Book Tour - Book Review - American Wife - Taya Kyle

Lisa, if you want a reason to cry this book will have you crying specially if you have seen or read the book-  American Sniper.

Title: American Wife

Author: Taya Kyle with Jim DeFelice

Stars 5 out of 5

Review

I am not sure I can sum up American Wife better than say grab a box of tissues and take it a day at a time. This is a beautiful and honest look at life of Taya Kyle. This book will have you smile, laugh, cry and feel heartache for what Taya Kyle with all that she has been though but she doesn’t expect you to feel sorry for her as much as he as asked you to see what life was like living with the American Sniper her Husband, Best friend and the love of her life.

Taya writes about how difficult like is living with a Navy SEAL and the stress it takes on the marriage and family life. Her marriage to Kyle wasn’t easy and she doesn’t sugar coat anything but what she does is constantly fight for what she wants and the peace she is looking for. 

I enjoyed reading her husbands  emails sent while he was deployed overseas. They were sweet and you could read the love he had for his wife. I could never imagine trying to raise my little family alone and yet that is what Taya did while  he was gone.

The reader will laugh as she talks about her pregnancy, the reader will understand the struggle she had in her marriage, they reader will be there for the saddest moment in her life and how the hits keep coming. The best part is the reader will be able to connect with her because of how honest her writing is.

She wrote about the changes Chris had gone though and the PTSD she had to deal with.

I do not cry it’s just something I just don’t’ do unless I’m hurt. (AKA broken toes) I cried when she spoke of her husband’s death, I cried as she told her children of their father’s death and I cried as she wrote about never seeing Chris in person again.  I cried because you could feel the pain she felt as you read her words.

 I loved that she never once blamed God but accepted that there is a plan for everyone. I loved that her daughter would talk about how she could hear her father and that he was talking to her.

”The Faith of the innocents is truly a blessed faith.”  Another Quote in the book I found to be sweet when you look back on the email’s Chris had sent. Taya wrote “It’s ok to be mad at God. He can handle it.” In the emails Chris had wrote those same words many times to Taya.

“I do not need to romanticize Chris, because our reality is messy, passionate, full of everything extreme emotions known to man, including fear, compassion, anger, pain, laughing so hard we double over and hugged it out, laughing when we were irritated with each other and laugh when we were so in love it felt like someone hung the moon for only us.”  I love that she doesn’t tell the world their life was perfect and I think that is something everyone needs to know that life isn't a fairy tale and marriage isn’t a walk in the park it is everything she spoke of and more.

Taya Kyle’s honest thoughts on her life I feel will help many who deal with the loss of a loved one knowing they are not alone and its ok to seek help. 

I enjoyed the way Taya wrapped up the book with a lists of lessons she learned. Each one can be applied to life in different way but each are extremely important. 

I couldn’t write this review without writing my personals thoughts because this book is an intimate book at Taya Kyle’s life and I believe anyone who reads this book will look at their life and finds ways to work on being a better person. 

Thanks Heidi for this review - 

Synopsis:  The widow of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle shares their private journey, a moving and universal chronicle of love and family, service and patriotism, grief and sacrifice, faith and purpose.

How does someone carry on after the death of a hero?

By becoming a hero herself.

Though Chris and Taya Kyle's marriage had its difficult moments, it was always a love story. Together, they'd endured military service, a bestselling book, unexpected fame, and a film deal starring a hot Hollywood actor. But just when Taya thought that she and Chris were finally going to live their dream together, her husband was murdered. In the wake of his death, a grieving Taya was left to raise her two young children and handle the many things Chris left behind: the business, the book, the movie, and a myriad of legal issues.

Matching the straightforward, soul-baring style of American Sniper, Taya talks with honesty about the trials and triumphs of her life with--and without Chris--the sleepless nights as a military spouse, the exhilaration as her husband was lionized, the quiet moments when family sheltered them from the madness of fame, the joy of discovering her own purpose in harmony with Chris's own legacy. In American Wife, she recounts the struggles and looks toward the future, revealing the intimate story of her marriage and the inspirations that have given her strength. She speaks out on the effects of fame, both good and bad, and provides a road map for others faced with difficulties, big and small.

American Wife is a startling and affecting portrait of woman of grit and determination--an example we can all follow to become a hero in our own lives.

Hardcover, 240 pages
Published May 5th 2015 by William Morrow & Company (first published May 1st 2015)