I really enjoyed this, and I will read the sequel. The book imagines a past in which the US military draft is found to be unconditional on the basis of sexism, so the military ( including all of its trappings, such as the draft) is opened to women. Nothing else about the US in the 1940’s has changed; most commanders are not pleased with the forced and sudden inclusion of women, and the military still remains racially segregated.
The action flips between several diverse young women who enter the army at approximately the same time. Their training and experiences are quite different, but the storytelling was good. Eventually, the plot brings the readers to North Africa, to a campaign of which I had very little prior knowledge.
I learned some while reading, but it took a strong constitution to get past the racist/sexist/offensive language in this book. I wouldn't put this in the hands of anyone I thought wouldn't get far enough to appreciate the real story here. (Apparently ”fugging" is a great substitute for a ”real” curse word, for example.)
It also makes me wonder about (and respect more, if that's possible) my grandmother's time as an Army nurse in Europe in WWII. My family knows little about her tour, and I have no memories of her telling her stories. So, I just wonder.