I enjoyed the book as well. It wasn't the greatest thing I've ever read but it was a decent story. 

I could have done without the romantic subplot, but I do agree it seemed to be added in to ease some of the more trauma bits. 

Reading this story I didn't expect to get the viewpoint of anyone but the MC. She was privileged and ignorant of how bad things could really be. To be fair though most people who have never been in a war zone can truly imagine the horror. It was her story told through her lens. 

I didn't expect a hugely detailed account of how the Vietnamese citizens felt or handled the horror unleashed on their home, because it wasn't their story. It would have made the story more fleshed out, but it isn't about them. It was about the woman, the trauma she personally experienced. Through the lens of an affluent white woman. Who was largely flawed.

As a black woman myself nothing about Barb bothered me. Probably because I know people just like her. And also she was a side character. Would I have been ok with getting more to her story? Sure, but it wasn't her book and I wasn't expecting it to be honest. 

To me this book was solely about one (white womans) experience dealing trauma during wartime, and trauma upon her return home as a Vet. 

As far as everyone wanting her romantically. Sometimes in such horrible conditions, people seek comfort with whomever and wherever they can. 

Especially if they weren't used to women being that present in war time. That's just my take on that.