Wounded by Jasinda Wilder
Published: 12/16/2012
War has taken everything from me. My family. My home. My innocence. In a country blasted by war and wracked by economic hardship, a young orphan girl like me has very few options when it comes to survival. Thus, I do what I must to live, to eat, and I try very hard to not consider the cost to my soul. My heart is empty, and my existence brutal.
The one impossibility in my life is love.
And then I meet HIM.
War is hell. It takes a chunk out of a man’s very soul to do the kinds of things war demands of you. You live with fear, you live with guilt, and you live with nightmares. If you haven’t been through it, there’s no understanding it. War leaves no room for love, no room for tenderness or softness. You gotta be hard, closed off, and ready to fight every moment of every day. Lose focus for a split second, and you’re dead.
Now the only thing that can save me is HER.
The Bookish Brunette thought:
In Three Words: I’m dying. Hard.
Wounded begins in Iraq 1993 … Desert Storm I believe? (Hey! I was only in third grade, don’t judge!) and swiftly progresses through devastatingly heartbreaking events in both Rania and Hunter’s lives. Wounded is told in the alternating point of views of Rania, an Iraqi woman, forced into prostitution – just to FEED herself. And Hunter, an American soldier, just trying to get through his last mission overseas before his tour is over.
We are privy to the horrors that Rania faces after her parents are killed and her brother abandons her to join the Iraqi Army at 12. We glimpse Hunter’s life outside the military and the devotion he has to his fellow Marines…
Rania and Hunter finally cross paths during a vicious, bloody battle in the middle of the street.
Both Rania and Hunter are beautifully broken and AMAZINGLY written. I was caught in the relentless grip of their lives and their struggles to triumph through a seemingly win-less situation.
“It’s the only word I know, in that moment. All I know is her. Her name. Her body, her love. Nothing else has ever existed.”
Wilder holds NOTHING back- you will be gritting your teeth and overcome with emotions through the last page!
Wounded is ruthless, devastating and intense.
Wounded is completely romantic and beautiful.
Laugh, cry… hyperventilate.
Just. Get. Ready.
Wounded is painful, heart-wrenching, absolutely enthralling book… Jasinda Wilder hit this one out of the park!
Book loving, zombie freak, stiletto wearing, twitter whore, coffee addicted Brunette with a purse fetish.
Collector of flamingo paraphernalia & zombie keepsakes… Frequenter of thrift stores... cRaFtY bitch... and I match my eye-shadow to my outfit - everyday.