So I was reading my daily Yahoo news feed as well as cruising my timeline on Facebook and ran across an article (http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/meet-transgender-navy-seal/story?id=19315578#.UbE6EEDOsgw)
I thought to myself…I have to go find this book!!! Well the day I read the article the book had yet to be released (edited to add the book was released on June 1..I just missed that part), then i read on some more and found out it was being released at midnight…So off to Amazon I went. Luckily I have my ipad mini and both the Kindle and Nook apps to read my books (which I do love both apps). So I searched prices and found that Amazon had the Kindle version at $9.99, and Barnes & Noble had it also at $9.99. Well I’m used to the Kindle app more (though there are a few things I’d like to change or have them add in like an “archive” like the Nook app…but that’s a whole ‘nother blog). So I hit purchase. Normally I get the free books, or I stick to the ones that are $0.99, but this is one that I had to have.
So it was already midnight, I hit purchase and then unlocked my ipad and went right to my app. Downloading…it couldn’t download any faster, why couldn’t it just be instant. But there it was … a whole 10 seconds later. I cracked it open just to glance around, then i remembered I was in the middle of another book, so it would have to wait. I detest starting one book while reading another. My imagination and the thoughts in my head hate to get mixed up. So I quickly finished my other book that night while laying in bed next to my significant other. I figure this is a nightly thing for me. She goes to bed around 10-11, and I’m up til 3-ish. I usually drag myself into the bed about 130-2, then spend the next hour or two reading or playing candy crush. So I read and read. Then When I couldn’t sleep, I flipped open netflix and watched a bit of Robot Chicken until my eyes dropped.
When they opened it was a new day, my partner was coming in from PT, and making a ruckus annoying the hell out of me, so I threw the pillow over my head until she left for work. Then I got up and said..”Self…we have to clean house, do dishes, feed fish at the other house, then we can read the book.” So i hurried about my day with the task then came home and settled my round rump in the corner of my sectional with a charged ipad ready.
I opened the book and the first thing I see is the cover
Then I started reading the book, unsure of how I would feel or how it would come across. I had read the book about Seal Team Six and that was exciting. I thought would this have war stories, actual accounts of missions she had been on, would I be transported to war? How was this going to happen. Well it wasn’t like I thought it was going to be, but it was better. I felt a connection to Kristin, that I wanted to reach out and hug her with all my might. Now I’m determined, I have to meet her one day somehow. ***edited to add…. I did finally get to meet her on June 5, 2014, while at the Pentagon’s Pride Month Celebration***
So the book starts out with her childhood then proceeds on to her teenage years. From there it breaks into her joining the military, the struggles of being married as well as in a relationship that she knew wasn’t going anywhere. Her two children and the lack of relationship she has with them (which I hope has since been repaired), then onto her secret dress up sessions and then finally to meeting Anne (the woman who would help pen this memoir) and her eventual retirement from the Navy and the coming out.
I think the biggest climax for me was when she decided to come out on all aspects. The argument with her sister, followed by the dressing up for work the next day. I secretly cheered inside when I read that paragraph. I was proud of her for being who she really is and even prouder that no one said anything rightly mean or derogatory. The rest of the book read smoothly, and the last chapter had me feeling like it was coming to an end, but I felt left out, I wanted more. But alas, I have the story. She is awesome.
Here are links below to the purchase the book.
Amazon (Kindle Edition) http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Princess-Journey-Transgender-ebook/dp/B00D5CXCLY/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1370572798&sr=8-12&keywords=warrior+princess
Amazon (Hardcover) http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Princess-Journey-Coming-Transgender/dp/1935866427/ref=sr_1_12_bnp_1_har?ie=UTF8&qid=1370570128&sr=8-12&keywords=warrior+princess
Barnes and Noble (Nook Edition) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warrior-princess-kristin-beck/1115484306?ean=2940016650302
Barnes & Noble (Hardback) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warrior-princess-a-us-navy-seals-journey-to-coming-out-transgender-kristin-beck/1115472421?ean=9781935866428
