^{_{I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.}}

MY RATING

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• Pages: 294
• Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
• Publication date: May 20, 2025 by Koehler Books
• Format: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover
• Source: BookSirens

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PURCHASE LINKS:
AMAZON
KOBO

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THE REVIEW:

This is not just a memoir; it is also poetry, it is also the voice of someone who has persevered and followed his dreams, and has overcome difficulties that many would have succumbed to.

The author shares his tough upbringing in a dysfunctional family, filled with alcoholism and mental health struggles, and growing up fatherless, it is admirable that he managed to not fall victim to the same fate as many children/teenagers in this situation would have gone to drugs or simply gone down the wrong path. It just shows how having a support system and strong will can turn your life around if only those kids had someone to believe in them and give them a helping hand. In his case, the author was lucky to have had his friend and his family that have taken care of him as if he were their own son when his mother was admitted to a mental hospital against her will and he was left pretty much on his own and on the streets as they were also evicted.

We follow the journey as Ryan goes to Ranger school, and we see how this was something he had always wanted to do, and how he consequently joined the army, and later on goes to business school. How he falls in love with Lucy, his former wife, and soon after he becomes a father, he is being deployed for an undisclosed amount of time. Then his own family falls apart, and he has to deal with the consequences that life throws at him. With three children, managing finances, a family life, whilst studying and fighting demons of your own is never an easy thing to do, and quite honestly, a recipe for disaster..

I really liked that the author included actual photos of some of the key moments for him, so we could experience the book on another, more personal and intimate level.

Going to war is difficult; it leaves you scars that one never thought would ever get to receive, and one would think that those scars heal and would be forgotten about soon enough. These are scars that cut deep into your soul, mind and heart, and no matter how much medicine and how many bandages one puts on them, they will never heal. They will reopen and start bleeding again as soon as you think they’re healed… This is what the author presents to us: the battlefield scars and the PTSD that so, if not all, then at least 99% of the soldiers will eventually get to have, but he also shows us how he navigated that river with its rapids and ups and downs and turns.

Overall, this book was a solid 4-star read for me. It was a journey of one person who fought for his country, but was left fighting a battle of his own afterwards, of someone who pushes through and is a warrior with wounds, but does not give up. About a father, a man, a husband, a friend… I don’t live in America, and I am no American, but I surely appreciate how tough being in the army actually is and what it entails. To all of you who have served: Thank you! To all of you who are going to: Godspeed and may you return safely to your loved ones!