My Book Life

They called him Mickey Free. His kidnapping started the longest war in American history, and both sides--the Apaches and the white invaders—blamed him for it. A mixed-blood warrior who moved uneasily between the worlds of the Apaches and the American soldiers, he was never trusted by either but desperately needed by both. He was the only man Geronimo ever feared. He played a pivotal role in this long war for the desert Southwest from its beginning in 1861 until its end in 1890 with his pursuit of the renegade scout, Apache Kid.

I was graciously given an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Crown Publishing through the Goodreads' Giveaways for an honest review.  This is it:

When I got the e-mail that I was going to be getting an early copy of this book I was pretty excited about it. I knew a bit about the life of Geronimo and the wars he fought in, but I honestly didn't know any details about the Apache Wars.  Nothing more than a blurb from High School History.  So I was eager to crack open this one, especially since I've realized lately that I honestly don't know a lot about the history of my own country.   This book was the first in many non-fictions gracing my "To Be Read" pile to fix that problem.

Unfortunately, I've been trying to read The Apache Wars since I got in mid-April. 

To be honest this is my least favorite kind of review to write.  I had a really hard time getting through the first few chapters of this book.  There was a lot of information thrown into those few pages I did manage to get through.  I understood it was background information for what the author was leading up to the main part of the book.  There was just a lot of it take in.

Another problem I was having was when I would set the book down to go to work, or what have you, I would have trouble remember details when I picked the book back up.  Not big details, but because all that information was sort of shoved in forty to fifty pages I'd forget which Tribe was in what region.  Who this person was, or maybe why the important.  I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth once I came back to it.

I really tried to push through book.  In fact, I kept telling myself it's a nonfiction and I don't generally read a lot of them so maybe it's me.  I would read one more chapter hoping I'd start to get into history of it, but sadly it never happened.  Which stinks because Apache Wars does have really good, Four Star, reviews.  So for a bit I figured it was me.

The problem started when I would sit down to read, I'd find myself reading a couple of pages and then picking up my phone. Or, just flipping on my laptop to watch one episode.  I just haven't read in the last week, because despite wanting to read Apache Wars, I just end up turning myself around as a read.

So is it a bad book?

No, it's not.  Hutton has down an amazing amount of research into the Apache culture, their history, the history of the region, the war, and everyone involved.  Which is the reason I have given it Two Stars.  I applaud the amount of time and effort Hutton put into this book.

Did having an ARC hurt me?

I think it did.  If I had map to keep the regions straight maybe that would of helped me.  Maybe the first few chapters have been revised in the released editions. 

So, maybe it was me and not The Apache Wars.  This is the second non-fiction book I've picked up and that hasn't really pulled me in.  I'm really bummed to have to put it aside, but I don't want to put myself into a slump and I was given this book for an honest review. No matter how sad I am that I cannot join in the good reviews.

So, would I recommend this book?

Yeah, I would.  There were moments in this book where I was starting to enjoy it, and then there would a be a chapter that just left me stumped.  Still, it's well researched and I honestly think other people would enjoy it.  Especially those a little more well versed in history around the Apache Wars.

I might even pick this one up again at a later date.  Maybe grab a finalized copy from the library and give it another proper go.  It really wasn't a bad books, Apache Wars, but maybe it just wasn't for me.