Official Review: Military Wives: Rare Details You Must Kn...

[LivreAmour217]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Military Wives: Rare Details You Must Know Before & After the Vow" by Natisha Haynie.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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As the title implies, Natasha Haynie's Military Wives: What You Must Know Before and After the Vow is a handbook for women who have recently married a member of the Armed Forces. Haynie is a current military spouse and Air Force veteran, and has used her extensive experience within the military community to provide guidance in this brief but informative book.

I chose to review this book because of my lifetime affiliation with the U.S. Army, first as the child of a career soldier, then as a service member, and currently as a military wife. I was curious to get the perspective of another person with similar experience, and hopeful that I could learn something new from reading this book. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed.

Military Wives, while only one-hundred six pages in length, is packed full of useful information for a new military spouse. Haynie leaves no stone unturned as she attempts to introduce the new spouse to the oft-misunderstood world of military life, and covers a broad range of topics from handling deployment stress to which pets are prohibited in military housing. While the terminology within the book is specific to the Air Force, Haynie does her best to be inclusive of all branches of service, and provides the names of websites specifically for family members of Army, Navy and Marine Corps service members. As I read this book, I often found myself murmuring "uh-huh!" or nodding my head in agreement with her information and advice.

In addition to providing factual information on the military, Haynie frequently encourages wives to not lose themselves as they support their husbands' careers. For example, there is a common belief among military wives that receiving an education or having a career are impossible goals due to the constant moving that goes with the military lifestyle. To counter this myth, Haynie offers not only words of encouragement, but also specific resources designed to help military spouses finish degrees or find employment. I was particularly appreciative of this information, as there are several resources mentioned in the book that I was not aware of.

The only improvement that I can recommend for this book is more careful editing. The book contains more than its fair share of fragmented sentences, a few omitted words, and one paragraph in which the word lent is used in place of lint. These errors were somewhat of a distraction, and fixing them will greatly improve the readability of the text.

But overall, I consider Military Wives to be a helpful resource for military spouses and rate it 3 out of 4 stars, and would have given it four if not for the editing issues. I recommend this book not only to future and current military spouses, but the parents and other relatives of those who are about to enter the service. The information within is invaluable and would be helpful to the entire family of a service member, not just spouses.

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Military Wives: Rare Details You Must Know Before & After the Vow
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Like LivreAmour217's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Rachaelamb1]

I have a friend who just married military man. I should tell her about this book. Thank you for sharing!

[Ealasaid]

Thank you for this lovely review. My stepdaughter is the wife of a man in the Air Force. I am going to recommend this book to her.

[bookowlie]

Great review! This book seems particularly interesting to me, as I am a military spouse. I already was college-educated and had a high-level career before marriage, but this is not always the case with other spouses. I have witnessed, as you mentioned, people "losing themselves" in their spouse's career and/or acting like they were the level attained just their husband/wife was at a higher level. I also witnessed people treated me very well due to my spouse's rank. It's weird dealing with people treating you with unusual deference when you're not the person who has the job.

[nhaynie]

Thank you so much for the honest review! That is exactly what I needed! You're great and I'm glad that you could relate to it as well. I definitely wanted to be as open as possible with my experience. More editing will be done today and newly published on Amazon & Kobo.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Great review! I personally have no military experience or knowledge. I haven't even seen that Lifetime show, Army Wives. I've learned a lot just from this review and the comments!

[bookowlie]

Great review! This book seems particularly interesting to me, as I am a military spouse. I already was college-educated and had a high-level career before marriage, but this is not always the case with other spouses. I have witnessed, as you mentioned, people "losing themselves" in their spouse's career and/or acting like they were the level attained just their husband/wife was at a higher level. I also witnessed people treated me very well due to my spouse's rank. It's weird dealing with people treating you with unusual deference when you're not the person who has the job.

Oh my, I just reread my initial comment. Sorry for all the errors!!! That's what I get for typing too fast and not proofreading.

[Michelle-lit]

I must get this book! I commend the author for writing this book; there really isn't enough information for those out of the "military loop".

[LivreAmour217]

Thank you so much for the honest review! That is exactly what I needed! You're great and I'm glad that you could relate to it as well. I definitely wanted to be as open as possible with my experience. More editing will be done today and newly published on Amazon & Kobo.

You are most welcome, and thank you for taking the time to write this book! It will be a great help to military spouses!

-- 13 Jun 2015, 15:13 --

I have a friend who just married military man. I should tell her about this book. Thank you for sharing!

You are welcome! This book should be very helpful for your friend!

-- 13 Jun 2015, 15:14 --

Great review! This book seems particularly interesting to me, as I am a military spouse. I already was college-educated and had a high-level career before marriage, but this is not always the case with other spouses. I have witnessed, as you mentioned, people "losing themselves" in their spouse's career and/or acting like they were the level attained just their husband/wife was at a higher level. I also witnessed people treated me very well due to my spouse's rank. It's weird dealing with people treating you with unusual deference when you're not the person who has the job.

Oh my, I just reread my initial comment. Sorry for all the errors!!! That's what I get for typing too fast and not proofreading.

Lol, no worries! I understood it perfectly, and who here hasn't made a post with errors?

[zeldas_lullaby]

Lol, no worries! I understood it perfectly, and who here hasn't made a post with errors?

Me. I han't madee a post with errres.

[ananya92]

This book seems really interesting. Good review.

[ashley_claire]

I am also a military spouse and I love the idea of this book. I could definitely see it being especially helpful for new spouses when you are being thrown information at you left and right. This seems like it would actually be informative as well as an enjoyable read.

[LivreAmour217]

Lol, no worries! I understood it perfectly, and who here hasn't made a post with errors?

Me. I han't madee a post with errres.

LOL!!!!

[bluemel4]

Great review. You did a wonderful job explaining and analyzing the books different elements. I have friends that grew up with parents in the military and have spouses that are in the military. I like how the book has a section on empowering women to have their own lives outside of their husbands career.

[Jesska6029]

Really great review! I enjoyed it a lot!