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vinjii's review against another edition
3.25
Wonderfully written, but some bits of it are so wholly unbelievable that the longer they went on the less I was able to suspend my disbelief. If I ignore those bits, I'm left with a wonderful friendship, a novel about courage and loyalty, and I liked all of that.
I struggled with the fairly slow start, but the plot itself is gripping, and the characters well developed. Unfortunately, I was promised a mind-blowing read, and it just wasn't. (Although, admittedly, I would have absolutely loved this twenty years ago.)
I think this is a case of "it's not you, dear book, it's me" and if you typically enjoy YA novels, and like the sound of the premise, you will most likely love this.
I struggled with the fairly slow start, but the plot itself is gripping, and the characters well developed. Unfortunately, I was promised a mind-blowing read, and it just wasn't. (Although, admittedly, I would have absolutely loved this twenty years ago.)
I think this is a case of "it's not you, dear book, it's me" and if you typically enjoy YA novels, and like the sound of the premise, you will most likely love this.
emmaleigh55's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An INCREDIBLE book. This is the book that I measure all other historical fiction against. This was one of those books that I read over half of in one night, literally on the edge of my seat. A slow start, but it picks up FAST. I cannot recommend it enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
I saw this in the Carnegie shortlist a few years ago, but decided not to read it - another war story, I thought, probably a love story. Nothing special.
Could eat those words now. Completely spellbound from the first chapter, I've never seen a narration like it. Yes, it's a war story. But it's written as a series of letters / journal entries from a female British spy, forced out of her by her German captors. Each piece of writing is tortured out of her, to gain information on British codes and plans, and while she writes her story and snippets of information for them, she curses them knowing it will all be translated and read back to them, and she will be punished.
A second voice later offers further narration, and the women's stories are absolutely riveting from start to finish. Our spy, Maddie, is vilified by other prisoners for co-operating, and we see through her own words just what the Germans do to her. Her spirit and endurance are incredible though, and there cannot be a reader out there who picks this up and doesn't will for her to make it out of the hellhole she's in.
To write more would risk spoilers, and there is no way I would want to spoil this unbelievably brilliant story for anyone not yet familiar with it. The connections between parts of the story that Wein draws are cleverly done, with turns popping up and making sense of the unfolding war story. The women are strong and worthy role models, their war experiences horrific and hard to forget.
I enjoyed the author's extra notes at the end, and she include a useful bibliography of sources she used to gain information on women in wartime. This could be a very good choice for KS3/4 classes in English and History, and the unusual narration has a lot to be discussed for classes and book groups (teen and adult).
So sorry I didn't read this sooner, I hope to buy a copy for my library shortly. Highly recommended. Age 13 and above, and adults - read this now!
Could eat those words now. Completely spellbound from the first chapter, I've never seen a narration like it. Yes, it's a war story. But it's written as a series of letters / journal entries from a female British spy, forced out of her by her German captors. Each piece of writing is tortured out of her, to gain information on British codes and plans, and while she writes her story and snippets of information for them, she curses them knowing it will all be translated and read back to them, and she will be punished.
A second voice later offers further narration, and the women's stories are absolutely riveting from start to finish. Our spy, Maddie, is vilified by other prisoners for co-operating, and we see through her own words just what the Germans do to her. Her spirit and endurance are incredible though, and there cannot be a reader out there who picks this up and doesn't will for her to make it out of the hellhole she's in.
To write more would risk spoilers, and there is no way I would want to spoil this unbelievably brilliant story for anyone not yet familiar with it. The connections between parts of the story that Wein draws are cleverly done, with turns popping up and making sense of the unfolding war story. The women are strong and worthy role models, their war experiences horrific and hard to forget.
I enjoyed the author's extra notes at the end, and she include a useful bibliography of sources she used to gain information on women in wartime. This could be a very good choice for KS3/4 classes in English and History, and the unusual narration has a lot to be discussed for classes and book groups (teen and adult).
So sorry I didn't read this sooner, I hope to buy a copy for my library shortly. Highly recommended. Age 13 and above, and adults - read this now!
lurker_stalker's review against another edition
5.0
I think everyone should read this book. Or listen to the audio book. Both, really.
alicebme's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely an addition to my never sell/trade book shelf, this book kept me in an alternate universe the entire read. I think I'll reread it this summer when I can savor every detail. Actually, I want to draw maps, take notes, sketch character portraits, and write dramatic fan fic to act out on my back patio. Oh my, this book was delicious.
soniagracelm's review against another edition
5.0
FULL REVIEW BY ROSIE HERE http://rosiesreadingroom.tumblr.com/post/91308665671/rec-code-name-verity
FULL REVIEW BY MORGAN HERE http://bookshelfpiratereviews.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/world-book-night-code-name-verity-by-elizabeth-wein/
Code Name Verity just blew me away.
On the surface, this book appears to be the story of an unnamed English SCOTTISH female spy who has been captured by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France. The bribe of a few basic amenities such as her clothes and a blanket prompts her to make a deal with her interrogators - she’ll give them wireless code and a full, written “confession” if they stop torturing her to the point of insanity.
FULL REVIEW BY MORGAN HERE http://bookshelfpiratereviews.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/world-book-night-code-name-verity-by-elizabeth-wein/
Code Name Verity just blew me away.
On the surface, this book appears to be the story of an unnamed English SCOTTISH female spy who has been captured by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France. The bribe of a few basic amenities such as her clothes and a blanket prompts her to make a deal with her interrogators - she’ll give them wireless code and a full, written “confession” if they stop torturing her to the point of insanity.
boisdelaire's review against another edition
3.0
★★★ ─── 3 stars read.
oh i wish i could have told the younger me that dnfing this book was not the right move, but i totally get why she did it. it was not a bad story per say, historical fiction gets me and i get her, we clearly share a bond. i liked the characters but not enough to get attached to them and « care » for their fate. there was too much plane talk and it just killed me when i had to read about it, so i had to speed-read through these passages or i would dnf it again (and we didn’t want that in the big old 2023). the author is a pilot herself and i respect that a lot but that’s so not my cup of tea.
i preferred way more the « present » days confessions, where the main character would talk about what the nazis did to her and how she wanted to live longer to tell her story, which led to a great plot-twist with the introduction of the second character, and understanding why she did what she did. and then the final plot-twist was shocking, which actually kept me reading until the end because i was hurting for the two girls.
(was i the only one to see the kinda homoerotic relationship they shared as best friends or it was just me? just me? okay)
oh i wish i could have told the younger me that dnfing this book was not the right move, but i totally get why she did it. it was not a bad story per say, historical fiction gets me and i get her, we clearly share a bond. i liked the characters but not enough to get attached to them and « care » for their fate. there was too much plane talk and it just killed me when i had to read about it, so i had to speed-read through these passages or i would dnf it again (and we didn’t want that in the big old 2023). the author is a pilot herself and i respect that a lot but that’s so not my cup of tea.
i preferred way more the « present » days confessions, where the main character would talk about what the nazis did to her and how she wanted to live longer to tell her story, which led to a great plot-twist with the introduction of the second character, and understanding why she did what she did. and then the final plot-twist was shocking, which actually kept me reading until the end because i was hurting for the two girls.
(was i the only one to see the kinda homoerotic relationship they shared as best friends or it was just me? just me? okay)
rnshack's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars not rounded up.
This was a really tough book for me to get through and in the end I just really didn’t like it.
The beginning of the book was super confusing for me and I spent the entire time forcing myself to just keep reading. A lot of the things in the first part were foundations being laid for the second half and the plot twist but it didn’t work for me. It didn’t really make sense and because I spent the whole time trying to understand what was going on I didn’t connect with the two main characters. It was also so slow. SO SLOW. I read the kindle version and getting half way though this book felt like it took a year.
The second half of the book was much better. Things started to actually happen but by then I didn’t really care about either of the main characters. So although much better and easier to read. It didn’t make up for the beginning and I couldn’t get back to a place where I liked the book.
I also didn’t like the plot twist. So many other, better twist could have been written. And honestly it did nothing for me. I just didn’t care enough by this post to have a reaction.
I love historical novels and history, especially military history. It’s all so fascinating to me. Then you add in women pilots and women spies?! This should have been a home run instead I was just bored to tears.
This was a really tough book for me to get through and in the end I just really didn’t like it.
The beginning of the book was super confusing for me and I spent the entire time forcing myself to just keep reading. A lot of the things in the first part were foundations being laid for the second half and the plot twist but it didn’t work for me. It didn’t really make sense and because I spent the whole time trying to understand what was going on I didn’t connect with the two main characters. It was also so slow. SO SLOW. I read the kindle version and getting half way though this book felt like it took a year.
The second half of the book was much better. Things started to actually happen but by then I didn’t really care about either of the main characters. So although much better and easier to read. It didn’t make up for the beginning and I couldn’t get back to a place where I liked the book.
I also didn’t like the plot twist. So many other, better twist could have been written. And honestly it did nothing for me. I just didn’t care enough by this post to have a reaction.
I love historical novels and history, especially military history. It’s all so fascinating to me. Then you add in women pilots and women spies?! This should have been a home run instead I was just bored to tears.