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A review by ravensandlace
But One Life: The Story of Nathan Hale by Samantha Wilcoxson
3.5
Title: But One Life: The Story of Nathan Hale
Author: Samantha Wilcoxson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: ebook
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3.5 stars
A special thank you goes to Coffee and Thorn for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
tw: parental death, underage drinking (by today’s standard), vandalism, illness, death, war, misogyny, suicide, gun violence, hanging
So, as I have mentioned in previous reviews, I don’t know much about American history. It’s a time period that I don’t reach for often. I’ve read a lot of Clara Barton because when I was younger, I became pretty hyper-fixated on her. I was an odd kid. But when Coffee and Thorn offered this book, I decided to give this book a shot. I have read another book by this author and I enjoyed it so I knew I would enjoy this book too. And I did. I learned quite a bit too. Which is always a plus when you are reading.
When I started this book, I truly thought Nathan Hale was an author. I have a feeling I was getting him confused with another person. But I quickly realized that was not the case. Confusion aside, I truly enjoyed Nathan. It was so much fun watching Nathan grow up from a child to a brave young man. One of my favorite things about him was how he was for women being educated. That is such a rare thing for men of his time. I wanted to shout with joy! He immediately became my favorite. Another one of my favorite things about this book was the relationship between Nathan and his brother, Enoch. The bond they had with each other was so amazing. They weren’t afraid to get emotional with each other. They truly were each other's best friends. And it reminded me of my relationship with my sister. She is my best friend in the whole world. One way to get me to love a book is to give it sibling relationships as I have with my sister and like Nathan had with Enoch and I will be obsessed with it.
I enjoyed the pacing of the book. It wasn’t too fast but it also wasn’t too slow. It took its time, letting you get to know Nathan and his struggles with patriotism and doing what his heart wants. I truly felt his pain and there were a couple of times I found myself tearing up. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a young man, with your whole future ahead of you, trying to decide if you want to serve your country and follow your heart. The author lets us sit with the emotions Nathan felt. I appreciated that quite a bit.
Overall, I was kind of surprised that I liked this book considering the time it takes place. Like I mentioned before, I don’t read a lot of American history but this one got me interested in the espionage side of the American Revolution. I have always been interested in spying and espionage so it’ll be interesting to read more about how it was used in the American Revolution since I know so much about espionage during World War II and I feel like it’s time for a change of scenery. Overall, though, if you enjoy learning about the American Revolution or just enjoy American history in general, this is the book for you!