Review: Battle Dress by Amy Efaw

Tags: YA, college, West Point, military, army, feminism, sexism, family

Summary

For Andi and 1000 other incoming freshmen at West Point Academy, the first six weeks of the summer are the Beast, an intense training regime designed to break them all down, weed the weak from the rest, and reshape them into the best future members of the US Army. Andi battles taunts from squad leaders, classmate prejudices and problems, and her ongoing issues with her messed up family, and finds out what being a cadet truly means.

Review

Most of you do not know this about me, but I have always been fascinated by military protocol. For a nation that champions individuality and creativity, its military seems to be one of the last bastions of enforced conformity and groupthink. Coming from both a collectivist and individualistic culture, I can see the pros and cons of this military protocol. BATTLE DRESS was a solid glimpse into the mysterious world of West Point, although Andi’s internal conflicts were a little roughly drawn.

Creative insults and capital letters flood the pages of BATTLE DRESS, appropriate for the strict discipline surrounding West Point. I enjoyed how the book so thoroughly created the terrifyingly intimidating environment of the Beast: small details such as the different uniforms required for different activities, the time (these cadets have to get up unbelievably early), and the language really contribute to making you feel as if you were experiencing Beast too—without the ridiculously early wake-up calls and five-mile runs, that is.

So I appreciated the details that made Beast come to life for me, but felt much less connected to all the characters, including Andi. There is a sort of running conflict between Andi and her unsupportive, mentally abusive family, and Andi’s feminist side. What exactly a kind of space does a female occupy in the still male-dominated military world? Andi’s feminine roommate, Gabrielle, and a handful of stereotypical sexist squad members contribute to the theme of women’s rights in the military, but in a way that always felt very glossed over and underdeveloped.

Interestingly enough, I think this book might’ve worked better for me if it had just stuck with a straightforward presentation of Beast and not tried so hard to make Andi have complicated emotional issues. I felt like Andi’s struggles to overcome her family’s disappointment, contributing to and combined with her obsession with proving herself in Beast, lent a forced feel to the story. No, I’m not questioning the fact that she has family issues—but issues as delicate as that one need to be carefully and thoroughly developed, and I think that BATTLE DRESS may have relied a bit too much on Andi’s family’s inarguable meanness to carry that part of the plot along.

Overall, however, BATTLE DRESS will make a great read for anyone interested in West Point or the military training culture. Amy Efaw’s personal experience translates well onto the page, and the book does not disappoint in that aspect.

Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3 out of 5 - This is actually a reprint of a book that came out a decade ago, and I think that the redesigned cover will make it much more appealing to the modern YA reader. It keeps things short and straight to the point, and the title fonts are cool, even if the title itself is a rather bizarre attempt to touch upon both the book's military and feminism issues.

Penguin / Dec. 2, 2010 (reprint) / Paperback / 304pp. / $8.99

Personal copy bought.