The Last Full Measure Review

Monday, August 30, 2010



As Confederate and Union soldiers take over their town, the local residents can do little more than hunker down in their homes while cannon and gunfire explode around them. But the battles are not only fought between soldiers. At home, fourteen-year-old Tacy and her disabled brother lock horns as David struggles with his desire to go to war. He has strong principles, and it tortures him to allow others to fight while he does nothing.

In the aftermath of this great and terrible battle, in which so many soldiers sacrifice their lives for their beliefs, David gives his last full measure…and leaves Tacy struggling to make sense out of it all

Taken from GoodReads


The Last Full Measure follows the story of Tacy, the youngest child and only daughter of a Union doctor during the Battle of Gettysburg. Though young, Tacy wants to do something important, stand firm to her beliefs, and make something of her life, but the times don't provide just cause for any of this. Through love, loss, and grief, Tacy must come to terms with the reality of life and discover her own true nature in the process.

I've always been a fan of Ann Rinaldi. I remember reading some of my favourite books of hers when I was younger, such as The Last Silk Dress and In My Father's House. True to form, The Last Full Measure follows its young female protagonist through the struggles of war while wrestling her own consciousness's growing pains. That said, I feel like I never really got to know Tacy until the end of the story. With Ann Rinaldi's other books, I felt the characters were much more relatable.

Just as I wanted to like Tacy, I wanted to like David, her crippled older brother. However, he was cruel and crass, and downright bossy. Half the time I found it difficult to be even remotely sympathetic towards his position because I don't think it was clearly shown by him why he was the way he was. I guess my main problem with The Last Full Measure was that it was both too fast and too slow, if you know what I mean. I feel the beginning lagged a bit when giving us the background of the story, but I feel the action itself went by too fast and downplayed the true sadness of the story.

As a positive, The Last Full Measure features the same clean writing which separates Ann Rinaldi from many other historical fiction writers. It's a fairly quick read, with clean dialogue, so I doubt anyone should have trouble with that. All in all, I give The Last Full Measure 3 out of 5 stars, and I recommend it to those who love historical fiction.

I received The Last Full Measure free of charge as an e-book in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.
Release Date: November 15, 2010

18 comments:

  1. Hm, I don't know how I'd like this one! I do enjoy historical fiction, but the pace of the book sounds a little off. Anyways, lovely review!

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  2. Wow. This sounds compelling and very different than most of whats on the market right now. Great review.

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  3. Thanks for an honest review! I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, but sometimes I need a break from the paranormal every now and then and it's nice to know some of the books flaws upfront:)

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  4. I love how you're not afraid to say when you don't like something. Thanks for that.

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  5. I love some of Ann Rinaldi's books, and I appreciate that you gave an honest review of this one.

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  6. Lovely review....though I myself am not really a fan of historical fiction. Definitely appreciate your honesty regarding your experience with the book! Good job!

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  7. That's a bummer that the pacing was off and the characters were hard to relate with...but nice, honest review =)

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  8. hmm...Slow pace books really put me off. I might check this out :D Thanks 4 your review

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  9. I love historical fiction, but the one thing I hate about a book is having a slow pace. I don't know if I'd be picking this up because of that.. thank you for the review!

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  10. I am not a fan of historical fiction, however this time period fascinates me. I love an honest review, thanks for sharing.

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  11. I'm not very into historical fiction. But thank you for your honest review, Melissa. It's sometimes difficult for me to get into a book like this.

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  12. Thanks for the honest review :) I don't read a lot of historical fiction but this one sounds interesting especially since I know little about American history haha. BTW i LOVE the sites new look!! Did you get a designer?

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  13. Very nice review. I value honesty above all else!

    I have this one on Net Galley so now I'm really interested in it. I love historical fiction so I'm kind of looking forward to it.

    And yes, I know exactly what you mean about too fast and too slow. Mockingjay was like that for me!

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  14. awesome review! i've always liked her books, too!

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  15. I just finished it...wow, what a DREAMS SHATTERED moment there at the somewhat-rushed ending! Whoa.....I thought it was good but not awesome.

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  16. Good piece - I am thankful for the insight , Does anyone know where my assistant might acquire a template Instructions FSM Passport Application document to edit ?

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  17. My partner pulled a blank CA FL-395 copy with this link http://goo.gl/PxjuJo

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