My Gypsy War Diary Book Review

Posted byreadandreviewit1Posted inMYSTERY/THRILLER, REVIEWSTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi everyone! Today I’m going to be reviewing My Gypsy War Diary by Shawn D. Brink. Before I get into the review, I would like to say a massive thank you to him for being kind enough to send me a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

My Gypsy War Diary follows the protagonist (whose name I believe is never mentioned, as it is told as a diary) when he moves to Norfolk, meeting the elderly Mrs Scholes. The two soon strike up an unusual but lovely friendship, becoming very close over the years. One day, however, someone breaks into Mrs Scholes’ home, demanding to know where Milo’s Bible is. Suddenly the protagonist is thrown into a whole world of trouble – and it is up to him to save his friend and himself…

I think the one major thing which stood out to me in this book was the friendship. Despite the considerable age difference, Mrs Scholes and the main character struck a really nice friendship, which was lovely to see. It was clear how much they both cared about each other – as demonstrated through different difficult situations they found themselves in – and it was what motivated the protagonist to undertake such a dangerous journey. If it wasn’t for that initial friendship, there wouldn’t have been a story!

Of course, this friendship was formed during the main character’s childhood, which was also really interesting to read. I really enjoyed reading about his childhood and it definitely helped build up to events later on in the book. There were also some clues to the twist during his childhood, although I didn’t actually pick up on these at the time.

I also really enjoyed the action and adventure. The quest undertaken was no small task and I really enjoyed reading about it. The protagonist’s journey was really interesting and there were definitely some tense moments and near misses. The action really propelled things forward and the adventure really helped with keeping me engaged… I couldn’t wait to read what happened next!

Of course, there wouldn’t have even been a quest to go on without the mystery. There was a lot of history between Mrs Scholes and the gypsies, and the true events of what had happened were shrouded with mystery. When the protagonist discovered this he was immediately sent on his journey to stop them before it was too late – and the mystery didn’t end there, with one major twist towards the end that I can honestly say I didn’t see coming until maybe a few pages before it was revealed.

I also generally liked the characters in this book. The protagonist was incredibly brave and funny, and I really admired Mrs Scholes’ kindness, which made for two very likeable main characters. I also found it interesting reading about the gypsies, particularly Tabitha – although her character wasn’t particularly interesting it was fascinating to read!

I also really like the humour scattered in there. It really helped to break up the tense moments and relieve some of the suspense. I mentioned earlier that the protagonist was funny and this was definitely the case – his comments and commentaries on some of the events were very amusing to read, and definitely added to my enjoyment of the story!

I think the balance of humour with the action and suspense really highlighted Shawn’s talent. His writing style was really refreshing to read and I really enjoyed it. The descriptions, although still vivid, weren’t overdone or too simplistic and he really struck the right balance. I think I will definitely be having a look at some of his other works as I really loved his writing!

The ending was also great. I really enjoyed how the story played out and it was nice to see how everything was tied up. There was also a relatively happy ending, without giving away too much, which is always nice to see!

Overall, I would recommend My Gypsy War Diary to anyone searching for an awesome adventure of friendship and the search for treasure. I would also recommend it for any fan of mysteries, as the mystery behind the Scholes’ family and exactly what had taken place was really interesting.

I hope you enjoyed this review!

Ceri

56 thoughts on “My Gypsy War Diary Book Review”

  8. I love stories about friendships between generations, they’re often the most touching and informative ones. This sounds like a lovely read, one to curl up with on a gloomy Autumn evening and get lost it – great review, Ceri! x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I think this was actually the first book I’ve read which featured a friendship like that but it was really lovely and I’d love to read more now! It definitely would be, I love curling up with a good book in autumn. Thank you so much for reading and commenting Lisa x

      Like

      Reply

  13. Brilliant review. I really appreciate a book with mystery, adventure, action and suspense but the added mention of humour and friendship and I’m sold. Definitely a book I’ll look out for. Thank you once again for your honest review.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Great review. I probably wouldn’t have picked this up because its not my kind of thing. However, now that I’ve read your review, I think I’d really enjoy it, especially with the friendship of the two main characters.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear that my review helped to change your mind – I really would recommend it. I hope you enjoy if you do end up picking it up, thank you so much for reading and commenting!

      Like

      Reply

  21. This sounds like a really nice balance between plot and characterisation – and the age-gap friendship sounds completely charming! Great review and thanks for sharing an exciting read with us 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. What a great review! I feel like I’ve really gotten a sense of the book without having too much given away. It sounds like a great perspective that the book was written from. My grandma has told me some stories of her interactions with gypsies from a long time ago, so I think I’d enjoy reading stories involving them 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear that, I always try and keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible. That’s so interesting, I think you’d really enjoy reading this with that extra information from your grandma! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  25. Pingback: Monthly Wrap Up: September 2021 – Read And Review It
  28. Pingback: Shawn Brink Interview – Read And Review It
  29. Pingback: Yearly Wrap Up: 2021 Edition – Read And Review It
  30. Pingback: Yearly Wrap Up: 2021 Edition – Read And Review It

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: