Official Review: Warrior Up by Eric Carbaugh

[That Reviewer]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Warrior Up" by Eric Carbaugh.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

According to a United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform report released in 2016, the ratio of suicide between war veterans and people who hadn't served in the military is 3:2. This statistic is alarming. Further investigations reveal that most veterans who commit suicide struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This struggle is mostly because of the hard decisions they make during war. Many veterans don't have the mental capacity to handle PTSD, especially when the camaraderie of war is over, and loneliness takes over them. Warrior Up by Eric Carbaugh is a book designed to help veterans rediscover who they are and to find the strength to overcome the demonic tendencies of committing suicide.

One of the strongest points of this book is the author's profile. Eric is a veteran — he served as a U.S. Marine. He knows first-hand the struggles and challenges that veterans deal with every day. He has been in the field, and he can relate to the pain and problems that make veterans suicidal. The author's pedigree is the one thing that makes this book acceptable to the ideal reader.

Being a veteran himself, the author showed a lot of empathy in his writing. He didn't come from a judgemental point of view — I doubt if I would've finished the book if he did. He was able to convey a message that would resonate with veterans struggling with PTSD. Though he admitted not to have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, he shared other challenges that could have made him suicidal. His personal stories made this book relatable and convincing.

It's worth mentioning that this book contains religious elements. Everything the author shared in it was mostly based on biblical principles and beliefs. Some of the chapters in the book were coined from phrases in a particular verse of the Bible. There were also Bible quotations at strategic points in the book. Understanding the sensitivity of religion, I would not recommend this book to everyone — though I found the content generally helpful. The best audience for this book would be Christian veterans and people who won't find its religious elements in it disturbing.

My best part of this book was the 30-day warrior challenge. This was where the author put words to action. This challenge would help the reader practice the things learned throughout the book.

The only thing I disliked about this book was the plethora of grammatical errors I found in it. Another round of editing would help to fix these errors. Therefore, I rate Warrior Up three out of four stars.

******
Warrior Up
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Moh2]

Warrior Up doesn't seem like everyone's cup of tea, but am glad it addresses a prevailing issue. Many writers and artists I general would run away from such. Good job on the review!

[Elvis Best]

I commend the author on writing a book to help his fellow comrades. I've heard a thing or two about PTSD, but I've never actually read anything on it. This book sounds like the perfect opportunity for me to familiarize myself with that concept. Thanks for the great review!

[Gabrielle Sigaki]

Post-traumatic stress disorder within the book is something I got interested in. I recently read a book that had a soldier with PTSD, but the focus wasn't on him. So I think this can be good reading. Thanks for the review!

[Nuno Pereira]

PTSD is a great problem among soldiers and it as always been, I've heard stories about my grandfather who have endured it. This seems like a good help for those heroes. Thank you for the review!

[Thea Frederick]

I am glad someone took the time to write this and it's great that the author gives a way for the readers to put into action what he has advised.

[Christabel Uzoamaka]

This book will be very helpful to not only veterans but anyone who is learning to deal with some form of trauma. Trauma can be so disorienting for the rest of a person’s life after the traumatic event.
Great review!

[Priyanka2304]

I can completely understand how difficult it is for the warriors to go through all the trauma of the battlefield. It becomes really hard for them to come back to normal life as the memories of war never leave them.