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A review by val_theburrowofstories
When We Had Wings: A Story of the Angels of Bataan by Susan Meissner, Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris

emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is a story about friendship, love and resilience of three women who had to survive being prisoners of the Japanese during World War II in Manila, Philippines. 

Eleanor, Lita and Penny are so brave and strong, always having each other in their thoughts which made their friendship so special to me. They were full of hope and so many emotions while trying to live a life under those circumstances, it was amazing to me how they managed to find love even during these times. The war took so much from them but it also gave them back some things. I’m just glad the three of them got the happy ending they deserved, it was a good ending for this book. 

I initially picked up this book (and added other similar to my TBR) because I watched Pearl Harbor for the first time and I LOVED that movie, it just got me into this mood of reading historical fiction set in WWII, and I’m glad I did because it just reminded me how much I love this genre and reading stories from that time. 

One of the big take away from this kind of book is how much I learn and grow as a person. I feel like growing up in a country that wasn’t directly involved in the War all I heard about was what Hitler did to the Jews, in my mind that’s all I knew about the victims, but watching movies or reading books makes me see how there’s so many more stories out there in different parts of the world and I keep learning new things. From this book, I learnt how Manila was taken by the Japanese after Pearl Harbor, what the Japanese did in China now known as The Nanjing Massacre, how nurses helped their patients during this time, the mistreatment of Filipinos and how every prisoner had to survive malnutrition and disease. 

I know heroes and villains depend on who is telling the story, and I fucking know USA is no saint, but fuuuck Germany and Japan were SHIT, like NOTHING can justify this bullshit. Just like right now nothing can justify Israel's genocide in Palestine. And actually, the leaders in USA are also fucking bullshit because of that. 

It’s interesting to see how Americans were victims in WWII: women had to use different fabric for their periods, they went through malnutrition, there was abuse, supplies didn’t get to the prisoners, children were dying. But now Israel is committing genocide and doing those things and worse to Palestine, and USA is enabling and financing that. Isn’t that hypocrite? I just got mad. 

End of the review lol I’m glad I read this book. I’m planning on checking out more books from these authors and this incredible narrator! 
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