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lawbooks600's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Score: Six points out of ten.
I wanted to read this for a while but never got around to doing so until now. I thought The Enigma Game was new since it was on the new titles shelf at the library. Turns out they lied; they bought it around three years ago. I enjoyed this one but if the author improved her piece of literature, it could be better. I'm not rushing to read Code Name Verity, but I'll read it if I have time.
It starts with the first character I see, Louisa Adair, living in Britain during the early 1940s with World War Two ongoing. She is desperate after losing both her parents from different causes. Louisa soon meets two new characters, Ellen and Jamie who work for the Royal Air Force or RAF. The opening pages are slow but the action picks up around part two, where I see Louisa take part in the air forces fighting off enemy aircraft, which I enjoyed reading.
There's a plot twist when a defective German soldier has a package, and inside there's a typewriter called an Enigma, which soon plays a significant role in the narrative. Thus begins Louisa and other's quest to keep the Enigma as long as they can from malicious hands. The Enigma Game shines in its enthralling plot and immersion since I could never put it down. However, it has flaws with the characters; even though I liked them, I didn't find them that memorable nor could I sympathise with them, even with Louisa's hardship. It rubs me the wrong way when a white author writes about a person like Louisa. It feels like tokenism or cultural appropriation. The multiple POVs didn't work as they were almost indistinguishable other than their names. I wonder if Code Name Verity is better.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Blood, War, and Death
Full trigger warnings: Death of a friend, parents and other people, fire, plane crash, military violence and war themes, World War Two, racist slur, gun violence, physical assault and injury, blood depiction, murder, explosionsgoldendreams's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Vomit
rach22's review against another edition
3.75
The story was a bit slow to get going, but I enjoyed it as it went on. It was interesting meeting (or remeeting) the different characters and getting to know them. I liked the setting.
I was aware of reading a black character written by a white author, however after reading the author’s note, she took care in getting help and advice on this issue and I think it worked well. There were some parts of it that annoyed me, being from Scotland as they weren’t accurate and I didn’t find it fair to depict some of the children in the way that they were.
Overall, great story, very sad. I was not expecting that ending, rather depressing but good story.
I also now want to go back and reread Code Name Verity yo.
Graphic: War and Death
rubylovesbooks13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence
celebrationofbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- The Pearl Thief (first chronologically, third published)
- The Enigma Game (fourth published, second chronologically)
- Code Name Verity (first published, third chronologically)
- Rose Under Fire (second published, fourth chronologically)
I include this here, because as Elizabeth Wein’s characters frequently visit in her other books, knowing where you are chronologically is always helpful, and therefore less surprising and unsettling, when unexpected visitors arrive, as they do in The Engima Game. But they’re still surprising and, without giving away any series spoilers for those who haven’t read any of the books thus far, there will be tears and anguish on your part as a reader.
Moderate: Death, Medical trauma, and War
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love how Wein makes women front and center in her historical fiction novels, especially where that isn't always the case, like on military bases. I really liked the narrators in this book, and Wein does an excellent job in differentiating between the three of them. The way she writes dialect is fantastic and almost makes me wish I would have listened to this on audio.
While at times, some of the plane terminology and other aspects went over my head, I appreciated the amount of research Wein put into writing this book.
Another great addition to Wein's historical fiction works!
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism and Xenophobia
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Gun violence, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Gore and Antisemitism
One of the POV characters is a Traveller (Irish Romani) and there is one direct slur mentioned. Also the story is set during WWII and several characters are flyers for the Royal Air Force. There are several scenes depicting aerial confrontations between said flyers and Nazi planes/submarines.azebrareads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Death