather than Europe (which, please authors, should be explored more. Even my book clubs are tired of European WWII historical fiction no matter how it is bent), but it follows three nurses (not combatants) as prisoner of war (highly unusual in the period). We meet two American nurses and one Philippine. who become friends in this world seemingly far away from war, but are quickly thrown into high stakes wartime when the Japanese invade.
I lived in Japan for 4 years and learned about the atrocities of the second world war in the pacific. My father also served on the pacific front in WWII which made this book even more interesting.
It took me some time to sort of the ladies stories. Eleanor and Penny took a little more time to develop than Lita and I kept having to stop to remember what was happening with the two American nurses. Once the story was rolling I was more riveted.

I think my book club would like it if we wanted to do another WWII historical fiction and would recommend it to historical fiction fans as a clean read as well.
4*

4.5 / 5.0 Stars

This was a most compelling read of a richly told story of the courageous and amazing women who served as nurses in the Philippines during World War II. It focuses on the narrative of three nurses, one U.S. Navy nurse, one U.S. Army nurse and one Filipina nurse. The early days of boredom in paradise brought them together. Then the harsh realities of war and all its ugliness settled upon them and tested their mettle. At times they served together and at other times, they prayed that the others were doing better than they in their personal hells. They were bringers of comfort and harbingers of hope. With courage and tenacity, they endured harsh treatment, great sacrifice, and were admired by those whom they served. They were the first U.S. female prisoners of war and this is their story - these "Angels of Bataan".

A story by any one of these writers would be an amazing read. Put the three of them together and you have an unforgettable and spectacular powerful story. The stories of the three nurses flowed easily from one to the other without a single hiccup. The writing is descriptive without being flowery and is even rather cinematic in its delivery. One could feel the excessively warm humidity of the tropical climate, hear the guns blazing in the not so distant marshes and smell the rank odors of injured soldiers and civilians as well as rotting food and flesh. The authors garnered from the reader tremendous sympathy as the nurses' rations in captivity were continuously reduced so as not to kill them off too quickly. War brought them to the brink. Yet hope carried them through. For fans of historical fiction, I highly recommend this story.

I am grateful to Harper Muse publishing for having provided a complimentary e-copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

This is an area where I didn't know what I didn't know, and while it makes me want to read more historic fiction, I'm not naive enough to believe that stories like this are abundantly available.

Eleanor, Penny, and Lita are three nurses during WWII. Each woman's story is uniquely her own, but her ties to the other women weave a fabric of friendship through shared experiences. Of course the sacrifices of soldiers are well-known, but the situations endured by these women (as well as the health teams and the soldiers) becomes vivid, horrifying realities as they fight to maintain hope and professionalism.

Even now, I'm not sure whose story resonated with me most. Everyone has baggage. Everyone has fuzzy familial connections. Everyone has dreams. But each woman is continually tempering expectations as they lift up others, sacrificing in a multitude of ways that fully embodies the multifaceted nature of being human.

There are some "too-neat" wrap ups at the end...but I get it. And maybe it's too harsh of me to want more realism in a story that doesn't shy away from the difficult....

This is a book that I fully intend to recommend to EVERYONE.

I'll need to tell my students about: mention of rape, violence/gore, death, trauma, infant loss, personal injury, language

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Harper Muse for the free ARC prior to publication. All opinions
expressed are my own.**

There’s something special about the way these three established authors have illuminated a piece of history for readers ~ How the bombing of Pearl Harbour affected those serving in the Philippines.

They invite us to empathize with their characters’ journeys while subtly teaching us something new on every page! I heard an author reveal recently that it irked her to see people comment that she’d ‘obviously done a lot of research for her novel’ because she felt that it shouldn’t be obvious. I didn’t understand her comment…until I read this book. I get it!!!! These authors have made sure that the focus is on the story, not the facts. There’s no information dumping. It’s woven into the plot. It’s amazing, really.

I was excited to read about a setting I knew very little about and, knowing about the authors, was expecting a great story. However, I wasn’t prepared for a fantastic story which immersed me into the setting immediately. The world-building completely drew me in; mentions of food such as pan de sal, Filipino egg rolls, carabao milk and lumpia, the exotic fragrances of jasmine, and Tagalog expressions such as ‘mestiza’. As I kept reading, I transcended into the setting even more and I wanted to keep reading about this unfamiliar place and time instead of returning to reality.

For anyone who’s read wartime fiction, we know all about what the men are doing, but we rarely read about what it was REALLY like for the nurses who served overseas. I’d never thought of the mosquitos, dysentery, beriberi or malaria, of fingernails stained daily with blood, and of the constant moaning and cries “from an endless assembly line of patients shredded by war.” I’d never considered what it would feel like to experience a bomb going off beside me, how electricity would go out making it difficult for instruments to be sterilized, nor have no elevators to transport/evacuate patients, or what would go through my mind when I thought I was dying, of what it would be like to be a nurse in an internment camp or a prison, nor about what they’d have to resort to in order to stay alive. I was mesmerized.

The balance of internal and external conflict was perfectly balanced and added to the story both in plot and character development.

This was like a gateway drug; I’m thrilled about delving into more novels set in the Pacific theatre and reading more by these amazing authors! I'd like to see them collaborate on more historical fiction.

You need to add this book about the ‘Angels of Bataan’ to the top of your reading list!

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for this advance copy. I was under no obligation to provide a review.