29 April 2013

Review: Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Publication date: February 6, 2012
Publisher: Egmont

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again. He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

Immediately after finishing CODE NAME VERITY it was added to my list of favorite books (and that list is not long). This novel is stunning. The writing is stunning, the characters are stunning, and the story is touching and raw (I didn't say stunning! Tricked you!). CODE NAME VERITY grabbed me from the beginning and had me until the end. I'm usually not one for historical fiction unless it's a period of history that interests me. Even then, I may not read it sometimes, but I'm glad I didn't let this one pass by.

Elizabeth Wein writes this story with so much detail and gorgeous prose. It's clear that a lot of research was done for the novel, so kudos for making everything feel as real as possible. I'm usually not one for World War Two history, but Wein made me want to pick up non-fiction books about how females were used during the war. I knew to some extent and the basics, but had no idea that girls were used as spys. Ignorant much, Angie? Maybe...Okay, yes...

Seriously, there are so many twists and turns (so good) to keep the reader invested, but in the end, this book is about an amazing friendship and the solid connection two girls from two different backgrounds make as they try to survive through the war.

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