Reviews with content warning for Blood - Code Name Verity

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

8 reviews

hannahbailey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

TW: war, torture, injury detail, gore, death, murder, grief, violence, sexual harassment, confinement, suicide, gun violence

I read this years ago (when I was still in school maybe?) and loved it. When I saw it in a charity shop last year, I couldn't resist picking it up and finally owning a copy.

There's always a risk when revisiting a book many years later that it won't be as good as you remember. Code Name Verity was even better this time around. Whilst I recognised on my first read how good the writing was, I got to really appreciate the craft this time. It's SO convincing with its compelling characters, narrative structure and historically accurate dialogue that I already want to dive back in.

I cannot believe this is YA. I feel like the genre has changed so much since this was published in 2012 I'm not sure it would be categorised the same. It's got graphic depictions of violence and torture, as well as alluding to many other atrocities that happened in occupied France. Despite that though, it's actually the maturity of the characters and the level of detail that helps it to read like adult fiction. Obviously these things can and are present in a lot of YA anyway, but there's a vibe to this book that lends itself to older readers too. That said, I loved it as a teenager so what do I know about marketing books to the right audience? Given that I loved it at two different ages and life stages, it's clear this book is universal in its readability (at least to me).

How stunning to produce a piece of historical fiction that feels so real. Reluctant to read the others in the series in case this is the best one!

Content Warnings

branch423_reads's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The characters had unique voices that were really fun to read. They made it really easy to get into the world and understand what was going on during WWII in this book.

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welkinvault's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I have to question what makes a book YA? I did not think this painful, gruesome but glorious book was in any way YA. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. It starts off simply enough with British plucky young women in early WW2, but told in a memoir in tortuous circumstances. There are wheels within wheels in this novel. I saw one of the twists, but not the others. Powerful novel.

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saoreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The book title itself was intriguing and how the heroine began the story was full of wit and humor as she takes readers on a journey with her being captured. She makes light of her situation. Maybe she seemed way too calm as a person. The personality was honed to the point where it doesn't scream for something to be feared for and it eases readers even when the situation the character is, in fact, dire. In the second part of the book, another point of view was taken to narrate the recent happenings and not just pure storytelling. It was a heartbreaking story of a precious friendship that occurred during a fictional event in the Second World War. There was overloaded information regarding the life of a spy and working about intel that at the same time didn't make you stop reading but, through its witty way of expressing it, made you love it.

Content Warnings