Book Review: Honeymoon in Baghdad: The True Story of Two American Newlywed Soldiers Fighting Side by Side on the Battlefields of Iraq

Honeymoon in Baghdad: The True Story of Two American Newlywed Soldiers Fighting Side by Side on the Battlefields of Iraq, by Heidi Radkiewicz (Redwood Publishing, 2018, 250pp, $10.99)

I consented to review Honeymoon in Baghdad with some trepidation because so many war memoirs are too 'reporty' and not well-written but I was enthralled with Honeymoon! It is a fast read, one that when you have to put it down, you can't wait to return to it to see what happened in your absence. It is sweet, exciting and brought back memories of my own deployment, even with all the differences.

What's It All About?

A shy girl in Iowa drops out of college and joins the Reserves as a truck driver. She and her sister move to Colorado where she meets another Reservist and begins her new life as a married soldier, as unbelievable as it sounds to her hometown buddies.

Then the notice comes (nearly halfway through the book): her unit is being sent to Iraq! At least she will be with her husband.  But is that a good thing or not? Will they worry about each other too much?

What's Iraq All About?

Iraq is hot, hot, hot. And sandy. But the camaraderie is priceless and being able to see your spouse every day makes you the luckiest soldier in Iraq.

What Makes It a Good Book?

Author Radkiewicz has a knack for keeping the reader engaged even though there is a twinge that something bad will happen. Whether or not it does, I will leave up to you to discover.

The author also has the ability to keep you engaged with a cliffhanger at the end of most chapters and some unforgettable little gems along the way: "Amusingly, the road signs were in both Arabic and English, as if Saddam was expecting us and didn't want us to get lost. How thoughtful." (p. 137) And with truisms such as, ". . . as their tactics became more brutal, our defenses became more efficient." (p. 197)

All in all, Honeymoon is a delightful, sweet book about being in a war with your spouse. Although few readers share the exact same experiences, all share the same feelings and emotions. And, of course, the story (yes there are some dogs in Honeymoon) has its share of military cuss words but is also written by a woman who intensely believes in God.