Code Name Verity (Thorndike Press Large Print The Literacy Bridge)

I came into this book with great expectations and Code Name Verity met many of them. Unfortunately, It didn't change my life like my friends said it would.

I felt like the biggest moment in the whole book was rushed and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It seemed to me that there was a greater description of several minor characters' adventures - Beryl, Dympna, Paul - than there was of the climax. This was disappointing for me.

As well, I felt that there were several holes in the book. I was greatly surprised that the main character was caught looking the wrong way on the street; if she had studied in Switzerland for so long, she would have known better. Additionally, I am not sure that the concluding forgiveness would have been handed out so easily. For many, there would have been bitterness. Also, I would have appreciated hearing a different tone to Maddie's writing than Julie's account. To me, there wasn't two distinct voices.

I was disappointed in the conclusion of the novel. I would have loved to hear what the resolution of the events were years later. After all of the drama of the war, what becomes of the people whose lives were touched? Please don't tell me it was to become a housewife somewhere.

I would recommend this book as the information was clearly researched and based on tesimonies and actual accounts. It is a lovely work of historical fiction and the author communicated the characters' emotions nicely.

It took to long to get to the issue, it was well written and readable and I wood recommend it, at the end of the day it was not my style of book I purchased it basically becouse it looked interesting.

I read this for a book club. It is not a fun read, it is not engaging, and I did not care about the characters.

I kept reading it only because I had to for the book club, as I was the discussion leader that month.

And even then I could not bring myself to read through to the end; neither did I wonder how did it end or care.

Sometimes a book just doesn't click with you and , for me, this was the book. I stuck with it for about half , then decided to move on. That was hard for me as I am a strict start it - finish it kind of reader. Still, all in all, a good book. Just not great. In my opinion only! Okay, now I'm done.

Most like it, I didn't. I got to the 25% point, and maybe I should have carried on, but I just was not feeling the story, the way it is written, or the frequent use of English slang (of which Kindle mostly could not even find a definition). I finally just gave up.

As a middle school teacher, I found this book to not be an "easy read". At times, I was surprised at how slowly I was moving through the book. Though the basis of the story involves the close friendship of two women, caught in the throws of WWII, the content of the book and its characters were often "heavy" in descriptions and dialogue. In no way would I recommend this book for anyone under the age junior high school. Some of the descriptions of the prisoners' torture was too graphic for younger children.
In all honesty, I found myself to be bored with the telling of this story.

Courage, despair, deviousness, courage, manipulation, treachery, betrayal, courage and did I say courage... unbelievable courage.

In the first half of the book we get to know the background story of the two main characters and their various paths that led to the fateful journey into Occupied France. At this stage of the story I was enjoying it, but not really feeling the ‘wow’ factor. It was during the second half of the book when an unexpected twist turns the story on its head and WOW, did the wow factor hit me hard! I LOVE this book.

To those who start and feel let down – read on... it’s definitely worth it.

I was struck by the extensive research Elizabeth Wein has done not only on the war, but on the lifestyle of the time, giving the story a sense of realism that allowed me to feel as though I was there, witnessing the events as they unfolded.

Code Name Verity has a unique plot that blew me away.

Punches all the right buttons (strong female characters, spy story, war story, romance, class distinctions) but as another reviewer stated, not emotionally engaging. Plot is not very believable either -- like a grade-B action movie, it tries too hard to make up with plot twists and action what it lacks in story and character.

Code Name Verity is about a pilot and a spy, both women. Maddie, the pilot, flew the plane that went down and led to the Gestapo arrest of the spy, “Verity”.

Within the first half of the book – snooze alert! – is overkill with copious details about planes, training runs, flying, take-offs, and landings, (many take-offs and landings) to the enth degree. (I think I might even be able to land a disabled Lysander based on all the details.) I get it, Maddie was a superb pilot; I was told numerous times.

The second half is a little better.

Part 1 is written as “Verity”, who is spilling her guts with a confession of secrets (old, non-useful information), her past, and more in the hopes of staying alive. It’s written in the first and third person, first person as she tells her story and third person as she writes her journal for the Gestapo; she writes about herself and her pseudonyms in that narration. It’s a very effective writing style.

Part 2 is written as Maddie and the rest of the story.

There are a gazillion names throughout the book. Everyone as a real name – that you may or may not hear – a code name, and sometimes more than one code name. It’s pretty confusing. For example, Julie, Eva Seiler, Queenie, and Verity are all the same person. Many times I really didn’t know who was who.

It’s obvious that a great deal of research went into this book, but the details and all the different code names make the story very convoluted. I am, however, reminded of a fact that I already knew, and that is that the people in the Resistance were fearless.

I was well into the book when, discussing it with a reading friend, was told that it’s a YA (young adult) book. I’m a little surprised at that since I believe the reading level and many of the details are a little beyond YA, but that’s just me. I’m also surprised at the many rave reviews this book got on the store, which, in my humble opinion, it doesn’t deserve.

I wanted to like this book. WWII is one of my favorite subject/time periods to read about (both historical fiction and nonfiction genres). I particularly like WWII books that give us a glimpse of women's roles during the war effort (I highly recommend War Brides if this is also one of your interest areas).
This book, while not awful, was not good, either. I was bored. I just kept waiting for something interesting to happen. Like another reviewer said, maybe a bit more detail in the torture of Queenie (or Scotty, Julie, Eva, Kathe-whichever name she is randomly going by at the moment) may have helped. It didn't even need to get awfully graphic, but give us SOMETHING. Based on the lack of detail, I guessed she was telling her captors lies, but in the end I failed to appreciate it because I was so bored with the plot.
I also could not connect with the two main characters. I actually quite disliked Maddie and felt very little for "Queenie".
Maybe the issue was they were British/Scottish and much of what was written just sounded bizarre? Maybe there was too much 1930's -40's airplane lingo and I just didn't appreciate it? Maybe there was so much discussion of landmarks (that at the end the author tells you are fictional) that were poorly described and so again, I just didn't care because I couldn't picture it or relate? Maybe it was the redundant Peter Pan theme/talk that just got old? I don't know exactly what it was, but I just didn't really care for this book. The ending was also quite a bit of a let down.
I could see young teens MAYBE liking this, but I'm not sure they would have the background necessary for the majority of it. Just not my cup of tea, I guess.

Punches all the right buttons (strong female characters, spy story, war story, romance, class distinctions) but as another reviewer stated, not emotionally engaging. Plot is not very believable either -- like a grade-B action movie, it tries too hard to make up with plot twists and action what it lacks in story and character.

Code Name Verity is about a pilot and a spy, both women. Maddie, the pilot, flew the plane that went down and led to the Gestapo arrest of the spy, “Verity”.

Within the first half of the book – snooze alert! – is overkill with copious details about planes, training runs, flying, take-offs, and landings, (many take-offs and landings) to the enth degree. (I think I might even be able to land a disabled Lysander based on all the details.) I get it, Maddie was a superb pilot; I was told numerous times.

The second half is a little better.

Part 1 is written as “Verity”, who is spilling her guts with a confession of secrets (old, non-useful information), her past, and more in the hopes of staying alive. It’s written in the first and third person, first person as she tells her story and third person as she writes her journal for the Gestapo; she writes about herself and her pseudonyms in that narration. It’s a very effective writing style.

Part 2 is written as Maddie and the rest of the story.

There are a gazillion names throughout the book. Everyone as a real name – that you may or may not hear – a code name, and sometimes more than one code name. It’s pretty confusing. For example, Julie, Eva Seiler, Queenie, and Verity are all the same person. Many times I really didn’t know who was who.

It’s obvious that a great deal of research went into this book, but the details and all the different code names make the story very convoluted. I am, however, reminded of a fact that I already knew, and that is that the people in the Resistance were fearless.

I was well into the book when, discussing it with a reading friend, was told that it’s a YA (young adult) book. I’m a little surprised at that since I believe the reading level and many of the details are a little beyond YA, but that’s just me. I’m also surprised at the many rave reviews this book got on the store, which, in my humble opinion, it doesn’t deserve.

Review 5 stars

When a young woman is captured by the Gestapo in occupied France, she begins writing down an account for her captors about a plucky lass, Maddie from Manchester. Her story, told as one of her captors accuses ‘in novel form’, shows how Maddie learns to fly and becomes an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot. She befriends Queenie, an enigmatic Scottish aristocrat who is recruited as a spy by the Special Operations Executive. Through this account, the Gestapo learn secrets about the Allies war-effort as well as about the two young women – and the reader realises that the writer is Queenie.

"I of course took the opportunity to interpose wi’ pig-headed Wallace pride, ‘I am not English, you ignorant Jerry bastard, I am a SCOT."

Queenie is accused of being a collaborator, giving away crucial wireless codes and more for her ongoing survival. However, as this account spilled out with disturbing details, I wondered what was being revealed. Perhaps it was the novel’s opening quote about passive resisters that made me unsure about Queenie’s account. Or the truth is, as Queenie writes at the beginning, "I AM A COWARD" and a traitor?

What is truth? What is verity? That is the question in war when some sacrifices pay that ultimate price, and principals are abandoned. The atmosphere is rife with emotions – grief gives way to anger as the details are exposed of an era when so many died; what did they die for? The truth?

Although Queenie’s account is written for the Gestapo, it peels back their layers, even revealing cultural tastes.

"Nothing like an arcane literary debate with your tyrannical master while you pass the time leading to your execution."
There are moments of humour that distract and buy time. For whom? For what? On one level, it seems that the cost of this betrayal will be too high, yet I wanted Queenie to survive.

I just hoped that this was a masterful deception, and that a rescue was imminent. When the novel switches from Queenie’s POV to that of Maddie, I experienced new emotions – not just renewed hope. The voice changed, although the writer had already given us a taste of Maddie’s character as well as of the harsh existence in Occupied France.
To say more would require spoilers. Just know that Maddie’s story is as riveting with unexpected plot twists that play through to the end – to the truth, or should I say Verity.

All the characters are engaging, whether they are the older adults like the officer that recruits Queenie, or the young people on the frontline of this and so many other wars. Elizabeth Wein captures a deep sense of all those caught up in these life-changing events.

This is a brilliant and gritty YA novel that sweeps the reader along with the feisty and resourceful protagonists – pulled into their minds and actions. I felt I was witnessing the highs and lows of lives experienced in the face of the traumatic horrors of war

And running through the novel, adding another layer to the central characters, was the Neverland theme – poignant and beautiful.

"How did you ever get here, Maddie Brodatt?"
"'Second to the right, and then straight on till morning,'" she answered promptly-it did feel like Neverland.
"Crikey, am I so obviously Peter Pan?"
Maddie laughed. "The Lost Boys give it away."
Jamie studied his hands. "Mother keeps the windows open in all our bedrooms while we're gone, like Mrs. Darling, just in case we come flying home when she's not expecting us."

Code Name Verity must be my favourite read of 2018 as it played with all my emotions. I look forward to reading both the prequel the Pearl Thief – which is more in the style of a classic mystery - and Rose Under Fire a sequel of sorts.

Story – five stars
Setting/World-building – five stars
Authenticity – five stars
Characters – five stars
Structure – five stars
Readability – five stars
Editing – five stars

I wanted to like this book. WWII is one of my favorite subject/time periods to read about (both historical fiction and nonfiction genres). I particularly like WWII books that give us a glimpse of women's roles during the war effort (I highly recommend War Brides if this is also one of your interest areas).
This book, while not awful, was not good, either. I was bored. I just kept waiting for something interesting to happen. Like another reviewer said, maybe a bit more detail in the torture of Queenie (or Scotty, Julie, Eva, Kathe-whichever name she is randomly going by at the moment) may have helped. It didn't even need to get awfully graphic, but give us SOMETHING. Based on the lack of detail, I guessed she was telling her captors lies, but in the end I failed to appreciate it because I was so bored with the plot.
I also could not connect with the two main characters. I actually quite disliked Maddie and felt very little for "Queenie".
Maybe the issue was they were British/Scottish and much of what was written just sounded bizarre? Maybe there was too much 1930's -40's airplane lingo and I just didn't appreciate it? Maybe there was so much discussion of landmarks (that at the end the author tells you are fictional) that were poorly described and so again, I just didn't care because I couldn't picture it or relate? Maybe it was the redundant Peter Pan theme/talk that just got old? I don't know exactly what it was, but I just didn't really care for this book. The ending was also quite a bit of a let down.
I could see young teens MAYBE liking this, but I'm not sure they would have the background necessary for the majority of it. Just not my cup of tea, I guess.

I am a wimp so I avoided reading this for three years because I was afraid of reading from the perspective of a U.S. spy being interrogated by the Gestapo in France during World War II.

On many levels, it isn't an easy read despite the narrative not...quite....showing us the actual torture.

While I was confused a bit at the start as the story jumps right in with places, names, and situations I wasn't familiar with, it slowly dawned on me that this was Verity/Julie herself telling the narrative of how she met her best friend and pilot and how she herself ended up in France as a confession to her torturers.

And the brilliance of Verity herself is the brilliance of the author. Verity/Julie is an unreliable narrator, and as she weaves truth and lies together, a picture emerges of an amazing friendship, the amazing bravery of small acts, and the ways women can help eachother fly.

"Keep Flying the Plane, Maddie." ; "Kiss me quick, Hardy" These two phrases, by the end of the accounts of flying planes secretly across the channel, hiding out with the resistance, wire operators risking their lives, muddled ethics of collaboraters who may not be all what they seem, etc, gain an emotional resonance that is impossible to ignore.

Splendid, difficult, emotional, wonderful book. My pre-teen tried to read it and she was a bit confused. I would say that while the worst is implied and happens off-screen, some background knowledge on world war II and the political situation is necessary to understand since we are plunged right into Verity's tale.

This review is of an ARC received from NetGalley.

There are few books that leave me speechless.

This would be one of them.

I'll admit, I had my reservations in the beginning. The narrator RAMBLES like whoa. I mean, I was reading on a screen and I saw pages taken up by just two paragraphs and I thought "Swell, this is just going and going and I'm going to be bored to tears."

I wasn't. Not by a long shot.

Usually, if the narrator rambles, I get bored and lose interest. Not here. Sometimes I feel like narrators in YA lack a distinct voice, but-again-not here. Verity HAS VOICE. Verity HAS PRESENCE. Despite the fact that she tells her story from Maddie's point of view, talking about herself in the first person, I felt like I was seeing into Verity's soul. There was no doubt in my mind about the voice that was just flying off the pages, talking to my heart. She not only managed to win me over despite rambling, but also despite talking about herself in the third person, which is huge. (The third person thing makes sense later, but I can't say anything about that!)

Plus, I was expecting a pretty dark, dramatic book. It is both of those things, but imagine my surprise when I found myself laughing out loud multiple times while I was reading. While Verity is being held by the Gestapo. I was laughing. That's how spectacular Verity is. That's how strong she is. That's what this book is like.

I'd also like to give a brief shout out on a very touchy subject. Not only is Verity a rounded person, but the German Officer who interrogates her is also a rounded character. He isn't this mindless drone, which I found very refreshing and made the book even more real. It would have been so, so easy to stereotype this guy, but Wein didn't. She MADE IT REAL.

You have no idea how hard it is not to comment on the second half of the book. I literally don't know how to write about that. I'll admit, personally here I found the voice weaker and several things too rushed, but at the same time I can't imagine certain events having differently, not if they still wanted to be real. The ending is very bittersweet, so I suppose my mixed feelings are supposed to be there.

And trust me, all of my feelings are there.

I could get technical. I could. I could talk for ages about the rambling, the technicalities, and the story tangents that don't make sense til the second half of the book. With any other book, I would. But with this one, I just can't. Code Name Verity was just one of those books.

A good book is fun to read. A good book takes you to a new place for a time, but then you put it down and you go on with your life. Code Name Verity was not a good book.

Code Name Verity was a great book.

It was the kind of book with images, words and ideas that get under your skin. The kind of story that melts into your heart. It was an experience that is with you long after you've closed the book. THAT is the kind of story that comes with Code Name Verity.

Phenomenal. There's a word I don't use lightly, but there is no other way to describe Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity. I hate sounding like a gushing fan girl, but the young adult surprised me in the best possible way. There are light notes, but the story itself is tempered by the dark realities of WWII and the end result truly remarkable.

Much has been said about the 2012 release, but few reviewers have mentioned Wein's characterizations. Verity, Maddie, Engel, and Millitrette are all strong in different ways. These women defy convention, but not one among them rejects their femininity and I think that an incredibly powerful message. I often see woman painted as homemakers or tomboys and I was profoundly moved to see an author reject conventional tropes in favor of something genuine, multidimensional, and authentic.

That said, Verity stands as a very special character. In contrast to most authors, Wein doesn't shove her headliner's savvy down the throats of her audience in some Sherlock Holmes inspired expositional display of pseudo-intellectualism. In a rather ingenious move, Wein puts everything on the table from the very beginning, hiding Verity's intellect and brass in plain sight while she directs attention toward other elements of the narrative. The end result is subtle, but indisputably brilliant.

Historically speaking... well, I'm not sure I want to go into too much detail on that account. Suffice it to say Wein doesn't hold back. I'm not sure that the description of torture, execution, and death are appropriate for every reader, but I personally thought the author's decision not to hold back intensely admirable considering the subject matter. History loses its value when we downplay the parts we don't care to consider and I think novels like this help those lessons alive through honest and unfiltered illustration of human history.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up Code Name Verity, but the title proved an intense and complex narrative that vividly recreates the intensity of the era. An absolute must read for one and all.

Maddie and Queenie are young women at the outset of WWII in England who have incredible skills that can help the Allies. Maddie is a pilot and a whiz with anything mechanical. Queenie can speak English, French and German fluently and can fake her way through any situation cool as a cucumber. But neither of them is enabled to use those talents at first. They have to stick to approved women's roles for a while such as operating the radios, but eventually superior officers notice their talents and both are recruited into more fitting roles. The story of how they got into their current positions and how they got to know each other is being told in a confession as Queenie is being interrogated by the Gestapo. She has been caught in France on an assignment Maddie dropped her off for, but something went wrong and there was a crash. Queenie has cracked under torture and is giving them what they want in exchange for things like clothing and a blanket. But halfway through the book the reader is thrown for a loop. (view spoiler)

I normally don't want books to be made into movies because I'm afraid Hollywood will mess up the story, but I think this one would make a great movie. I totally didn't see the twist in the story coming, and the plotline is haunting in a moving way. It would be a great WWII movie, especially as the focus is on the roles of women in the war, something not much covered. It also has several topics that would help spark good discussions in HS classes or book clubs, like how Maddie & Queenie's top ten fears change over the course of the book and whether Maddie did the right thing during the failed rescue attempt or not. (view spoiler)

Notes on content: There is a good amount of swearing, some strong in British and American swear words. Not as much as in The Book Thief, and the second half of the book hardly has any swearing. One female character's breasts are groped, and another has to deal with a womanizer (but manages to get rid of him) who is known for putting his hands where they shouldn't go. No other sexual content. There's a good amount of torture mentioned (rarely described in detail) and some plane crashes and shooting. One character tells about surviving crashing in freezing water but only manages to save 4 of all his fingers and toes. There's also a beheading, an assisted suicide mentioned and a mercy killing. No gory details. Most of the trauma is psychological. True to the age, almost all adults in the book smoke. There is also consumption of alcohol a couple of times (not to the point of drunkenness or abuse), and the French Resistance uses a drug to help them stay awake and alert on two occasions (and also to knock someone out 2 times).

The Skinny
Despite the historical setting of World War II, the book presented the roles of the female pilots during the time. Due to this, there are numerous references to Peter Pan and Neverland in the book. The two main characters are extremely brave young girls working for the Air Transport Auxiliary in German-occupied France. The Auxiliary was formed by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) – which is referenced as Churchill’s Secret Army – to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe.

A British spy plane crashes in the fictional town of Ormaie. On board are two best friends, a pilot (code name: Kittyhawk) and a spy (code name: Verity). The latter is soon captured by Nazi authorities, detained in a former hotel, and forced to write a confession detailing the British war effort, which she decides to write in the form of a novel. Through her confession, she tells the story of her friendship with Maddie, the pilot, and how she came to enter France in the first place. She was always doing the unthinkable. She was fixing engines, and flying planes. She used to be graceful and a woman that all the women radio operators envied. The guard who translates is really offput by this woman who was nicknamed Queenie by women operators, and who never gives up her name to reveal that she is Lady Julia Lindsay MacKenzie Wallace Beaufort-Stuart from Castle Craig.

In the second part of the plot, the story is told from Maddie’s point of view, and reveals the events that transpired after the plane crash that left both girls in France. Maddie takes on the name and the papers of Katharina. She takes up an elaborate plan to free her friend and lays low on a farm with Resistance army members – including the family of one of the Nazis who tortures Julie.

Even though they are separated, the two meet again under tragic circumstances. Prisoners are being transported to concentration camps for experiments.

The Players
Queenie/Julie (code name Verity) – a Scottish spy who has been caught by the Gestapo who works for the SOE; a whiz at languages; can pass as a German native
Maddie (code name Kittyhawk) – an English farmer’s daughter who is also Jewish; she becomes an ATA pilot
Captain Von Linden – Verity’s captor at the hotel-turned-prison; he refuses to watch her be tortured
Anna Engel – an operative under Von Linden; constantly undermining Verity’s story
Etienne Thibaut – a young man under Von Linden; interacts and tortures Verity
Mitraillette and La Cadette Thibaut – sisters of Etienne; they help Maddie in her efforts to find Verity
Jamie Stuart – Verity’s brother, also an ATA pilot

The Quotes

A whore, we’ve established that, filthy, it goes without saying, but whatever else the hell I am, I AM NOT ENGLISH.

But I have told the truth. Isn’t that ironic? They sent me because I am so good at telling lies. But I have told the truth.

A part of me will be unflyable, stuck in the climb.

Kiss me, Hardy. Kiss me, QUICK!

The Highs and Lows
+ Point of View. The first-person POV made the story so much more emotional for me. I felt closer to Maddie and Queenie. Their emotions and fears became my own. I didn’t want to stop listening to their story.

+ Format. The stories are told through series of letters and journal entries. Typically I tend to zone out with these type of reads because I feel like I’m missing some important element – whatever the author is really trying to portray is not getting across to me. But this was not the case in Code Name Verity. The story felt more historical, documented.

+ An Incredible Friendship. Sometimes it is difficult to fully reveal all the facets and intricacies of a friendship, especially between girls. Maybe it’s because we’re more complicated. Wein finds a way to overcome these issues and reveals the beauty of Queenie and Maddie’s friendship. It’s like I knew exactly who Verity was, even with all of her pseudonyms and covers, and who Maddie is through her eyes.

Historical Accuracy. Elizabeth Wein has a fabulous afterward about how the book came into creation, in which she explicitly explains how historically accurate the book is. She spent an incredible amount of time researching and the dedication to detail shows in the story.

Maddie. Maddie LOVES Julie. She is her friend beyond all reason. Surely the ends she goes to proves that. More, she is put in very compromising positions. One being hiding out on the Thibaut family farm. She faces the unimaginable and must make a decision that leaves her utterly heartbroken. She proves just how much she loves her best friend and it made me wail and keen, hiding in the bedroom bathroom, tears streaming down my face. I cannot say that I am as good a friend as Maddie.

Julie. She is such a mix of a person, described in so many ways. She is a Scottish Lady, who dressed smartly and waltzed at large parties at Castle Craig. She is Queenie, a girl interested in mechanics and engines and flying. She is Eva, an SOE spy. She is a living contradiction of herself, and yet she is every woman. Every woman she describes herself as. Everything except a coward.

The End. The Peter Pan references are sprinkled throughout the book, but it meant the world to me that Julie’s mother tells Maddie she is always welcome in their home, to come back to Scotland, and the window would always be open.

The Take-Away
I don’t think I can articulate one singular thing I liked about this book the best. I thought it was so incredibly well-written and researched, and with the relationship Wein intertwined with Julie and Maddie is so strong and so everything that I couldn’t help but fall in love with each of them and their friendship. I couldn’t keep myself from hoping beyond hope.

Recommendation – Buy, Borrow or Skip?
Buy it. Read it. Be moved. Talk about it. Read it again, to your children and grandchildren. It is a story worth telling. It is a story worth sharing. It is a story worth remembering.

It really is my fault. I didn't pay close attention when I read about it. I didn't realize it was a book for young adults. I just thought I was buying a spy novel and I like spy novels. There's way too much info on WWll airplanes. I have no interest in them. If you're young and you do then this may be the book for you. It's very slow moving and not a spy novel in the traditional sense but a story about a friendship between two young girls. I'll pay more attention to what I'm buying next time. If you're young and you like stories about a young person's first close friendship and you love vintage airplanes then this book is right up your alley.

I liked this book, for the most part. I loved Verity and seeing her fire off the story.

The only problem is Maddie. She's okay, but I found Verity a way more interesting character. She seemed a bit boring to me, which may be partly because THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS ABOUT FLYING. I felt like I was nodding off whenever there was a detailed part about flying. Seeing the scenery in the air? Fine! Reading about a plane being hit? Great! Reading about EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY WENT WRONG IN LANGUAGE LESS EXCITING THAN THE DICTIONARY, YEAH WE'VE GOT SOME PROBLEMS THERE.
And yes, the second half of the book was a complete bore. I found myself flipping forward to see how long until the book ends. I also never trusted Engel. At all. Eh.
Yes, I got the waterworks in the second half of the book, but it could have been condensed a bit.

Kind of wish I didn't know all the author's that are boasting love to the two girls. (It seriously seems like all of them.)
So, the first and last parts of the chapters, bravo! Brilliant! The middle, not so much. (Unless Queenie or Jamie was there.)

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

“Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein is a smart and heartrending young adult novel about friendship and courage during World War II. In October, 1943 a British airplane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and a passenger, two girls who also happen to be best friends, have come here on a secret mission. But the mission is in danger as Nazis capture “Verity,” one of the girls, and make her write out a confession. “Verity” tells the truth, but it might not be the truth the Nazi interrogators want to hear.

THUMBS UP:

1) All worth it in the end.
“Code Name Verity” is one of those books that are very hard to evaluate. Although it is NOT a fast read and quite often it was easier for me to put the book down than pick it back up (obviously, not a good sign), I am glad I read it and would actually recommend it, as the story is thought-provoking, complex and heart-wrenching.

2) Realistic and educational.
Even though “Code Name Verity” is fictional, Wein’s thorough research made the characters, events and random details in the book seem not only plausible but also very realistic (the author also does a great job pointing all this out in the Author’s Debriefing). Reading this book I learned quite a few things about World War II, which is ALWAYS a good thing. In addition, Wein masterfully recreates wartime atmosphere, showing rather than telling the reader how horrible, pointless and unfair the war is and how such hard times bring out the best - and the worst - in people.

COULD BE BETTER:

1) Slow-paced and effortful read.
I needed to put quite some effort to get through the first two thirds of the book, mainly because there were way too many details about British air force during WWII, different types of aircraft and flying in general. It is educational, yes, but, unfortunately, not something I am particularly interested in. Later the speed picked up a little as there was more action and the puzzle pieces started coming together, but I wish the whole book was like that, not only the last hundred pages.

2) Not very engaging.
I am not a fan of war novels or historical fiction in general and I am not into spy stories or aviation either so it might be me, not you, but I found “Name Code Verity” neither thrilling nor mind-blowing. It might be due to a painfully slow beginning, but, even though towards the end there were quite a few suspenseful moments, and I even unexpectedly burst into tears a couple of times, I actually never felt fully drawn into the story. Although the characters are very realistic and multi-dimensional, I had a hard time relating to and caring about them. In the end, I was VERY surprised how much the story actually moved me, because throughout most of the book I didn’t feel like I cared at all.

3) Unrealistic format.
Although it didn’t really bother me, I cannot but notice that the story format is not very realistic. For example, I don’t think Nazi interrogators would have let anyone write a confession as a super long essay (think a few hundred pages) consisting mostly of irrelevant personal memories, insults and detailed descriptions of imprisonment experience.

VERDICT: 3 out of 5

Although“Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein is quite a slow and not very engaging read, it is a realistic, thought-provoking, complex and heart-wrenching young adult novel, which, in the end, makes your efforts worthwhile.

POST SCRIPTUM:

It’s neither an advantage nor a disadvantage, but this book doesn’t seem like a young adult novel to me, at least not in a typical way; even the protagonists seem older than usual (check out Chuck Wendig’s article “25 Things You Should Know About Young Adult Fiction” to see what I mean: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/06/04/25-things-you-should-know-about-young-adult-fiction/). On the other hand, maybe that’s why this book appeals to so many adult readers…

Two young women- a pilot and a spy- best friends on a torturous adventure of intrigue and grit during WWII.

"Kiss Me, Hardy!" Queenie quoting Nelson

"Just fly the plane, Maddie" a young ATA pilot, Maddie

The story opens with a young woman at a Nazi SS headquarters in France feverishly writing down what she knows in journal format. She has been tortured and now has struck a deal with the SS Captain to buy herself two weeks of time. The woman flashes back and tells the story of another young woman, Maddie, who dreams of flying planes, learns to fly and does her part for the war first in communications and then as an ATA pilot. The story brings the two women together and tells of what happens up until the fateful crash in France and the woman's capture.

Interspersed with her history and that of the dead pilot her friend are the horrid times with further interrogation, listening to others be 'interrogated', and trying to stay one step ahead of torture, death or worse- being sent off to the place where women spies or traitors are sent to be experimented on until killed. But throughout it all, she works to finish the account.

When the woman's story is finally told, the story switches to Maddie's story of surviving the crash, hiding with the French Resistance, and discovering her friend is alive and one of the prisoners nearby. Maddie slowly figures out what her friend's operation was before capture and is determined to finish it before making her way back to England probably for a court martial and hanging of her own for flying to France in the first place.

This story had barely begun before I was riveted and felt turned inside out knowing what punishing torture this girl and others underwent while being interrogated. She was supposedly cooperating and still was treated little better than an animal. The story describes setting, the Nazi staff, and the situation in cold detail.

It is a twisting tale that is much more than it seems though there are hints of this if the reader is paying attention. I felt the flashbacks in the journals and the current thread were easily followed and found it a good method for telling this story.

The characters are colorful and in depth, human with flaws and strengths.

Historical setting felt authentic and balanced with the plot. The author admits to taking some liberties and using made up places and names to make the story work. And it did work so that I felt I was there.

I experienced this story through audio format and enjoyed the dual narration of Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell. They brought their characters into vivid life. The throb of fear, pain, deprivation and hope were all there. Each character and accent were distinct and not overdone. I would definitely listen to more of their work.

All in all, this was amazing and left me feeling emotionally spent when it was over. Fantastic writing and a story that will stick with me for a long while. I recommend this one for older YA and adults who are drawn to historical fiction full of intrigue and suspense.

What a wonderful novel.

This book, set during World War II, weaves together a variety of threads: historical drama, espionage, women breaking and defying boundaries, the thrills and dangers of flying WWII-era planes, operations of the French resistance, wartime secrecy, how human beings react to intense pressure . . . but the fundamental core is a story of friendship, and it is that story that brought me to tears.

The wealth of historical detail serves as a backdrop to a suspenseful, indeed gripping, plot enacted by beautifully conceived characters. The plot twists stay (if sometimes, not by a large margin) on the plausible side of unlikely.

This is a book that will stay with me -- and, I would guess, with many a reader -- for a long time.

This is historical fiction at its best. Two young women are swept up into WWII service and intrigue, with a gut-wrenching ending. Women in Great Britain and the U.S. were ready and able to take on whatever duties they could in order to be part of the war effort. This novel follows two of them who are involved with the British RAF and military intelligence/Resistance undercover operations to bring down the Nazis in occupied France. Although from very different backgrounds, the two become fast friends and find themselves relying on their wits, conscience and inner strength to meet the challenges that are set before them. Their circumstances are portrayed in both a matter-of-fact and highly emotional manner, with excellent writing sweeping the reader right into the action. I do wonder, however, why this book is classified as Young Adult? It is just good historical fiction, for readers of any age.

Almost to the end of this novel the reader is concerned that they are following the words of a traitor as this World War II novel follows the lives of two English females in the Royal Air Force. When their plane crashes in France, “Verity” the spy is tortured, and its not til the end you learn whether she’s been telling the truth to her German tormentors. Meanwhile, her friend, the pilot, has been hidden by the resistance. Excellent reading up to the last page.
The word is murder
Horowitz always writes a good mystery, and placing himself front and center in this book makes it even more interesting, His sidekick, a dour former British police detective adds to the story.

Who writes these reviews? The way this story is told is not interesting at all. I want to return. I am wondering if I can trust the store reviews when this was reviewed by so many and given such a high rating!

While I struggled to get into this novel at the beginning, as the story progressed, I was absorbed into the story of two young women and their lives and struggles during one of the most hideous wars in all of history. The plot focuses on the cruelty and life altering reality of war and a beautiful friendship that thrives despite the all-encompassing affect that war has on their lives. While I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, the war and plane lingo was a little confusing for me as well as all the abbreviations. I struggled to keep concepts and definitions in mind and I earnestly believe I would’ve benefitted from a glossary in the back or front of the book to help me sort, remember, and understand the terminology of a world at war that I’ve never had to experience.

The characters are realistic and even more so, impressive. Verity and her best friend are real young women with hopes, aspirations, flaws, fears and a passionate friendship they hold on to during the tragedies or war. Their odd circumstances allow them to develop and grow, conquer fears and develop new ones, as well as the many minor characters who are incredible and dynamic in their own right.

The writing is solid and the method of storytelling is unique, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable as you read it as “Verity’s” confession to the Gestapo. The unique style of a confession that both describes the past and current events is impressive and Verity is an odd but fun story teller that keeps you on your toes.

This story is a perfect example of historical fiction that both educates and embellishes on history and provides powerful characters with a interesting style of storytelling. Again, the only problem was the amount of war and plane terminology but it was enough to throw me at times and leave me going back to check or looking it up on my phone, which took me out of the story. But in the end, this book stands apart from others as a real work of literary achievement.

Code Name Verity was a totally unknown book for me -- hadn't heard of it and didn't know anything about this novel. So, one evening when I curled up with my new book, I realized that I seldom read books anymore without preconceived opinions -- having read reviews or based on recommendations of my respected reader friends and family.
There's a magic to opening an unknown book and I found myself having a tingle of excitement.
Note to self: do this more often.

Book Description: Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

The novel is targeted to the YA audience, but has a maturity that makes it suitable for any age. The structure is unique and fresh. Verity is forced to write out her confession, give up military codes to get her clothes back one by one. And does she write! Verity writes and writes her confession in a sometimes meandering miss-mash of present, past, her friendship with fellow pilot Maddie, details about the planes, and most heartbreaking the suffering she and her fellow captives experience.

The confession is for Captain Von Linden (her captor) and it soon becomes clear that he is as interested in her story as gaining spy knowledge. Verity knows this and she plays games with him during the writing. It's a narrative to be read slowly and without distraction as historical details abound, there are humorous passages and many clues are given.

The characters cross over mid-novel, the narrative changes and the story takes a major twist. No spoilers here, just trust that things get really exciting and scarey.

I was drawn into these strong women (called girls throughout the book) and their equally strong friendship. I was also fascinated by the historical details especially about England's WWII women transport pilots.

I think readers of any age will be drawn into this war time novel of endurance, secrets, friendship, and most importantly strong women role models.

My Blog: www.bookbarmy.com

The story opens with Verity, a secret agent sent to Occupied France by the British, being held prisoner by the Gestapo during World War II. After being tortured for weeks, Verity struck a deal which allowed her to regain a modicum of civility but which also included having her write all she knew about the Royal Air Force (RAF) and her role with the British.

As Verity’s story unfolds we meet Maddie, a rare female pilot in the RAF who became Verity’s best friend. As their stories of bravery, friendship, and survival in the midst of fear and the unknown are revealed, readers will be hard pressed to keep their tears and emotions in check.

“Code Name Verity” won the Michael L. Printz Honor Award in 2013, given by YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association). It also was listed on the 2013 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten list, and won numerous other awards. All are well deserved.

Highly recommended for ages 16 and older, including Adults.

Code Name Verity opens with a young woman, a prisoner of the Germans in France during World War II, writing the confession they have demanded of her, in order to escape the torture she hasn't been able to withstand. As the story progresses, it become clear we are getting the stories of two young women. Onc is Maddie, daughter of a bicycle shop owner, who rescues a pilot from a crashed plane, starting a chain of events leading to her becoming a transport pilot once the war starts. The other is a young woman called Queenie, initially a wireless operator, who speaks German. She gets recruited first as a translator, and then as an interrogator.

Both women want to contribute more directly to the war effort.

In alternating chapters, we get the prisoner's account of Maddie's experiences, and her meeting with and growing friendship with Queenie, and the prisoner's experiences in the hotel the Germans have made their prison. And, gradually, we begin to understand her motivation and the real goal of her actions.

There's lots of tension and excitement, here, but also lots of character development. Wein explores what was until recently a largely overlooked part of the war: the participation of women in quite dangerous, critical wartime activities, including both espionage and the movement of planes. This was both an absorbing novel, and a fascinating look at a part of the war that was neither armed clashes nor cracking codes.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

Re-read update 2017-06-19: I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so decided it was a good time for a re-read by audiobook of one of my very favourite historical fiction/holocaust novels. It did not disappoint, and really helped to pass the day away. I fell in love with the first narrator, with her Scottish accent, immediately. She really made Verity come to life. It took me a little bit longer to get into the groove of the second half. At first I thought it was because the narrator for Maddy sounded too old; however, I looked them up and they are only a year apart in age. Once I got through a couple of chapters, the voice of Maddy really grew on me and I really hope that it's the same narrator for Rose Under Fire. I do have to say that the emotions are different on re-read. This time, I got teary as soon as Verity mentioned the term "Kiss me, Hardy". And, of course, teared up later on, even though I knew what was coming.

All I knew about this book, going in, was that it was about a WWII female pilot, but that it was a great story, with a great friendship. I found it a little slow-going at first, but eventually I found it extremely hard to put down. I finally forced myself to go to bed last night once I got to Part Two. Today, I finished and it just got better and better, until it SHOCKED me! This story is just brilliant, heartbreaking, and is truly a great story about real friendship. I am so glad that I read it. 5 stars!

Maci's Review - Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is about a the story of two best friends and how they survived in Nazi occupied France. Maddie is a pilot and is doing her best to help in the war as a women and she meets Julie who comes from a rich background. Julie goes into becoming a spy, her code name is Verity, and it ends up that Maddie is going to drop Julie off in France. The drop off goes awry and Maddie does not know how Verity is doing. Eventually Verity is caught by the Gestapo and given a choice. Confess or be tortured and die. Verity decides to confess and through her confession we learn her story as well as Maddie's story. Verity just wants to make it home and for Maddie to be alright. But is it worth it to betray her country..... This book is amazing with one of the most unpredictable endings I have ever read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes World War II Historiacal Fiction and spy books. There is the ultimate plot twist.

Zoe's Review - This is a wonderful heart wrenching book that anyone who likes historical fiction should read. I normally do not like to reread books, but I realized that I wanted to read it again when I saw other people reading it. It was so worth rereading and I did not think that the second time reading it was boring. This book is about friendship and World War II. In this book, two best friends Maddie and Verity have to learn about friendship and survival. Maddie is a pilot and when her plane goes down while flying her friend to France, she too gets stuck in Nazi occupied France. Verity is a spy and gets captured by the Gestapo in Nazi occupied France. Verity has to make hard decision about whether or not to confess to the Nazis while Maddie tries to figure out what has happened to her friend. This story is told first from the perspective of Verity and secondly from the perspective of Maddie. It is really cool the way that the stories are so connected and woven together despite them not knowing what is happening to the other. This would be a great book club book and leaves many things open to debate. I loved it the whole way through and could not put it down. If you just want a good story or like historical fiction this is the book for you.

I took a bit of a risk I think, my very first audio book AND Historical fiction... My most detested of all genres... But I enjoyed it! Just didn't LOVE it like so many others seem to have done.

The story is written (or told in this case) by two best friends set in World War 2. The first part of the novel is written by Queenie who is a prisoner of war, caught in France by the gestapo. She is made to write an account of why she is in German occupied France, and of her friendship with Maddie, who was flying the plane that brought her into France. The second part of the book is Maddie's version of events. The first part of the novel written by Queenie is obviously written under duress, and although entertaining, it is not till the second part that it all comes together and the whole truth is revealed.

It was a good book. Extremely well written. The characters were written flawlessly and the research that must have gone into this, especially the planes and navigation parts, was amazingly thorough!

The audio version itself was impressive. The beautiful Scottish accent of the first narrator was wonderful. I really enjoyed the audio version. I don't think if i read the written version of this book, i would have enjoyed it quite so much. I enjoyed the audio version because I could do other things. Unfortunately I am yet to master housework and reading at the same time so this allows me to do just that. Its funny, when I read a book I can't remember much about where I was when I read it. With this audio version I can remember the EXACT moment of the most pivotal shocking moment of the book - I was unloading the dishwasher and nearly dropped a plate!

I really enjoyed how the story came together with the second narrator. Everything started to make more sense and it was extremely interesting. Overall though there were quite a few slower parts but then something really interesting would happen to peak my interest again.

It took me a while to get used to listening to a book being read for me. I haven't been read to since I was a child so it was a bit difficult for me to stick with it at first. But as the story started to flow I was all in.

I would have liked a little bit of romance. I saw potential there, just to throw a bit in, but nothing really happened. I understand though it was hardly a romantic setting!

Overall I really enjoyed it. However I as I said, I didn't LOVE it. But that's not the books fault! Its all me! Its still the highest rating I've ever given a historical fiction before.

Between 3.5 and 4 Stars

You get lucky sometimes and discover really solid stories. Occasionally you get clever characters to go along with it. If the writing is spectacular as well, then you’ve really hit the goldmine. This book is one of those rare finds. Code Name Verity is everything a book should be: engaging, entertaining, educational, and fascinating. It is incredibly well researched and that gives it a confident air of authority with its subjects. This book is fiction but reads like it could be true. As the author states in the afterward, everything is plausible.
I listened to this story as an audio book and that was a good part of my enjoyment of it. Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell do a tremendous job of narrating their characters. Both of them have a wonderful knack for accents, allowing them to traverse the range of Scottish, English, French, and German characters with fluid ease. The real joy of that narration lies in the beauty of Elizabeth Wein’s prose. I don’t typically gush about the quality of writing in a book because it is so rare to find writing that is as lush and gorgeous as this. Wein is a master at precise details that get you right into the scene without overwhelming you with description. Her accuracy likewise gives the reader confidence in her telling. The story of a young female pilot and her clever friend the spy would never have soared to the heights it did if Wein did not give it the accuracy it needed. Wein is a pilot herself and that first-hand knowledge of aircraft and machines shone through in her descriptions of the WWII era equipment that her characters dealt with. As a pilot and aircraft mechanic myself, I relished the accuracy of her account, a rare treat among a number of already satisfying aspects of this tale.
This is a story about love and friendship. The bond between Maddie and Julie is believable and heartwarming. It makes you care, and that is the sign of great writing. When these two characters share their stories, you listen because you can feel yourself in the story, or you want to. WWII and the horrors of Nazi occupation come to life because you desperately want these characters to succeed and you are legitimately concerned for their safety. The rich detail of Wein’s writing does wonders to breathe life into not just the charm of the characters, but also the horrors they face.
There are a couple of aspects of the plot that do require a bit of suspension of disbelief. One especially pivotal aspect of the plot had me scratching my head at the actions of the characters when I thought there were obvious and better alternatives, but once I calmed that bit of anger down, I was able to get reinvested in the story and its conclusion. In the end, whether you believe this story could have legitimately happened this way or not, you go along for the ride because you have become invested in the characters. On top of that, the plot involves some subtle and very satisfying twists that continue to surprise you long after you thought you had things figured out. That level of intrigue did justice to the spy elements of this story just as thoroughly as Wein’s exquisite details did on the aviation side.
The only downside to the audio book for me was that I wasn’t able to stop and highlight some of the beautiful phrases and descriptions Wein uses. Her splendid vocabulary and gift for language made me envious and determined to write better. Her story is not just written, but crafted, in the true meaning of the word. Code Name Verity is time richly spent and I recommend it highly. This book deserves all five of its stars and then some.

The minute I finished listening to this book, I started it from the beginning again. I have never done that before. There are so many subtle connections and details that I just had to go back to be able to reconcile them all. In a way, I wanted to honor the bravery and tenacity of the characters by not taking one word of theirs for granted. As I write this, it sounds so silly to feel that way about fictional characters, but that just proves how brilliant the writing is. Code Name Verity is a book that I will never forget.

4.5 KISS ME HARDY Stars

Last year The Book Thief was one of my favorite reads. It is a special book that can pretty much tell you how it will end early on and then still break your heart when it actually happens. So too did Code Name Verity have that special magic to take me on a journey to an ending I was sure would come and yet when I got to the conclusion I knew had to happen it surprised me and broken my heart more than I thought it would or could.

“I don't recognise any of my emotions any more. There's no such thing as plain joy or grief. It's horror and relief and panic and gratitude all jumbled together.”

WWII is such a dark period in our recent history and reading this book from the viewpoint of two women involved in the war I want to believe that I could have been either one of these girls in this situation. I want to think that I would have stood up to play a role, any role available to me as a woman in this era. Both were so strong and brave each in a different way I loved the friendship that they shared and how each girl made the other strong and better than she would ever have been without the other. This is really a beautiful story about two friends who would do anything for the other.

Verity and Maddie met during the war when they were both just lowly wireless operators and translators. But each is tenacious and quickly they move up in the ranks so to speak. Maddie becoming a pilot and Verity becoming a spy. We meet Verity when she has already been captured by the Gestapo and has decided to sell her story to them for her clothing, a blanket and some paper. She knows that once she is done telling her story they will kill her but this is her last chance to draw out her execution. She decides to write everything from the PoV of her best friend Maddie.

You might think that everything would be sad and all doom and gloom. But Verity is remarkably funny and full for life even in her imprisonment, she is a fighter. The way Verity describes the guards holding her in her writings and how she gives them ironic names to make them less scary to her all just add showing the spark of life in Verity. She is courageous even when she is pretending to be a coward.

Von Linden the head officer in charge of Verity’s interrogation is complicated. I hate him as he goes about torturing all of the other prisoners but he seems to have seen something in Verity that impresses him. She has a way of breaching the defenses of those around her. He lets her tell the story the way she wants and sometimes debates with her. It makes you wonder if there wasn’t a war what kind of person he would be, certainly not an interrogator or a sadist but maybe a professor of literature. How many people wanted to be part of the war and how many played their part so they wouldn’t end up on the other side of the bars.

“Nothing like an arcane literary debate with your tyrannical master while you pass the time leading to your execution.”

In the end after his fate I find it hard to believe he would have been a bad person if not for the war. He did so many awful things, horrendous things but he is a complicated villain and I really want to believe that if he could have or if he had it to do over again he might have chosen to save Verity himself. There are so many victims in a war on both sides and he is just as much a victim as villain.

I don’t know a lot about planes and flying so I didn’t get into some of the more technical aspects of the book but they didn’t detract too much from my overall enjoyment. I was so wrapped up in Verity’s writing that I was a little distraught when the book shifted to Maddie. Everything slowed down a bit here until we come to the culmination of Verity’s fate.

“Don't know how I kept going. You just do. You have to, so you do.”

This is historical fiction but it is written in such a great way that so much of it seems like it could have happened. There could have been a Maddie and Verity during WWII and most of the story is incredibly believable. The ending while incredibly emotional was also satisfying in a lot of ways.

" Please come back soon, the window is always open, fly safely."

This is a story that will stick with me now that I’m done. It is one that I will replay a few scenes in my head and ponder on them. I will marvel at the fortitude and cleverness of the characters and the lengths that some real people did go to during the WWII to protect others. Those are the characters from the book who will really stick with me, the people who risked everything to help those who had been targeted.

I recommend this for anyone who likes WWII history, tragedies or just beautifully told stories.

I am failing to see all the hype around this book, now that I have finally read it. Everywhere I turned, there was talks about this book, making me very curious but now somebody needs to tell me what all the fuss was about since I m clearly failing to see it. Ok I will admit that if everybody liked this book because of the human emotions and the quality of friendship narrated in it, then yes !! I do see that faint line but it was not enough for me majorly because the narration was clearly discouraging

I literally slept through the middle because the narration was jumping in and out of different scenarios so much that it was exhausting trying to keep a track of it and I finally succumbed to slumber and drooled all over the book…..

For me everything good in the book was ruined by the chaotic and slippery narration. I don’t know who to blame more, The language or the narration?. The language at times was too technical for one to absorb but then the jargons and terminologies used was kind of essential too so I guess that can be overlooked and then comes the foreign languages in between. What about those of us who don’t wake up every morning speaking to our Madre in French or German…? … ok fine I am even ready to overlook this since it is kind of “requirement of the script” but one thing I cannot forgive and will not forgive is the mumbling and the jumbled thought process

The narration breaks the spine of this book for me.

The author starts narration with the present scenario, the precarious situation our central character currently is..... fair enough… then she moves to flashback…totally understandable and expected and then she starts her story with constant wavering between.... past, present, what is going on inside the character’s head, the physical environment, the people around her, her daily routine….. Phew… imagine all of these whipped together in a single paragraph and you get what one might call chaos and what I call ”stop with the torture”. It totally unfair because the book undoubtedly has a very powerful story but why it used such a weak narration skill is what puzzles me.

The author starts with one thought process goes on to another, then another and then to another clubbing two or three scenes into one single and never ending sentence. I think the sentence that started with the first page ends at the very last page of the book because that is where I found that lost final full stop.

You might now think that I hate the book but the irony is that I loved the core plot of the book and felt that it had a very effective and worthy substance. its like being served caviar in a paper plate. The essence and the feel of being treated to such a delicacy is lost if you have to dig it with a plastic spoon at a road side food stall…

I don’t see how people loved the book when the language was so disruptive. The narration never sticks to one thought, scene or place and keeps running from past, present, internal thoughts, describing the people around, the architecture, history, emotions and then finally to the current turn of events and all these in one long sentence confusing where exactly the thought process started and where it stopped finally. Seriously it was like a maze, finding hard to locate the exit. But underneath all this you can’t deny that the book has a very touching and powerful story set in a time of chaos. The underlying story is a beautiful rendition of friendship and survival but wished had a smoother narration

What an absolutely delightful book! I really only read it because my 14-year old daughter read it and loved it, and I wanted to see what kind of fiction she is enjoying at the moment. I'm so glad I did. I'm a bit of a World War II buff and this one, illuminating the story of young women in the RAF or rather Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in Great Britain, made for a fascinating read.

The characters of both narrators (First Queenie or Verity, who has been captured by the Germans in Occupied France and is now being interrogated by Obersturmfuhrer von Linden, by ways of being forced to write down her story, and then Maddie, one of the few woman pilots during World War II and Queenie's best friend who also happened to pilot the plane that dropped her behind enemy lines) are exquisitely drawn (and came particularly well to life in the audio book version). The book is well researched (i.e. types of airplanes flown, RAF procedures, scenes from the Blitz, when were pens first used to replace fountain pens...) without even for a minute being long-winded, the plot is fast-paced yet lingers enough to explore the characters and allow for the occasional bit of humor. I found myself becoming one with the characters and thinking about them when I wasn't reading the book, which I usually find is the key ingredient for a great book.

I've read some of the other reviews, and there are those who thought the first part (Verity's narrative) was too long winded but the second part made up for it by way of plot twists and revelations that make you want to go back and re-read part one more carefully. I am more in the second camp: I thought particularly Verity's voice was the strongest one, and I could have listened to her (rambling) narrative for much, much longer. She is smart, funny, courageous but also humble, and only by the end of the book do you truly understand what she was telling you all along. The way she alternates her story between her current plight (being held captive by the Gestapo and forced to reveal radio codes and other secrets) and the retelling of Maddie's flight training is masterful. Maddie's narrative, told in the second part of the book, was well-written too, but I almost felt it was too fast-moving at times. I enjoyed how Verity slowly built up her story, lingered at times, got sidetracked, toyed with her captors, and turned out to be a rather unreliable narrator in the end.

This is one of those books where you turn the last page and immediately want to get going again at the beginning, to capture even more of its essence and listen more carefully to the well-crafted sentences.

I loved this book! And I didn't really expect, too. I'm not much into airplanes, so when I saw what it was about, I was kind of meh. But I thought I'd give it a try and got sucked into the story. The story is about a friendship between two young women during WWII, and the characters seem real. I love a great character driven novel. I'm not sure why it's considered a YA novel, because it doesn't read like one (and as a teacher, I've read a lot of them). It's well-written and had some twists I did not see coming. Definitely recommend!

I don't know yet how to feel about Code Name Verity. It is an amazing book. Full of heartbreak and a few sweet moments. But it also wasn't as perfect as I thought it would be. I wanted it to be more awful, in a way. But it isn't. We don't get to see any of the torture, which probably was a good thing, but I still wanted it, at least a tiny bit of it. This book focus for the most part on a friendship between two girls. And I loved that. Truly. But I did have a few issues with the writing. Didn't love it.

The writing in this book is a bit weird. Because it is told from two different point of views, but in a different way. It is told in writing. Past-tense. I'm not entirely pleased with it; wished it had been first-person, but it did make sense, and I did enjoy it. Just didn't like the writing that much. But I still managed to fall in love with this book, with the characters and the story :)

I don't know how to describe this book. I really don't. And I know my review won't be very long, because I don't really want to spoil anything ;) First, I thought this would be a short book, just over 300 pages. But oh. Code Name Verity took ages to read. Which I loved :) I won't recap the summary. But yeah. This book is about two girls at war. They are best friends. And some really bad things happen. This is the story of their friendship, and everything they go through. I did love it.

I don't know how to start. But I suppose I should start with the main character, the girl we get to know through most of the book, the point of view we read for most of the book. We shall call her Verity. She has quite many names, to be honest. A bit confusing, but I did understand them all. Anyway. I kind of adored her. The stories she told of herself and Maddie. It was amazing. Verity seemed like such an amazing person. Sweet and kind. But also fierce and amazing. She was awesome. I loved her a lot.

So of course it's her that is in the French prison. I hated it. Really, truly hated it. But. I also wanted more from it. I wanted more about the torture. I felt like we didn't get to see it at all, and that made it seem to me that there wasn't such awful things happening at all. Which I kind of disliked. Yeah. I wish it had been a bit more details, which is why I wanted a first-person point of view, and not letters in past-tense. But I did enjoy it. I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part, and it's an amazing novel.

We get to know so many characters in this book. Too many for me to remember all their names, cause they were pretty complicated. But I do remember Anna Engel, who works in the prison where Verity is. She seemed awful at first. But I started to like her later on. Awesome character. Then there is the person who does the torturing, v.Linden. Him I hated. But I also didn't hate him all the time. It was a bit confusing. He was an amazing character, though. But I don't think he was the villain, to be honest.

The villain of this book is Adolf Hitler, and the war. I mean, it isn't about him at all, this book. But yeah. It is set in that time. I must admit to not knowing much about that time at all, except for a few important things, but after having read this book I want to read more from that time set. There is a lot of war in this book. But, yeah, not enough violence and action for me. It became boring at times. Sigh. But I loved it, still. I loved reading about the airplanes, it was interesting, just a bit much at times.

Then there is Maddie. Verity's best friend. I loved reading about her. She's a bit shy and scared a lot, but she's a pilot, and she's amazing. She and Verity are amazing friends. Sniffs. I loved them. Then there is Verity's brother, Jamie, who I also adored. Sad about his toes, though. This is not a romance book. But there is a tiny bit romance between Maddie and Jamie. Even kisses. And I adored that. Wanted more of it too, but I'm not too sad about it. Because yeah. I did love what little we got of them together :)

Code Name Verity is a book full of feels. Lots of heartbreak. Some awful things. But also some happy ones, when we get to read the story of Verity and Maddie. I did enjoy that. But yes, I also wanted a bit more from this book. I'm glad I read it, though, and I did love it. Not going to say more about it. Just that I already knew the ending before starting the book.. And yeah. It is a heartbreaking ending, and I wish it had never happened. Don't understand why it had to. Anyway. You need to read this book :)

I listened to this and I know if I was reading it, I would have given up. The audio narrators were wonderful, but the story could have been 1oo pages shorter. It is a deep and moving tale of two best friends who both meet up during WW2. They both work for the RAF and are the best at their jobs. Maddy and Julie/ The story is told in two parts. If you love history and love learning about flying and planes, this might be the book for you, For me it was good at times and then agonizingly slow. I have read so many books on this time period and although this is a very detailed story of the war effort and their friendship, I was ready for it to be over.

This story was a beautiful novel of love and friendship amidst the turmoil and tragedy of war. It will twist your heart and break it into pieces and perhaps make you cry (don’t worry, I surprisingly held it together and didn’t cry).

This is the story of two girls during WWII, Queenie and Maddie. It starts in the perspective of Queenie, a British wireless operator who got caught and was writing a log for the Nazis. She tells the story of her best friend Maddie, a pilot for the British army. She tells the story of their friendship and how they got to this point: two best friends who may never see each other again.

My Review:
This book wasn’t easy for me to get into. It took me awhile and I think that’s it’s because how it’s set up. It’s not the traditional narrator, plot, dialogue story. The entire story is written in logs meant for her enemy. So she’s not an entirely reliable narrator and I think I had a hard time with that. Mostly Queenie is telling the story of Maddie, but it was written as if Queenie was an omniscient narrator…which she’s not. So that threw me off. They do address this later, though, and my mind has changed a lot about this. I think it works. It works well. And if I had time I would read it again so I can have a different perspective in this beginning.

I started getting attached to the characters when Queenie’s emotions started breaking through the narrative of the logs. The first quote I wrote down from her is: “God what a mess. I have to stop here until I stop crying or it will all be illegibly smeared. . . sorry sorry sorry”
No punctuation at the end, just raw emotion. I felt for her so strongly here even though I didn’t know what had happened to make her so sad.

Also the FORESHADOWING. The TENSION. So much and so well done. I was getting so nervous to continue because I thought I knew what was coming (I didn’t) but I needed to keep reading anyway (I did). Look at this beautiful quote: “It’s awful, telling it like this, isn’t it? As though we didn’t know the ending. As though it could have another ending. It’s like watching Romeo drink poison. Every time you see it you get fooled into thinking his girlfriend might wake up and stop him. Every single time you see it you want to shout, ‘You stupid ass, just wait a minute,’ and she’ll open her eyes! ‘Oi, you, you twat, open your eyes, wake up! Don’t die this time!’ But they always do.” Ahhhhhh.

This book questions the meaning of an identity. What does a name mean? Does it even matter? Not really since we don’t even learn the real name of Queenie until about halfway through the book. There are so many code names and created versions of memories that you wonder what’s true and what’s important…but you can definitely come to a conclusion: friendship and love. That‘s what’s important. Even more than truth.

My recommendation: Read the book. Cry over the book. Love the book.

Originally posted [...]

How? How am I even supposed to review this book? I just want to throw my hands up, tell you that it's amazing and that you better have a whole box of tissues sitting next to you the whole time, because you will sob like a little lost toddler. Can I get away with that being my review? I don't think i can, so I'm going to tell you what I can, which in all reality, isn't much. This is one of those books that you need to go into knowing very little about. It's all about the way that it's written.

Wein has written a book filled with historical facts and interesting things that make this book one hell of an interesting read. As a pilot herself, she is able to make the flying aspects of the book as real feeling as if you were actually reading a log book from the war. The writing style was a bit heavy handed, but once I got used to it, it made the storytelling all that more real. The fact that it was heavy on details that I know nothing about pulled me into the story and refused to let me go.

I think where the magic in this book lies in the friendship between two best friends who are put in a position that no one should ever have to deal with. It shows a huge amount of hope as well as gives us an interesting look into World War II. The journal like accounts of what they went through, as well as the flash backs that gave us more detail on their lives before the war, build a world that will make you smile as well as feel every other single emotion on the planet.

It took me awhile to get through this one, souly from the fact that it was a very heavy read. Though this book is fiction, you know that their were people living stories that were similar to the words written on these pages. It's intense guys. But somehow Wein is able to add some very real moments where you want to smile or possibly even chuckle to yourself. She gives us a glimpse into the fact that even in the most horrible moments, our personalities and the people we have become don't fade into the background. As humans we are resilient, this book shows that.

Without a doubt I would recommend this book to everyone! I have so much love for the story within these pages and the characters who resonate as real tangible people who were made to make some terrifying decisions. I know this book will stay with me for a very long time and Wein deserves a standing ovation for this beautiful novel!

An incredibly powerful story of courage and friendship amidst the most trying and desperate of circumstances.

Set in World War II, it covers the adventures of two young women best friends--a pilot and a spy. One of them is captured by the Germans and interrogated. In return for a 2 week stay of her execution, she is to write a 'confession' and spill everything she knows to the Gestapo about the British war effort.

The first half of the book is the spy code named Verity's "confession". The second half of the book is told from the pilot's (Maddie) POV.

This isnt one of those books that just grabs you from the first page. Because of the circumstances under which it was written, the first part of the book (the confession) may not be very enjoyable or completely understandable. Verity isn't very likable--coming across as a coward and a traitor. It will take more than half the book to really get into it. But if you stick with it,the payoff is tremendous. The second part will clear up many things, and make everything worthwhile and make you want to go read the book all over again. I know this is a really vague review but to say more will spoil the plot.

There are so many layers to this story. Some actions/dialogue may seem out of place or implausible but eventually have a perfectly logical explanation. Only when you're almost done with the second part do you realize how expertly plotted the book was.

The characters will stay with you long after you're done. And if you re-read it again (especially the first part) immediately after, you'll get a whole new appreciation of the characters (Verity, Maddie, and even the 2 interrogators) and love them even more.

I had a few questions/observations about the book and there was a discussion in goodreads that was very informative and enlightening. The author popped in somewhere in the middle of the discussion to shed light on some plot 'issues'

P.S. This book is classified as YA but I find it will appeal to adults more because of the serious themes

*This review of both the audio and book versions.

The audio version is brilliantly narrated by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell. The dual narration gave this story an authentic touch and the delivery was enough to give goosebumps. So convincing was their combined delivery that on more than a few occasions I was reduced to a blubbering mess! Several times during the course of this story I had to [literally] stop and take a few deep breaths.
For audiobook lovers I would highly recommend listening to this and then reading the book as I did both and I believe it enhanced the experience of the book immensely, as it is such a detailed story you can gain a better feel for the circumstances by listening to the audio as well....imho.

Just WoW!!

Two days later and I am still at a loss for words to describe the effect that this book had on me....and I think that is because it reaches right in and touches something deeply personal, as though you had witnessed, or been privy to, this most poignant and devastating account of circumstances too real to contemplate...
...too real to even want to contemplate!

If raw emotion can be described on pages, then this author does it with a brush, rather than a pen.
Therefore, any attempt on my part...at description...would be arrogant

Just Read it!!

I will read this again. I have to read it again. I am reading it again... like kept letters.

5★s

“It's like being in love, discovering your best friend.”
― Elizabeth Wein, Code Name Verity

I got a free copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Like...almost three years ago. Life happened and I lost all electronics and...yeah. Sorry, Disney.

ANYWAY Let's talk about Verity. I haven't read too many historical novels, outside of the usual (book thief, milkweed, etc) I'm going to put this novel by Elizabeth Wein above The Book Thief (I know, right?) but at the same level as Milkweed (really I would put it above that too but I felt they were too different somehow to make a fair comparison.)

Verity had one of the most distinct, personal voices I have ever read. I was blown away with the depth of this character and I cried--luckily I got to read this in private--for her and hoped for her and oh my god, Verity, I want more.

I can't ignore Maddie, obviously, though so many people do. I like her because Verity likes her. She was also real and developed, but I may or may not have a fictional girl-crush on Verity.

There are some pretty dark themes here, but they're not there as filler. They have purpose. I would hand this to a middle-grade reader in a second. Most of the ones I know, like me and my sister, are precocious readers. For more sensitive readers, proceed with caution but please do not pass by this book.

I don't even know where to begin to review Code Name Verity. My hopes were high as I began reading due to all of the hype surrounding the title, which always feels like a bit of a gamble. But my hopes could have been even higher and Code Name Verity would not have disappointed me.

The phrase from the summary- "intricately woven"- is amazingly apt. As Verity writes her confession, trading her knowledge with the Nazis for a few more precious days, I felt vaguely ill, imagining the horrors that were to come. When Verity, referring to the war, "You always feel a little bit sick inside, knowing the worst might happen at any moment,"* it felt as if Elizabeth Wein knew what I was going through as I read her book.

Though seemingly a traitor, Verity is an amazingly brave and sympathetic character. Her captors are breaking her as best they can with the knowledge that her best friend has died, the screams of other prisoners, and her own torture. But she's obviously angry over the great injustice taking place and she still she seizes on small moments of defiance. She also has her moments of caustic humor and times when her incredible intelligence comes through.

Historical novels- well-done ones- are a weakness of mine. and Code Name Verity absolutely qualifies. Elizabeth Wein did a clear amount of research to bring the terrifying times of World War II to life in excruciating detail.

Elizabeth Wein is also the master of surprise. I found myself sobbing rather violently through Code Name Verity's resolution as she took me on a rollercoaster plummet of emotions.

Overall rating: 5/5. Masterfully written, Code Name Verity is a World War II novel that will break your heart.

- See more at: [...]
-Disclosure: eARC received in exchange for an honest review

OMFG..... I'm speechless...... I don't think my brain has recovered from the beauty that is this book. OK, maybe that's exaggerating a bit since obviously I'm writing this. But, dang this book is fantastic!!!!!

I went into this novel a wee bit spoiled as I've already read Wein's other book, Rose Under Fire, and so knew the ultimate fate of most everyone in this first book. However that in no way stopped me from being swept up into this emotional masterpiece. I was moved to tears and laughter more than once at the sheer power of what these women went through and the strength with which they faced those challenges. I think, at times, I felt this book rather than read it, it was that powerful.

The characters are extremely vivid in this book. That seems to be a strong point in many of the books I've read recently, and this one in no way falls out of that pattern. Maddie and Julie both are so real. Just regular girls who are swept up in the maelstrom that is WWII, they grow and shine as individuals and in their friendship. I loved their courage, senses of humor, determination, cleverness, and intense feelings of friendship for each other.

The relationship between these two could really be considered the heart of the novel. The deep sisterly love existing between them drive so many of their actions and just makes the reader want to hug their nearest friend in appreciation.

The secondary characters in this novel don't suffer for lack of attention either. Engel, von Linden, Jamie, and so many others received fleshing out and seemed to jump of the page with as much life as Maddie and Julie. When the reader would think they had someone figured out, the author would pull a fast one and make the characters do something completely unexpected in a way that made that character grow even more.

The author doesn't shy away from the horrors of the circumstances in which she places her characters. Like Rose Under Fire, the reader comes face to face with torture, death, and all the horrors that occurred in Nazi occupied Europe. The atrocities that Julie faces in prison and the utter Earth shattering events leading up to the ending leaves the reader often gasping and needing to take a few minutes break at times. The situations our characters face make for some heavy-reading at times, but in my opinion, that's all to the good.

The story in this book is incredibly fast-paced, complex, and unique. Told in an unusual way with events being told out of chronological order and in the format of the characters writing them down, the reader is quickly sucked into a world that is not what it seems. The writer inserts twists and intrigues into the narrative in such a way that the reader can never predict where the story will go. But then, the reader really isn't given the time to try and predict as the action is so intense that reader keeps devouring page and page before they can even try.

I seriously cannot find anything wrong with this book at all. That may be gushing too much, but this book seriously knocked my socks off. I was blown away by the characters, the sheer power of the emotions, the intense story, and realistic atmosphere. I think I cried and laughed more at reading this book than any in awhile. So grab that tissue box (you'll need it!!), find a spare day, and devote it to this book. It's a must read in my humble opinion and is headed for my favorites shelf!!

Wow. I completely loved this book! I think my attempt at rehashing the plot will do this book a disservice, so I won't. I was totally engrossed in this story from the beginning and for a long time having no idea just how much more engaging the book was about to get. Putting information together and figuring out what you really know is part of what makes such an interesting reading experience. The two main characters are vividly portrayed and I felt very connected to both of them. There are wonderful things that happen in this book, and astonishingly terrible things that happen. I experienced a variety of strong emotions as I read, and also occasionally afterwards. There are parts that are painful to think about, but whenever a book can elicit such strong emotional responses from me even after I've completed it just by thinking about a certain part, I consider that a huge success for the author. It is a book that I know will stick with me and haunt me. I will definitely be seeking out more by this author.

I was so scared to pick this book up! Although it has received near unanimous praise, I've been really picky lately and have found myself disappointed with books that the blogosphere has raved about. Happily that was not the case for this book as I absolutely loved it!

Like other reviewers, I will not share too much about the plot. This initially frustrated me when I was deciding whether or not to read it but I was very glad for their closed lips. You do not want anything spoiled for you. I do few comfortable sharing a few things though.

First the book is divided into halves. Although I have not bought my own copy yet, I am planning to because the second half illuminates the first half in a most kick-ass way. Upon finishing, all I wanted to do was go back and reread the whole thing again (couldn't because I needed to get up early the next day but very much wanted to). Thus I highly recommend buying your own copy so that you can do that.

Second the book is set during World War II from the Allied side-primarily Scottish, English, and French people make up the cast. It's mostly young women who are our focus, which is very exciting. I love getting to read about women doing what was traditionally considered men's work and, as Wein shares in her author's note, the things they do, while not common, are plausible.

Lastly I found this book incredibly affecting and powerful. I was still thinking about it a day later and managed to make myself cry a second and third time (that third time is just now as I write this review-it is highly possible that I will cry again thinking about this book as the days go back).

So that's about all I feel safe sharing. Is there anything stopping you from checking this book out? Please let me know and I will do my best to convince you otherwise as this has probably been my favorite read of the year so far and will definitely be a contender for best read overall of 2012.

I am not a fan of historical fiction. No, I've never particularly enjoyed the genre. I've always been a fantasy and sci fi girl through and through, but I decided to give Code Name Verity a chance for two reasons: (1) I thought it was about time that I tried something new and (2) this book was so hyped-up and I was curious.

Admittedly, I don't like hyped-up books. I always like rooting for the underdogs, so whenever I see a hyped-up book, I want to read it to prove everyone else wrong. I want to prove that another book--one of the underdogs--is better. Sometimes I do finish the book and think, "So-and-so book was better." And sometimes I finish the book and think, "I was wrong."

Code Name Verity was one of the latter.

The first few pages of this book were a bore. I was looking for an excuse to drop it, but I decided that I'd give it fifty pages before I'd start another book. The narrator--"Verity"--seemed to draw out her words, making her sentences much longer than they had to be. I had trouble deciphering her eloquent language, and I mostly skimmed over the tedious descriptions she provided.

Somewhere in those fifty pages, I realized that the writing was just her style.

Fifty pages along, I got too caught up in the plot to even think about her writing style.

Even though I have never been a fan of history (hey, this A+ student here is a whiz in math and science, all right?), World War II has always been such an interesting topic to me. War is just so horribly fascinating. Not the machinery and aircraft used, no. (I get bored to death, hearing about those.) No, it's the people. The spies. The interrogators. The pilots. The soldiers. They fascinate me, these people who are willing to lay down their lives for a cause they believe in. And the people in this book are just so plausible. They could be one of my friends. And they all have their faults and imperfections, but they also have their good aspects. I loved Verity and Maddie and Jamie. I loved how Verity always took offense when people called her English (she's Scottish), I loved the feeling Maddie had when she was in the air, I loved how understanding Jamie was. These people--HOW ARE THEY SO BELIEVABLE.

And the complexities in this novel! ELIZABETH WEIN, YOU ARE GENIUS. Surprises hitting me AT EVERY TURN, and clues being passed EVER SO SUBTLY. Just absolutely genius. I really wish I could say more on the subject, but there would be simply too many spoilers.

And perhaps the most important aspect: Verity and Maddie's relationship. I have a best friend, you see, who's been with me for eleven years of my life. (Considering that I'm only a teen, that's more than half my life.) And I get it. I really do. The knowing someone like the back of your hand, the emotions behind everything that you do. I get it. It's hard to explain--it really is--but Wein captures it so perfectly.

Code Name Verity was fabulous. It's more than a book about the hardships of war. It's a book about a bond so deep that death can't sever. The name of that bond? Friendship.

Source: ARC/galley received from publisher for review

Code Name Verity is a gripping, realistic and gut-wrenching WWII spy thriller - with a twist. Unfortunately, I can't reveal the twist, or the events leading up to it, without ruining the story, but I am rarely surprised by events in YA literature and I did not see this twist coming at all. I actually paused in my reading and went back to re-read the beginning to see if I had missed some clues. Code Name Verity is the story of two young British women working behind enemy lines in France. They come from opposite backgrounds and have opposite personalities, but become best friends while training together. One is captured, imprisoned and tortured, the other is rescued and hidden by the French Resistance. The story is told from both points of view. Although the book is classified as YA, the historical fiction elements require a pretty strong of understanding of British and French experiences in WWII. A reader without much knowledge of the history may be confused in parts. Code Name Verity may be classified as YA, but adults will be biting their nails and losing sleep as well. All readers will connect with both of the characters - strong, smart and heroic - in different ways. Both of them committed to saving Britain from the Germans. Both of them committed to doing her job as best as she can. Both of them committed to having her best friend's back. An unforgettable story.

CODE NAME VERITY is simply one of the best books I've ever read. Period. There are so many layers, so many nuances, to this wonderful story, that you'll want to read it again. And again.

For me, the best part of the novel is that YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON... but you don't. And when I realized that, almost at the end of the book, I wanted to stand up and cheer for Elizabeth Wein. What a storyteller!

But the puzzle aspect of the novel is just one aspect. I was also intensely moved at the matter-of-fact way the heroine deals with the horrible things that have already happened to her--and the ones she sees coming up. There is a great sense in this story that her attitude toward this terrible fate is very much the attitude of many WWII-era fighters, who shrugged and thought, well, yeah. Torture. Gonna happen. Best get through it and see where I am afterward.

Amazing.

I can't really indicate in words my visceral response to this book, except to say that I did little else for four days except read it intensely and think about it when I wasn't reading. It has so much to tell us about friendship, loyalty and sacrifice. I'd recommend it to anyone.

And one other small note: there is no romantic relationship for either girl in the story, and no hint, either, that theirs is anything but an intense but clearly platonic friendship. This pleased me a lot; there was nothing superfluous thrown in to stimulate more interest. The story itself and the wonderful characters (good and bad) held my interest firmly without it.

Bravo, Ms. Wein! You are an artist.

I've fallen in love with CODE NAME VERITY.

The moment I read the description -- a story of two best friends, a girl pilot and a girl spy, during WWII -- I knew I had to get my hands on this book!

As is the case with other glowing, wonderful reviews of this novel, I can only tell you so much without spoiling it. And as with all excellent books, there is much to spoil, so I'll be extra careful.

CODE NAME VERITY is a Russian nesting doll between two covers; just when you think you know what you have, you discover that it's something entirely different and amazing.

But amazing in a heartbreaking way. I did mention that it's set in WWII, after all.

Verity, a spy, has been captured in Nazi-occupied France, and she's unsure of the whereabouts of her best friend Maddie, who had piloted the plane that brought her there. The book is her confession, her stay of execution, and she reveals details of what brought her and Maddie together and to the current point in time.

Piece by piece, her confession -- and the interspersed details of her imprisonment and torture -- drew me into Verity's world and her and Maddie's friendship, and I knew I was done for. Because even in such an dark and desperate situation, Verity's charming, sassy voice shone through, and with her, I became best friends with loyal, dedicated Maddie.

I wanted to protect these brave girls, to give them a happy ending with rainbows and unicorns and white picket fences, and when I'm that invested in characters, when they're that real to me, I'm in trouble.

Elizabeth Wein did such a fantastic job with this novel. On a practical level, the pacing, tension, and characterization were ridiculously spot-on, and I never felt overwhelmed by historical detail.

On an emotional level... did you see what I wrote about rainbows and unicorns?

Halfway through the book, I knew I'd be recommending it liberally. Three-quarters of the way through, I was sending emails to friends with links to reviews and using all-caps for emphasis.

Early on in reading CODE NAME VERITY, I trusted Elizabeth Wein to tell Verity and Maddie's story the right way. You know when you're reading a book and you just know?

There will be no jumping-the-shark moment.
There will be no throwing the book across the room.
There will be no, "It was good, but it would've been better if..."

I savored this novel, even as it broke my heart. It's definitely a read-more-than-once kind of book, because upon finishing it, you're itching to start again to catch all the intricacies you missed the first time around, when you were too desperate to know the fates of Verity and Maddie to pay attention.

Right now, I'm debating if I should read it a second time, or if the next go-round should be the audiobook. Via Twitter, Elizabeth Wein recommended the audio version, so I think that's my answer.

Overall, CODE NAME VERITY is not only worth reading, but it's also worth purchasing. I'm excited for my copy to take it's place on my bookshelf.

This review was originally posted at [...]

Code Name Verity is by far the most beautiful book that I've read in the YA genre due to its ability to paint an accurate portrayal of realism while maintaining an absolutely stunning style. Whether you're in high school or flying fighter pilots in the second world war, falling in love is not everything. Teen girls may seek it out more than anything else, but, more times than not, what is constant is their girl-friends.

Code Name Verity is a gorgeous tale of friendship.

The entrance to the novel is very light, and very fun, but the place it escalates to is anything but. Like The Hunger Games, it does not "tone down" the violence and brutality for virgin eyes, but keeps it appropriate enough in an abstention to induct nightmares (though, that may be debatable, based on the books that parents are proposing to have banned these days).

I reveled on the physical beauty of the book itself when I was reading it the first time (I just read the newest paperback version, totaling my read-throughs of this book to three). The cover, and the inserts, make you feel something.

The feeling that you get from Code Name Verity as "Verity" downspirals into fervent madness that is forced upon her by the utter coldness and evil of the Nazis, from her notes as she begins to write them, is not a squeeeee or fangirl or totes moment that YA novels are known for. Not even similar books that are based on very serious subjects achieve this feat because, frankly, YA characters tend to be, more often than not, one-dimensional (TO ME; please don't cut my head off, it's my personal opinion). The two girls featured in Code Name Verity can not be counted as such. They belong on stage with If I Stay`s Mia, with Katniss Everdeen. They are strong, they are fierce, and they are not to be messed with. They protect each other, even when fate steals the realistic possibility to do so. You feel the physical pain of Verity's trials, the emotional torment of the turntables spinning backwards, that ultimately, make up Maddie's heart as she does everything she can to save her.

Code Name Verity is a stunning debut and, as Kirkus boasts, a "tour de force" of a novel. It's a very, very important addition to the YA genre. I would recommend it to every girl and woman I know.

Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide

The mysteries and surprises are some of the best part of this book so I PROMISE not to include any spoilers. Like most of my books, I went in blind, with only the knowledge that this took place during WWII and it made the book so much better!

Usually, historical fiction is not my thing. I was never a big history buff and I frequently get bogged down in names, dates, and events. Embarrassingly so, I don’t know a lot about history because I was never interested and that usually hinders me from liking books that take place in a historical setting, but CODE NAME VERITY is anything but boring. It did have a bit of a slow start, but quickly picked up as you get pulled into the narrator’s current situation (her identity is revealed not too far into the book, but as I didn’t see it coming, I’m certainly not going to tell you!) and how her story of Maddie the pilot all fits into the big picture.

CODE NAME VERITY is not an easy read in more than one way. First: it’s WWII we’re talking about here. There are some gruesome details as far as torture and deaths go and my God, it’s like you get to know these characters. Their stories are absolutely heartbreaking. Second: The content is so heavy that I literally could not breeze through it – Of course, it wasn’t my goal to breeze through, but this is a book you really need to take your time with. Sit down, relax, and close yourself off to the world as you get lost in this plot. The further you are in it, the sadder it is, but it makes for such a more emotionally-invested experience. Third: ALL THE CAPSLOCK. These are first hand accounts of what these girls witnessed during the war and their personal diaries and journals. Every single emotion is exposed on the pages of this book and I really felt like these were real people. It was really hard to read the awful things that these girls went through and my heart and soul went into reading this book.

As with any good spy book, there are TWISTS, and oh the glory of them! Quite a few things that I didn’t see coming (don’t try to search for them – It’s better if you’re surprised) and it just made the whole book that much more interesting. I didn’t know until after it happened exactly how much sense it made. It’s one of my favorite things for a twist to be revealed and then think back on every incidence in which I missed its presence. It’s quite an astonishing thing!

I don’t know what more I can say except that I think everyone should read this amazing story. I don’t know if teachers have incorporated this in their English classes, but I think they should. It’s far better than anything I ever read in school and with historical and literary aspects combined into one amazing book, I think anyone from teenagers to adults should be reading this. I’m so glad Forever YA picked this as their January read or else I might not have picked it up!

First Sentence: I am a coward.

How I Acquired the Book: Borrowed from town's library.

The Review: Code Name Verity is a 340-page novel, but it felt like a 700-page epic to me. And I mean that as a strange compliment. When reading it, I pored over every single phrase, and tried hopelessly to visualize the terrifying images described in the book. I did not skim over a single part; rare is the book that can make me do that.

Code Name Verity is a historical hovel, set in 1943 during World War II. Verity is a Scottish spy captured by the Nazis when her plane crashed, killing her best friend. She's trapped in a spy's worst nightmare: reveal everything she knows about the British War Cause, or die. This is a grim, grim novel. Verity is no Gallagher Girl spy; this is real life, and a real situation. In the following pages, Verity slowly reveals everything and how and why her plane crashed, and why she was on it in the first place.

Where do I start on why I loved this book? Oh, I know. Verity herself. Holy crud, was she an awesome heroine! She practically defines the term 'hero'. Even faced with her terrible situation, she still remained strong. And even though the first sentence states that she's a coward, she is most certainly not. You'll see that if you decide to read it. And the pacing of Verity's writing is great. It is slow, but not sluggish; the details are revealed one by one, and we see this is necessary later on. Verity's voice was unlike anything that I have ever read before. Elizabeth Wein seriously has mastered the art of portraying characters' voices perfectly.

Code Name Verity is also very well-researched. All the different airplanes discussed are well-researched, the ATA and the WAAF are well-researched, heck, even the simple fact that a ballpoint pen existed at the time was well-researched. The dialogue also matched the time period, and unlike so many other historical novels, never felt forced.

Lastly, the plot. As I said before, this is a grim novel, and certainly not for the faint-hearted. The plot is brutal and DARK. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but it has a climax and ending that is so heart-wrenchingly powerful. It will endure in your mind for a very, very long time.

I expect Code Name Verity to be a serious contender for the Printz Award. I've got a feeling that this book will go on to win many, many awards. At least, I hope it does. The world is an unfair place. Especially Verity's world.

-reviewed by a teenager. (I apologize for any teenagery and/or snarky comments in this review, if they have offended you. I understand they can be very annoying, just like teenagers themselves. In any case, thanks for dealing with them and thanks for reading this review.)

First in the Code Name Verity historical fiction series about women serving in World War II. The focus in this story is on the bravery of Queenie Beaufort-Stuart and Maddie Brodatt.

My Take
I almost didn't get a fifth of the way into this book. I didn't like how the main character was acting. The betrayal she was performing, and I couldn't bear the thought of going there. I don't like people like that.

And I'm glad I did persist as Code Name Verity was a very tricksy tale.

Wein uses the beginning to set up a friendship between two girls from two different classes within their society. Two girls who would not have met any other way except through serving their country during wartime. It begins with Maddie and her passions for tinkering, for flying and her pursuit of those passions, how they lead her to Queenie.

Weaving back and forth between each girl's point-of-view (POV), it can be a touch confusing and awkward at the start as it begins with the present and flips back and forth between now and then, between Queenie and Maddie, until at last we catch up at the point where her confession brings both lives together, existing in the current time. I can only imagine how difficult it was for Wein to keep track of when and where she is in the narrative.

Wein begins with the confession, the betrayal of her country. It's a clever way to postpone more torture, to hold off on being executed or shipped out to a concentration camp which would only be a slower and more miserable way to die.

As the reader, you too must keep going. Keep reading past the betrayal, for Wein slowly reveals more and more of the truth, tiny bits at a time, leading to an ending that will leave you weeping. Even for the bad guy, shockingly enough. It's a betrayal of an individual's humanity, and I hated the circumstances and the bullies who forced this type of behavior onto people. You may say that these people had a choice, and certainly von Linden didn't have a hostage being held against his behavior. However, I suspect he was struggling with Ferber's demands, his own honor, and his thoughts of family. It was very much an ending full of surprises.

I do wish Wein had provided some indication as to why this mission was so important. I don't see how it was worth all the loss.

At one point, Wein mentions that World War II is leading to a leveling of the classes, and this truth is particularly poignant in Queenie's mother's letter to Maddie.

As a editor, I did enjoy the bit when von Linden slaps Engel down and tells her how the prisoner is using literary techniques to write her confession.

In spite of the deep horror of it, Code Name Verity is subtle, and it beautifully conveys how people cope and the camaraderie they share in a desperate situation. Of course, it also serves to deepen your connection to the characters.

The Story
Caught by a silly mistake. Worse, she's caught by her own fears and bargains her way to less pain with the spilling of all she knows about codes, planes, names, and locations.

It's in the spilling that we learn how Maddie and Queenie become friends and how the path of their lives moves and blends, leading to their final destinies in France.

The Characters
Second Officer Maddie Brodatt of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), code name "Kittyhawk", becomes fascinated by machinery and a chance crash landing sets off her love for flying. When Britain enters the war, she does everything she can to help. Beryl was one of her friends.

Flight Officer Queenie Beaufort-Stuart, a.k.a., Eva Seiler, a.k.a., Lady Julia Lindsay MacKenzie Wallace Beaufort-Stuart, is an aristocratic-appearing young lady who speaks German and is very cool under fire. Jamie Beaufort-Stuart is her favorite brother, a.k.a., the Pobble Who Has No Toes, and one of her greatest fears as he's a bomber pilot. After his rescue, he's helping his mother, Esmé, Lady Beaufort-Stuart, babysit eight young evacuees: Ross and Jock, Angus, Mungo, Rabbie, Tam, Hamish, and Wullie.

Katharina Habicht is Queenie's cover name in France. There is an old lady in Ormaie who helps the Resistance, and she buries the bodies and doesn't know.

SS-Hauptsturmführer Amadeus von Linden is the Gestapo officer in charge of her torture at Ormaie, France. In civilian life, he was a headmaster; he has a daughter, Isolde, safely tucked away in a school in Switzerland. Fräulein Anna Engel is a sadistic civilian who translates her confessions into German. Schaurführer Etienne Thibaut is French but joined the Gestapo; a fact his family uses. SS-Sturmbannführer Nikolaus J. Ferber is von Linden's commanding officer.

Dympna Wythenshawe is the pilot Maddie and Beryl rescued; she returns the favor by recommending Maddie to Special Duties flying. All a part of paying it forward. Maidsend Squadron Leader "Creighton" is actually Leland North. Sir John Balliol is the intelligence officer who recruited Queenie and Maddie.

Georgia Penn is an American radio announcer for the Germans, broadcasting propaganda for them.

The Damask spy circuit in France includes:
Paul is the handsy SOE organizer in France. Mitraillette is his second-in-command and Papa and Maman Thibaut's elder daughter, Gabrielle-Thérèse. La Cadette, Amélie, is her younger sister. The Thibauts are farmers.

Nacht und Nebel , Night and Fog, is a Nazi policy whereby people are "disappeared", toyed with, experimented upon.

The Cover
The cover is perfect: two hands clasping each other's wrists, the ties that bind.

The title is the mission: Code Name Verity.

Originally seen at The Bookish Owl ([...])

If you regularly read my blog, you’ll know that I really love historical fiction especially those set during World War II. There’s something about that period of history that is so powerful and so riveting that it continues to resonate with me even though I was born 53 years after it ended. Code Name Verity was part of my first purchase from The Book Depository and I didn’t pick it up right away since I was so afraid that it wouldn’t live up to the hype surrounding it. However, I brought it along to my Hong Kong trip last December and wow, I literally could not stay away to from this book.

Code Name Verity is told in a journal format with the first part from Verity’s perspective and the second part from Kittyhawk’s POV. I have to admit, I was initially dubious about Verity as she described herself as cowardly and weak. I believed her and I hated her and her cravenness but as soon I got to Kittyhawk’s part, all my judgements for Verity were washed away.

Half of Code Name Verity‘s brilliance is due to the magnificence of the characters Elizabeth Wein presents. I don’t really like books told in dual perspectives as the difference in character voice is often a huge problem but Code Name Verity does not achieve that. Verity and Kittyhawk’s tones are so distinct and so utterly their own that it wasn’t difficult to envision them and see them as real people instead of as fictional ones. Their friendship and devotion to each other was so sweet and it was a refreshing touch of levity against a dark and atrocious backdrop.

The other factor that made Code Name Verity amazing was the actual plot. I deduced a lot of ideas at the beginning but the thoughts I had accumulated during the first part were all completely undermined in part 2. The entire story was just so phenomenal that I couldn’t help loving every single thing, every minute detail of the book and losing myself in the entire story. The twists were so harrowing and unexpected that they literally came out of nowhere. The only constant thought going on in my mind was; “Elizabeth Wein, how the hell do you have the heart to do that to me??!?!?!?!?!?!”

I loved the way the author juxtaposed Verity and Kittyhawk. On one hand, you have Verity, cooler than a cucumber, a cunning liar and an all around bad-ass. On the other hand, we have Kittyhawk who becomes a blubbering mess during a bombing or a crossfire but is such an excellent pilot and a devoted friend. Both characters had their own weaknesses and strengths but they balanced out each other quite nicely.

All in all, Code Name Verity was a superb piece of work and I can honestly say that I will definitely go back to more of Elizabeth Wein’s books. I can’t get enough of this woman! If you haven’t picked up Code Name Verity yet…READ IT. READ IT. READ IT AND BASK IN ITS BRILLIANCE.

Code Name Verity is the sixth novel by British author, Elizabeth Wein. It tells the story of a pair of British women who crash-landed in France during World War Two. The first part is narrated by Queenie aka Scottie aka Eva Seiler aka….., a Special Operations Executive agent, and is written under duress at Gestapo HQ in the town of Ormaie in November 1943. SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Amadeus von Linden has forced from Queenie wireless code for the eleven wireless sets found in the wreck of the plane from which she jumped. What then follows, at his command, is Queenie’s account of the course of events that led to their flight to France and incorporates in that her friendship with Maddie Brodatt, the pilot of the downed plane. The second part gives Maddie’s version of events, and reveals that perhaps one of the narrators is not entirely reliable. Wein’s characters are multi-faceted and realistic: they all have their weaknesses and faults; even the evil ones possess a human side; many are not quite what they first seem. The dialogue, too, is credible and the plot is totally plausible, twists, turns and all. Wein’s extensive research is apparent on every page: a wealth of information is secreted in the story in easily digestible form. There is humour, heroism and horror, and enough heartbreak to bring a lump to the throat of even the most cynical reader. This is a tale of friendship and courage that is interesting, informative and ultimately, very moving

Such a hard book to review.

Verity is captured by the Nazis in France. There, after torture, she is forced to confess her mission and give up those who helped her. She talks about her best friend Maddie, her training, codes and more. She gives them everything they want because she has told the truth. Didn’t she?

I can’t really speak of it without revealing spoilers so I’ll be vague.

Verity’s narration as a captured spy is haunting and broken. She weaves her story of friendship and England creating characters so vivid and real, dangerous and despicable, it almost reads like historical non-fiction. Verity is a mystery and her best friend Maddie, true and true and true, are the best of friends. It’s easy to be drawn into these girls’ stories, to pray through the story that they both survive, they both make it home. It’s easy to hope the war doesn’t touch them.

Maddie is a fighter pilot, making secret moonlight flights onto enemy lands for cargo and crew. Smuggling people out under the cover of night, Maddie is fearless and flies her planes with determination and love. I was swept up in the flights as Maddie was, looking down onto the earth, alone in the air.

I’m not a fan of war books. My friend’s know this of me. Interesting, yes. But war books and films are not something I seek out. So Code Name Verity was read because I heard raving reviews about it. And I’m so glad I got around to reading it.

Wein does a superb job at researching every little thing- down to the history of ballpoint pens. The story reads as intriguing non-fiction, and I can’t help but imagine myself up in the sky with Maddie or on the ground with Verity. The bravery and love and friendship these two girls share spring out at the reader against the backdrop of a horrendous war and unspeakable evil like torture.

Full of life, energy and thrills, Code Name Verity grabs you and keeps you rooted to the spot. And the ending was spot on- achingly sad, but bloody brilliant.

This review and more can be found on my blog, The Library Canary: [...]

I love WWII era historical fictions. This period in history just fascinates me. There are so many different facets to this war and different areas to examine and I love learning about all of them. I have wanted to read this book for a while after reading raving reviews, but never really got around to it. Then my friend, Meghan, got me a copy for Christmas and I let it sit on my shelf for like three months before finally picking it up. Why oh why did I not pick this up sooner? This book was incredible.

I’m not going to lie. It starts off slow. Really slow. I actually fell asleep reading the night I started it. But after about 100 pages or so, I was hooked, captivated, couldn’t put it down. So please, whatever you do, do not quit this book. Give it a chance. Push through because you will discover a beautiful story that will likely make a huge impact on you.

I can’t say too much about this book for fear of giving something away. I will say that the historical detail was rich and well-done. I felt like I was in Europe with the characters cowering in fear whenever there was an air raid or something of that nature. Elizabeth Wein definitely did her research and it played a huge role in making this book what it is.

Both main characters were incredible. “Verity” was brilliant, witty, funny, and brave. She was one of the most courageous characters I have ever read about and I truly loved everything about her. Her best friend Maddie is a little quieter and definitely more timid, but she was so passionate about flying and she cared deeply for her friend. Speaking of friends…the friendship between these two young women was so poignant and just absolutely beautiful. We need more friendships like this in YA.

I’m not going to say much more than that because I seriously don’t want to give a single detail away. It’s really best if you just read it not knowing much of anything. I will tell you to prepare for feels though. You will go through the entire range of emotions in this book. I was shaking angry at parts. I was laughing and smiling at others. And yes, I was sobbing during certain moments. This book broke my heart, but I absolutely loved it. A breathtaking tale of friendship and courage during a very dark time in history. I can’t wait to read the companion novel, Rose Under Fire. Happy reading all!

I looked forward to reading this one so much. The premise sounded epic - in my opinion, I was looking for something new and refreshing - without all the YA cliches and your typical teen drama around love, romance and jealousy. In a way, that's what I got. But I expected it to be better. I wanted it to be better. That's the thing with high expectations, I guess.

The main characters were both funny narrators, great storytellers and one of them fooled me. Perfectly. Although I somewhat, kind of knew I'd be fooled. It totally caught me off guard. But then, I wasn't like "Woah...no...what...I...It's just". I was more like "Ah. Okay, so that makes sense...". You know it didn't capture me. Nothing in this book really captured me. There was not a lot of suspense, not a lot of action.

The storytelling was awesome, I will give it that. I also think that might be why most other people loved it so much. It's amazing how the author lets two stories flow together and how she makes them seem so real. Also, the stories are heart breaking, raw, they could bring you to tears.
But then again, storytelling is not the only thing I look for in a book and not what I was looking for in this book. I want to identify with the characters, to find myself lost in a world and to feverishly wait for the ending to reveal the big BAM.

Code Name Verity was a good novel, yes. I did enjoy it. I would recommend it. But I also found it dragging a bit and can't really understand the hype....Again, my disappointment is probably caused by my completely different expectations going into this novel.

I'll admit that I was reluctant to read Code Name Verity. I don't read too much historical fiction, and especially World War II novels just aren't something I would usually pick up. But I'd heard such great things that, when I saw the signed copy at Books of Wonder, I just couldn't resist. Still, I went in with my expectations not too high - I wasn't expecting to love it as much as everyone else did.

And the novel does start out a little slow. For the first 100 pages or so, it was an embodiment of what I fear historical fiction to be like and what keeps me from reading it - too many little facts that confuse someone with only basic knowledge of the historical events, like me. The beginning is full of details about planes, names of places and operations and war-related things that I had never heard of. Those little things confused me and made it hard for me to get into the story, and the unusual narrative took some getting used to as well.

But after sticking through the rough beginning, I began to see the brilliance everyone had been raving about. The farther you get in the novel, the more it all starts to make sense. All the little things I found strange about the narrative as well as the story in the beginning fall into place later on, and it's not till the very end that you understand the full genius behind it all. Having read the ending, I want to go back and reread everything to see how it all fits together.

I don't even know how to describe the brilliance of this novel. And I kind of don't even want to say anything, because the brilliance lies in not understanding anything until the end. (Then again, I'm like the past person in the blogosphere to read this, so what does it matter?) Either way, every part of Code Name Verity is brilliant. The plot is amazing - every twist took me by surprise. The characters incredible, too, even if you don't know it at first. And the writing, narrative, and set-up of the story are pure genius. The emotions, too - there was no full-on bawling, but I did shed some tears, and the novel moved me so much that I'm sure I'll still be thinking about it for a while.

Brilliant really is the only way to describe this novel. If you haven't read it yet, please give it a try, even if it is out of your comfort zone, like it was for me, and please don't be discouraged by the slow beginning. It is worth it, because you get a story that is pure genius, a novel that is unique and unforgettable.

I wonder if vonLinden just wanted to hear Julie’s story after she started putting the pencil to paper for him. Sure, he wanted her to think that her life was in jeopardy but her story was more than just her trade secrets, her story was about her life and what she stood for. Sure, Julie is scared about death as she fears the concentration camps as her final resting stop but she wants to tell her story, she feels she needs to let someone know. As she talks about Maddie, you can tell that she is proud and fascinated about her. Maddie was determined to be someone. Maddie’s resolved to learn everything she could about a particular item which earned her the respect and the ability to move higher among the ranks of pilots. Maddie took her job seriously and as Julie tells the story, the imagery she uses was wonderful. I felt as if I were on the missions with Maddie as Elizabeth puts the words down on paper. “The demure Puss Moth shuddered in the wind of their passing, like a marsh hen among a flock of gray herons – each thrice her wingspan, each with four times as many engines, heavy with the night’s fuel and payload of explosives, off to deliver vengeful destruction to Essen’s factories and railroad yards.” It’s not just Julie’s story that capture’s your attention but the real twist occurs in the second half of the book when we hear from Maggie. As Maggie tells her story, the story took on greater meaning and the bond that these two women had, well let me just say, it was remarkable.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Heartbreaking. Humorous. Sensational writing. Phenomenal narrator. And this emotional roller-coaster has left me without enough words to encapsulate how I'm feeling.

Opening Sentence: I am a coward.

The Review:

Code Name Verity begins with our narrator as she gives up. She's not strong, she's not unbreakable. The fact is, she breaks rather quickly -- first exchanging lines of code for items of clothing and then promising to write down everything she can possibly remember about the British military. She has two weeks and all the paper she can write on to fill up with treason. And she writes. Selfishly and passionately because she does not want to die. But she will, because that's what you do to enemy spies.

She tells the story of Maddie, her best friend in this secretive world of intelligence and night raids. How Maddie began dreaming of flying after a pilot crash landed in a field near her picnic and turned out to be a girl. How she began as a radio operator when the war started and moved her way up to ferry pilot, helping move supplies and bomber pilots around Britain. The only reason she's signing this treasonous at all is because she looked the wrong way crossing the street in front of the wrong people who blew her cover. Reliving it all through Maddie's perspective as she writes, our narrator gets to escape from herself, from the way everything seemed when she wasn't trapped in a cell. When she still had her bravery.

It's through Maddie that our narrator is revealed to be a Swiss boarding school and Oxford student with a head for German literature who's fluency in French and German made her perfect for the War Effort. That Maddie is revealed to be modest, caring and in love with flying. Within the first few pages, your emotionally invested, but by the time the chapter's are over these characters are real. There is so much invested in these characters and their unique situations and their specific qualities that the weight of the book increases tenfold. Maddie and our narrator have continued to haunt me, enough that this book will probably be one I read again down the road.

I don't want you to think I cried my way through this book. It tore at my soul and yeah, I did cry, but it made me laugh too. Trying to explain how a book about a girl being tortured can make you laugh out loud is pretty much impossible, so just trust me when I say that our author imbues this book with the perfect tone, illuminate the prose with humor at just the right moment. It's not an easy read, though. If you're expecting to get through it in an afternoon or two just because it's short, you should put it off for another time. Because you can't race through this book. It's just not possible. It's too gripping and the characters are too deep for you to even want to speed-read once you get started.

This book is one of my absolute favorites. That being said, it is definitely not an easy read. It's harsh and it's real and graphic because that's the reality of war. But if you pick it up, you won't regret it. This review has barely touched the surface of what the book's about, because anything else would give it away and the gasp-out-loud moments are one of the greatest parts of this book. I have never read a book like it. Certainly not in the young adult genre -- not like the writing or story. I finished it yesterday and have a book-hangover. I really doubt the feeling will leave anytime soon.

FTC Advisory: Hyperion Books provided me with a copy of Code Name Verity. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.

This book is the story of two young British women during World War II -- one a pilot and one a spy. The spy is a Scot from an upper-class family, the pilot is from a lower-class English family, and the two of them become seemingly unlikely friends. They are both gutsy as all hell, they both do amazing things, and the story is alternately exciting and wrenching. There's a moment towards the end that made me cry, so it's not a light-hearted book, but it is fierce and clever and shows young women doing things that matter, in spite of the sexism of the 1940's. The book is well written, well researched, and astonishingly believable.

The story is told in the format of journal entries, and the voice of the Verity character is astonishing; there's nothing generic or dull about this character -- she leaps off of the page and into your mind ... and your heart.

The book was in the Young Adult section of our library, which surprised me, since the spy is captured by the Nazis and tortured, and they don't completely skip over the torture; I'm not sure I'd want a 12-year-old to read it.

Anyway, this book isn't for everybody, but if brave young women doing things that matter appeals to you enough to read through some descriptions of torture, then try it.

There are a lot of secrets in this book, and learning any of them would spoil your experience of the book. I recommend NOT reading many reviews and simply reading the book.

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend."

Code Name Verity (2012) by Elizabeth Wein is a strange book in that, I'm not sure what I can actually tell you about it without ruining everything. A plane has crashed in Nazi-occupied France. The passenger and the pilot are best friends. One girl might be able to save herself while the other never really stood a chance. Faced with an impossible situation, one of the girls begins to weave an intricate confession. Some of it might be embellished, some of it might even be false. But in the end all of it is ultimately the truth--both of her mission and a friendship that transcends all obstacles.

Broken into two parts, Code Name Verity is a masterfully written book as, time and time again, Wein takes everything readers know and turns it upside down as another dimension is added to the plot and its intricate narrative.

If a sign of excellent historical fiction is believing all of the details are presented as fact, then the sign of an excellent novel might well be wanting to re-read it immediately to see just how well all of the pieces fit together. Code Name Verity meets both of these criteria.

With wartime England and France as a backdrop, there is always a vague sense of foreboding and danger hanging over these characters. There is death and violence. There is action and danger. And yet there are also genuinely funny moments and instances of love and resistance.

Nothing in Code Name Verity is what it seems upon first reading--sometimes not even upon second reading. This book is undoubtedly a stunning work of historical fiction filled with atmospheric details of everything from airplanes to Scottish landscapes. But what really sets Code Name Verity apart is the dazzling writing and intricate plot that Wein presents. Then, beyond the plotting and the details, there are the two amazing young women at the center of a book that could have been about war or flying or even spies but ultimately became a book about true friends.

Possible Pairings: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, Tamar by Mal Peet, The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski, Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Code Name Verity is a book that immediately screamed READ ME the first time I saw it. Apart from being historical fiction set during World War II, the lead characters are female - which is not exactly rare but there's usually one female and one male character (rinse and repeat). Coupled with the fact that it's YA, which doesn't have THAT much historical fiction in comparison to other genres, I was really excited about it. But I won't lie - although I hadn't read any in-depth reviews, I'd seen how other readers had rated it - and the reviews were pretty much extreme love or extreme boredom.

The story begins at the end. Kind of. And because of that, I didn't find it the easiest read, nor a particularly flowing narrative. At times I actually felt like I was reading but not progressing at the rate I would have expected, not because it's a bad book, but because I found it pretty complex to get into.

As mentioned earlier, one of the things that appealed to me the most about Code Name Verity was the female characters - but what I didn't expect is the strength of their friendship and their bravery. It's something that I didn't really appreciate until about 25% of the way through, and it only continued to consolidate itself the further I read.

The characters and their interactions were the highlight of Code Name Verity for me - although the setting was intriguing, and the storyline pretty jaw-dropping, the characters felt very real to me - and at times I completely forgot that they were fictional characters in a fictional situation.

There is a lot of airplane-speak and although I found it infinitely fascinating and Wein does a pretty fair job of making it easy to understand, I can see that it might be off putting for readers who are just not interested in it because it's a pretty heavy theme throughout the story.

I won't go any further into the plot because I'd be throwing spoilers around everywhere, but although I found it slow-going in some places, the action definitely picked up in the last third or so, and by the end I was completely emotionally invested in the story.

Code Name Verity is intense historical fiction that at times feels a little more heavy than I expected it to be, but the characters more than made up for any stagnation in the plot and they kept me reading because I was so invested in finding out what happened in the end.

If you enjoy historical fiction with strong characters, I can definitely recommend Code Name Verity. And if you start reading and feel a little lost, or get a little stuck, my advice would be to push on - the characters were really worth investing in.

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

11th October 1943: A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a shot at survival, the other has lost the game before its barely begun.

Now I've finished crying into my pillow, perhaps I can try and review this book. I'll do my best - but its one of those. Sometimes there are no words. But hey, its what I do so here we go...

"Verity", a female spy, has been captured during one of her missions. Tortured, threatened and scared for her life she agrees to confess - given two weeks and paper and pen, she begins her tale - one of friendship, loyalty, heroism and betrayal - and of Maddie, the pilot who flew her into France and who she believes is dead.

Oh how her story creeps into your heart, so subtly and gently that you don't realise she is there until its too late then you have to read on, to that oh so heartbreaking yet uplifting and authentic finale that you can see coming at you like a freight train but cannot fathom until it hits you. Hard. Right in the gut. Fiction yes. How much of it could be real? Every single word....

Verity and Maddie shine like beacons against the dark and forbidding backdrop of a world at war - a tale of two halves if you like, this one stomped all over my soul and left me wrung out and over emotional - anyone who has read and loved "The Book Thief" will know exactly what I'm feeling right now. It hasnt let go yet. No not yet.

Still, to be pragmatic. This is one of those novels that you want to make everyone read. And yet it won't be for everyone - no book ever is. It is aimed at the young adult market but it reads just as well if you come at it from an entirely adult point of view, and it is extraordinarly well written and compelling. If you are looking for a fluffy, light, chic lit type of read where everyone lives happily ever after then please leave this alone - if you want a read that will tear your heart from your chest and leave it feebly beating on the floor then I would pick this one up right now.

Highly Recommended for anyone who likes Historical fiction, a book to make them cry, and a book to make them think. And for fans of well told stories everywhere...

**Purchased in paperback via the store UK**

The most heartbreaking part of this book was discovering that the characters weren't real. Kittyhawk and Queenie jump off the page and leave an indelible impression on the reader. This isn't an easy book to get through--it's graphic in some places and gut-wrenching in others--but it is also almost impossible to put down.

It can come across as long-winded and serpentine until you start to understand why the narrative winds the way it does. Putting those pieces together puts you that much more in the shoes of the characters, and (for me at least) made me look back on the story in a completely different way.

For that reason if nothing else, I hope it makes it onto reading lists in school for WW2 units. Women's war efforts are horribly under-represented and this is a great novel to highlight the importance (and the danger) of women who worked in the field rather than taking up the mantle of "men's" work while the world was at war. On its own, though, it's earned a place on my bookshelf.

"Code Name Verity" is one of those books that has blown up on the internet, full of reviews that praise not only its structure but also its surprises. I had absolutely no idea what the novel was about when I picked it up, but a mere six hours after finishing, I'm still struggling to put this reading experience on paper. In a word: stunning.

A young Scottish woman has been arrested in France in late 1943 for being a spy. While being interrogated by the local Gestapo, she agrees to give the Nazis information in exchange for some luxuries - namely, her clothes. Rather than telling her story out loud, she decides to narrate it on paper, though she doesn't exactly start at the beginning - or even tell HER story.

What follows is her account of the friendship between two members of the WAAF, pilot Maddie and wireless operator Queenie. The two are first introduced when a German pilot accidentally strays into England, thinking he is in France, and together, with Maddie directing and Queenie translating, they manage to get him down safely. Maddie's story is incredible, from her desire to be a pilot to the dangerous missions she undertook for the RAF, both officially and unofficially. Along the way, the narrator (who, for the most part, remains nameless) describes the situation she is in at Gestapo headquarters, introducing the reader to her captors, her daily routine, and her opinions about nearly everything. Arrested because she looked the wrong way when crossing the street in France, she wants to tell the truth because she knows that the Germans will end up killing her anyway.

If that were the only story in this novel, it would be interesting. However, it's not all. It barely scratches the surface. For in this book, nothing is what it seems, and when you think you've come to the end, plot-wise, you realize that there are over 100 pages left and you are, in reality, just getting started. Elizabeth Wein has crafted a novel that will not be forgotten, a story of the friendship between two girls that will stop at nothing, a story of courage under fire, bravery, and what it is we do to survive. And when you've finally reached the end of the actual book, you'll be stunned, not only by the writing, but by the twists and turns - and you'll wish for another 100 pages.

Presented as a Christmas gift alongside some rave reviews, I must admit I opened this book up with some high expectations. And though I wasn't immediately let down, I didn't find the opening pages as engaging as I had hoped. The oddly inconsistent point-of-view really distracted me and it took quite a while into the first section for me to truly feel hooked. But, as I kept on reading the plight of this captured Scottish woman, written through her confession to the Nazis who have her under torture, the book soon became every bit as engrossing as I had initially expected. Even better, Wein eventually offered an explanation concerning that distracting perspective.

But it was the second half of the novel that completely sealed my affection for this genuinely thrilling WWII YA novel. More of the plot emerged, but Wein still managed to include surprises along the way and keep readers guessing. She really made the characters come fully to life while balancing the horrors of war along with her own passion for aviation and its history. It was an absolute joy to read a YA novel that features two strong, intelligent and brave female heroines. Their strength - and that of their friendship - set the book apart from others in its genre. The time period - which can feel overused - instead felt fresh here. A sequel, Rose Under Fire, was released earlier this year and I am curious to check that out!

"I am no longer afraid of getting old. Indeed I can't believe I ever said anything so stupid. So childish. So offensive and arrogant. But mainly, so very, very stupid. I desperately want to grow old."

This reviews is a difficult one to write for two reasons. Firstly, because there truly are no words to describe how completely and utterly in love with this book I am. Second, because I don't want to spoil anyone who hasn't read it for the many twists and turns it will deliver throughout his pages. This book will mess with your mind and your heart and will utterly entrance you.

So what can I tell you, without ruining the story?

The writing is brilliant. It's evocative, perfectly paced, subtle, and at times painful. One thing that caught my attention, and still haunts me, is how casually Verity describes the torture's her Nazi interrogators put her through. Rather than fully descriptive scenes that allow the reader to visualize the agony she suffers at their hands, Verity mentions them in an off-handed way as if it is the most normal thing in the world, which really just emphasizes how horrifying her circumstances are. Verity's narration is brilliant and powerful. She will make you laugh and cry and mourn and want to hug her tightly. I honestly can't say much more without ruining it.

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend."

What I loved most about this book was the real story being told, that of the friendship between Verity and Maddie. Very rarely do I come across a strong female friendship in the YA books I read, and Wein did an incredible job of developing Maddie and Verity's relationship across the pages of Verity's letter to her captors. They are two strong, courageous women faced with choices nobody should ever have to face and the glimpses we get into their adventures together before Verity's capture is a perfect balance to the horror's Verity faces after being captured. It is a love story in the truest sense of the word.

I have so much more that I want to say, but can't for fear of spoiling a story that should never be spoiled for a new reader, so I will leave you with my initial review of the book...

You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read this book. You must read

Courage, despair, deviousness, courage, manipulation, treachery, betrayal, courage and did I say courage... unbelievable courage.

In the first half of the book we get to know the background story of the two main characters and their various paths that led to the fateful journey into Occupied France. At this stage of the story I was enjoying it, but not really feeling the ‘wow’ factor. It was during the second half of the book when an unexpected twist turns the story on its head and WOW, did the wow factor hit me hard! I LOVE this book.

To those who start and feel let down – read on... it’s definitely worth it.

I was struck by the extensive research Elizabeth Wein has done not only on the war, but on the lifestyle of the time, giving the story a sense of realism that allowed me to feel as though I was there, witnessing the events as they unfolded.

Code Name Verity has a unique plot that blew me away.

Recently I read a book review by Sarah Donati (Into the Wilderness, etc.) in which she mentioned not liking the first person point of view. I love Donati's books, greatly respect her knowledge as a writer, and was glad to hear her say that she does like SOME first person narratives, those in which the voice is especially distinctive and appealing. Some of my favorite books are narrated in the first person: the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Kidnapped, for instance. I can add Code Name Verity to this list. If you don't like the voices of the two narrators of the story--Julie and Maddie--the plot and WWII setting probably won't carry you through the book. If you do like them (as I did), you will love it. Each of these two characters is quirky, heroic, humorous, and as sharp as a Samurai sword. I read the author's "Debriefing," and she obviously paid attention to her historical setting too. Who knew the ballpoint pen was first manufactured by the RAF for their pilots! Some readers have mentioned the "rambling" style of the two girls' narration. This wasn't a problem for me. I'm never in a hurry when I read a novel. I like to slow down and enjoy the storytelling. The many asides, sidelines, and offshoots are part and parcel of the girl's personalities and the rich experience of a good novel. Give this novel a try... you'll never forget the brave, resourceful Scottish lassie named Queenie.

Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein, was an incredible read. The main character, Verity, is a Scottish female working to assist the Allies in World War II. However, she’s been captured by the Gestapo and is being interrogated; either she shares whatever information she knows regarding ally machinery and resources, or she faces a grisly death. Verity reveals her information via written word, weaving a delightful story through which she shares her knowledge. She writes from the point of view of her best friend Maddie, allowing us to learn about the bond between these two comrades. Verity shows how their friendship developed, revealing her own character as the story continues.

This book puts me in a particular situation where I can’t say much more about the plot as I’d risk ruining the tale as a whole, but the book is definitely addicting and emotional. The freshness of a brave woman in a primarily patriarchal society alongside the humor and emotions this book brought about will make this a great read for anybody and I highly recommend it.

Admittedly, one needs to get through a jumble of random airplane jargon but once you’re through with it (around 30 pages) the book is irresistible. It’s seemingly slow and random on purpose, but getting through it is definitely a ripe reward. While this may seem like a vague review, read it! Anything more and it’ll be spoiled.

Review by Saloni T., age 17, Northern New Jersey Mensa

This book enthralled me from the opening words: I AM A COWARD.

Split into two sections, this book is told by two best friends, girls that would have most likely never met, much less been friends, if it hadn't been for the war. Maddie is the mechanically minded one who, by a series of lucky circumstances, not only learns how to fly planes but is very skilled at it. Queenie is the wealthy girl with the Swiss boarding school upbringing who speaks three languages and is very adept at getting the information she wants.

From the beginning, we know that Queenie has been captured by the Gestapo in France. She has chosen to give up information instead of being tortured like the two French Resistance prisoners she hears screaming every day in their hotel/prison. Given two weeks to tell all, she writes an engaging story about a woman's place in the war, the excitement of belonging to a cause and a friendship that will defy the odds, all while suffering at the hands of her captors. Maddie's tale is about how she gets the exciting job of ferrying around damaged planes and delivering people to their destinations. Her modesty regarding her abilities is most likely what propels her forward to bigger and better assignments and, ultimately, the one that defines her career. Will it be a medal or court-martial for her?

What a fabulous book. Made up of equal parts Nancy Drew, Girl Scout and Steve McQueen, these girls show just how much they took on, and how much they were capable of doing, during the war while the men were away. And while they weren't "supposed" to do certain things, like fly near the front or leave England or spy, they did these things and did them well.

I am hesitant to say too much about the bulk of the book because the story is wound together so intricately that I would hate to give away anything. Like the often spoken of onion, the layers run deep and are many. Suffice it to say that if you are a fan of intrigue, war and strong females (what's the more mature version of "plucky?") you will not be disappointed.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein was published May 15, 2012 by Disney Hyperion. Ink and Page picked this book up from the library, so no one had a choice about whether it was reviewed.

Rating: 4.5

Genre: Young Adult Fiction Historical Spy Thriller
Ages: 12 and up
You Might Want to Know: Descriptions of torture and death

This is a very hard book to review, because it's best approached when you know next to nothing about the plot. It's very cleverly constructed, one of those books that plays games on the reader and has you re-evaluating what you've read previously when you get to the end of it. And yet somehow, without telling you anything about it, I also have to convey the fact that it's quite wonderful and you must read it! It's officially a young adult novel, but let's face it, much of the most original writing around at the moment is in that genre, and it's an entirely satisfying book for all ages.

Set in 1943, it opens with the confessions of a young woman who has been interrogated by the Gestapo in France. She is English and has recently been smuggled into the country. Initially we know very little about her - not even her name - but gradually she tells us (and the Gestapo) about her background in the WAAF (Womens Auxiliary Air Force) and how she came to know her best friend who was also in the WAAF and who flew the plane that brought her to France. The story is full of little clues about where it's going, which you are fairly oblivious to on the first read, but which become immensely pleasing with hindsight.

The two main characters in the book - Maddie is one and I don't even want to tell you the name of the other, because that's one of the smaller "reveals" in the book - really get under your skin. At one point you realise that something very bad has happened to one of them - and it wrecks you. Wrecks you. They are characters that you care about and worry about and keep thinking about after you've finished the book. Not so long ago I read Trapeze and that's a pleasing counterpoint to this book, dealing with similar situations and places.

In reality I guess I'd give this book 4.5 stars, but I was so filled with emotion when I finished I gave it five stars without thinking so I'm sticking with five.

I don't want to reveal anything about the book because I read a few things about the book that were't spoilers but any measure, but looking back I wish I hadn't know anything besides the basics. Here's what you need to know:

1. It's a great book. Just go read it.
2. If you like spies, read it. I love CIA stuff, but I knew pretty much nothing about British spies during WWII.
3. If you like history, read it, I learned lots of about WWII Britain that I didn't know.
4. If you like strong female characters read it. Verity and Maddie are both amazing female characters, possible among my favorite ever in literature.
4. If you like wonderful stories of friendship, read it. Verity and Maddie have a wonderful relationship.

My one piece of advice is don't give up at the beginning if you have a different time getting into it. I found Verity's voice difficult to follow at first and a few people have told me the same thing. But keep going and I promise you will get into it and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did.

What a beautiful novel. It was powerful, it was heart-wrenching, and it kept me up until the wee hours of the morning reading because I just could not put it down.

Despite a bit of a slow start, this novel is exactly what I look for in historical fiction. It is written like diary entries as Verity's information reveal to her German captor and is one of the most emotional novels I have read in a while. It really brought me into the mind of a girl kept in what for many today would be an unimaginable situation.

I loved Verity as a character. She is a very likeable narrator who loves to throw some twists at her captors (and therefore at the reader as well). It was really interesting to me how self-deprecating she was while also remaining so endearing. She has wit and she is amusingly clever, even though she is in the worst of circumstances, which are certainly not glossed over. The harsh realities of being a prisoner-of-war in German-Occupied France during World War II are explored through Verity's convincing and terrifying fears and really helped to bring the horror of the time alive. Her story is absolutely heartbreaking and it's so easy to let it get to you, but because Verity as narrator is so entertaining, she doesn't let you wallow in it. She reveals something absolutely horrible and then makes some remark or tells some story that you can't help but enjoy until the horror begins to slip your mind. The way she was written truly makes for the perfect combination of humour and heartbreak that this kind of novel set in this time period deserves.

There were a few other aspects about the story that I loved. Since it is written as Verity recording her past like flashbacks, there was an interesting blend of her memories from then and her comments on the situations from now that made for a great flow. I found it very cool how I would learn something and immediately want to go back and read the last section of the novel again with this new information or perspective I had. Also, while I was reading, I would find myself with a question only to have it answered soon afterwards, which really encouraged me to keep reading and learning more. Not to mention the unexpected twists later in the novel that turned everything on its head. That I absolutely loved. It really was an amazing novel in all its aspects.
5 stars!

Code Name Verity blew me away. Completely. Just like everyone else, I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll just go with the provided description: "Oct. 11th, 1943--A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other."

Code Name Verify is one of those novels to which I cannot do justice. I wasn't expecting all that much, and I ended up loving this book so much. The first 50-100 pages move really slowly, but after that, you're completely immersed in Maddie and Queenie's (Verity's) story. I just kept reading, to see what happened. The book is a bit dense, with lots of technical details, but it just goes by so fast.

I loved the characters; Maddie and Queenie are both so great, yet so different. Queenie is basically Scottish royalty, or at the very least, Scottish aristocracy, and Maddie's grandfather is a bike shop owner. They unexpectedly become friends when Queenie is summoned to communicate in German with someone. The friendship between them was portrayed so well: "meeting your best friend is like falling in love". I liked Queenie more, I think, but the most fascinating character was Hauptsturmfürer von Linden, Queenie's capturer and torturer. He is, of course, evil, but also so complex. There are all these little things about him that are compiled, that add more to his character. Instead of just being your one-dimensional evil Nazi, he's fully fleshed out, and almost sympathetic at times, though at other times you really hate him. And obviously, he's really evil.

The style takes some getting used to. The story of Maddie and Queenie's friendship is told in the third person, kind of from Maddie's point of view, but when Queenie (a.k.a. Verity) is talking about her present situation, it's in the first person. Once you got the hang of it, it was quite effective, and quite distinctive.

The premise of the book may have been a bit unreal; I doubt that Nazi torturers would let you ramble on and on about things that have no use whatsoever, but Linden, in this case does. When Engel, the woman who oversees Verity's writing, objects, he responds, "'Fraulein Engel, you are not a student of literature...The English flight officer has studied the craft of the novel. She is making use of suspense and foreshadowing.'" (pg. 57). To which Verity replies, '"I am not English, you ignorant Jerry bastard, I am a SCOT." She's got spunk, all right.

Another thing that I loved about the book is that it's a YA novel, yet there's hardly a whiff of romance. That's so rare these days, and I loved it. No need for love triangles! And it was still an amazing novel, definitely deserving as one of the New York Times best YA books of the year. Other reviewers said they cried throughout the book. I almost never do that while reading, but I felt like doing it at the end. And that's saying something.

There's one more element that the summary doesn't mention at all. The mystery. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice to say, it is awesome. And I predicted a large element of it beforehand. Yay for me! The part that I noticed beforehand was rather obvious though. I loved everything about this book, except for the cover; it could have been better. I found a much nicer cover. Check out Maggie Stiefvater's "review" here.

The ending of Code Name Verity was so good, and so sad. I would highly, highly, highly recommend this one. Just read it. Please. It's definitely one of my all-time favorites.

Check out my blog at novareviews.blogspot.com.

Wow. First, I am shocked because it has never taken me nearly two weeks to finish a book (though, I guess you really can't count the week I was in NYC for BEA because I got absolutely no reading done) and when books do take me a week-ish to read, I get really frustrated with myself. This doesn't mean it was a bad book, obviously by my rating, it just means it wasn't one of those 'quick reads' I'm used to. Second, this story was absolutely amazing and heartbreaking.

It's a tale of two best friends, how they're friendship begun and how, even through distance and work, they're still able to stay best friends. Verity is taken captive and held prisoner by the Nazi's while she thinks that Maddie is dead.

The first part of the book is written from Verity's point of view. Basically the Captain has demanded her tell him any secrets of the British so he could use it to their advantage. She has agreed and writes her entire story down on all sorts of paper, include sheet music, recipes and literally anything they can find for her. Verity brings a lot of humor and wit to the story, which is amazing even while she's being tortured and threatened. To be that brave is just breathtaking, really. Her story isn't for the Captain so much as it is for someone who might find it after she's gone. She knows her fate and really, in a way, she's accepted it.

I really enjoyed the second half of the story more than the first half. It didn't have the amount of humor as the first half but somehow, it was more addicting. Maybe because there was more action? I'm not really sure but I had a lot more trouble putting this book down for this half than I did for the first. I can't really say much about it without spoiling, and you don't want to be spoiled so I know it's a big vague (sorry!).

I'm not one that reads a lot of the historical fiction but I kept seeing so much buzz about this book that I had to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. There wasn't much 'romance' in this book but again, this book didn't need it. That's not what the story was about and frankly, it would've taken away from the story and the characters. Code Name Verity was beautifully written, brilliantly put together and something I would definitely recommend to anyone who was looking for something different and refreshing (in a weird way) to read. It definitely was the type of break I needed from YA fantasy/paranormal. If you're a fan of historical fiction, I would assume this would be right up your alley and would enjoy it as well! Be prepared to be heartbroken, though.

I wasn't sure if this book would live up to the hype that I had heard, but it did. The thing that attracted me most in the story is that it was about friendship and what people would do for each other. It was also about trying to find your place in a world torn apart. I loved both of the main characters. Verity is a strong, fearless, and likable character that grows on you. Maggie is a strong character that is unsure of her place in the world. I loved her love of flying and her devotion to it. Their friendship made this story so much more intense and gorgeous. The other characters in the book are complex and you learn a lot about them. I liked that none of them were simple, but there were several forces that came into play to every decision. I began to care for many of them.
One of the best things in Code Name Verity, is the WWII Britain. I could feel the intensity and the fear of the unknown. Even though I know the History, I still became caught up in what would happen next. It was just so well done, because I understood the terror. The plot was very fast pace and exciting. I had to know what happened next. Everything in this book linked together flawlessly. This book is extremely original and unlike anything that I have read. Elizabeth Wein's writing is gorgeous and spectacular. I regret not reading this book sooner. It was just such a spectacular book and honestly, I can't say more. It is the kind of book that you need to read to understand what I am talking about. It is clever with many twist and turns. I recommend this to anyone that wants an astonishing and remarkable read. It is timeless and made me think so much about myself. Seriously go read this book now, if you haven't!

Verity. Maddie. Queenie. Ava. Julie. Julia. Katerina. How many girls are there really? What are their real names and what are their spy-dentities (spy identities)? This was harrowing. That is a good word for this story. Told in two perspectives through essentially journal entries. One a little more reliable than the other? Who is the spy and whom are they spying for? This is a convoluted story and overwhelming. I listened to most of the book in one day while running errands, cooking, laundry, and writing reviews for other books I'd just finished. I couldn't stop!! Very engrossing.

I wouldn't say I thought this novel was as amazing as everyone described. It's very, very good and the ending is powerful. What I think hindered the story is also what I think was the best part (if that makes any sense). This is a prime specimen of the lives and roles of women in the Second World War. In particular, we follow the efforts of a pilot, Maddie and her best friend and spy, Julie. We are given so many details about the roles of English pilots and secret agents and it slowed the story down. Some information is more interesting than others and so I maintained a steady course through but I wish it was faster. It's impeccably researched and if you are intrigued by this historical information, then you will find it exactly to your liking.

Back to Maddie and Julie's friendship: I think this was my favorite thing about the whole book (along with the two of them being very strong women in their own ways). One line from Julie that I just loved was this one, on page 119:

"I don't believe it for a minute-that we wouldn't have become friends somehow-that an unexploded bomb wouldn't have gone off and blown us both into the same crater, or that God himself wouldn't have come along and knocked our heads together in a flash of green sunlight."

And the story is entirely about them. We don't get any stupid romance that comes between them or some act of betrayal. We get a heartfelt story about two best friends who are doing the best they can for their friends and country during the war.

The ending is definitely a twist and I also thought it was totally right. Wein captured Maddie and Julie's personalities perfectly and made their actions completely believable. It feels like they were real people.

Overall, I am really happy I decided to read Code Name Verity (guess I'm a little late to the party, though). It isn't a perfect book, but it's a perfect portrait of the friendship of two young women and their roles during the Second World War. Definitely recommended.

Originally posted on my blog: Book-Scents

Oh my goodness, wow. This book was simply amazing. How do I even start to put into words how much I loved this?

This is a story that takes place during World World II and tells of the incredible friendship between two girls that may not have met if not for the war. I honestly don't want to say that much more because I don't want to give anything away. Trust me when I say the story is awesome. Yes, this is historical fiction and yes, that may not be a genre that's up your alley. But THIS. This story is incredible. I personally have always enjoyed historical fiction but haven't read it in a long time. Code Name Verity reminded me why I loved it so much.

The story is told in a journal-esque manner and that was perfect for placing you right there inside the character's head. The writing was fantastic, and you FEEL their pain, fear, happiness and hope. You experience everything right along with them and get swept up in their tale. You are there, in war torn Europe in the 1940s. And as much as that is a place you so do not want to be, you will care so much for these two girls and their story that it's okay.

The beginning of the book was a little harder to get used to just because you are thrown lots of plane terminology. Gradually, I got used to it and got sucked into the narrative. I loved piecing together all the different aspects of the story. The way everything fit together was just phenomenal! The twists and gasp-out-loud moments! They were so good! Even those moments when you feel like your heart is crying and you can't breathe. Even then, I loved it.

And most of all, their friendship. Besides being about WWII and planes and Europe, Code Name Verity is about the strongest, most moving friendship I have read in a long, long time. I really can't recommend this highly enough!!

A captivating beginning which starts with the main character's account of her humiliation during her imprisonment and her betrayal for petty reasons. She spewed codes for confidential locations for things she needed, like clothes... Not cool at all! What had landed her in this predicament? An obvious cultural blunder--looked the wrong way when crossing the road. Sounds really bad huh? But was it really what it seems to be?

The narrator begins her story by telling us a lot about Maddie. We only learn about the narrator's name and more about the narrator nearer to the middle of the book when she continued her story in third person's POV--Queenie. That's her name but that's only one of her identity. She has others and they're all revealed in the book.

A mixture of first person and third person POV was employed in Part One of the book. The first person POV was mainly the narrator's thoughts when she was held captive. The third person POV was used when Queenie was telling us Maddie's story. This is such a clever use of POV change as the third person POV serve as a back story, telling us how the characters got to where they currently were. However, half of the time the jump from one POV to the next seems to be a little awkward and disrupts the flow of the story a little. It's a little confusing.

Part Two of the book focuses on Maddie in her first person POV and told us what happened after Queenie had jumped off the aircraft and how Maddie had landed the aircraft. I definitely enjoyed Part Two more than Part One. Maddie's story wasn't punctuated by back story, so it really flows smoothly. This is the part that had be tearing up at a heart-breaking scene and all emotions comes into play.

Although Code Name Verity is a book about war, it is not solely all about it. It tells us about true friendship and loyalty between two friends. Why else would Maddie risk it all for her friend if it isn't true friendship? I must admit that it wasn't the kind of book that I expected it to be but it was definitely an emotional read. Absolutely worth reading if you love historical fiction. Try it. Oh, and remember to keep some tissues by your side when you read it.

Disclosure: I received the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There's a lot about truth in "Code Name Verity" - who's telling the truth, who's concealing the truth, who's manipulating the truth - and it all swirls around Verity herself, a nameless WWII spy for England who has fallen into the hands of the Gestapo, and is gladly betraying her country for a chance at life. We learn about Verity, her past, her mission, and most of all we learn about Maddie: her best friend, a female flyer who dropped Verity into occupied France, and who now may or may not be dead.

What a superbly written book this is. The narrative is as straightforward as the facts are twisty; Verity tells her story, and the horrors of war drop in so casually that they punch you in the gut a moment too late. ("I wish they would stop torturing that French resistance girl; she is never going to tell them anything.") Most remarkable is the way the facts coil in on themselves and make you doubt them: how reliable a narrator is Verity? Is she really spilling her guts like a coward, or is she playing a deeper game? And where IS her gutsy little pilot friend Maddie? A book to read at white-heat, turning the pages feverishly to get at the real truth.

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker. My copy was an ARC.

The books you never think you're going to read are often the books that surprise you, whether that surprise is good or bad. Code Name Verity sat on my shelf for well over a month and it was never my intent to read it in the first place. After a terrible reading streak (nine of the last ten books I've read were either jaw-droppingly terrible or underwhelming), I remembered a 10/10 review Code Name Verity got from one of The Book Smugglers, aka two of my favorite reviewers ever, and gave it a shot.

Good surprise, everyone! Good surprise! Oh my gosh, this book. If I could, I would drop a bunch of crying GIFs and squeeing GIFs here and call it a day, but that won't make anyone understand why I've hardly let go of the book since I started reading it. Wein's story of friendship and survival during World War II tore my heart into pieces.

Told in two points of view (Verity's for the first two-hundred or so pages; Maddie's for the rest of the book), Code Name Verity is occasionally funny despite the subject matter and all the torture Verity goes through. As she writes of being forced to endure pencil shavings in her eyes, three days of little sleep and almost nonstop torture, and burns all over her body alongside the story of show she and Maddie met and how Verity ended up in France, she tends to display a wry sense of humor. The average person would have gotten that tortured out of them, but not her. She understands that clinging to humor any way she can may be the only way to keep hold on some semblance of her sanity.

But how much of what Verity says is the truth? Could she be lying through her teeth with every word she says in order to stay loyal to her country? Has she really been broken to the point of giving up everything she knows? Since everything she writes will get back to her captors, she can only write down so much. There could be much more going on during her time in prison than she is able to write down. Verity's unreliability as a narrator gives the novel a compelling angle.

Maddie's part of the novel is a little weaker, but her faith in her best friend nearly made me swoon. When someone claims Verity is a collaborator, Maddie has to be knocked out so she won't hurt him any worse than she already had. Where Verity is wry and a tad long-winded, Maddie is direct and very emotional. It's funny how despite Verity's side of the story being the stronger one overall and detailing some of her torture, it wasn't until Maddie took over that I started bawling.

Sure, the descriptions of pilot life and how planes work and such made my eyes glaze over a little when I was reading, but that is something I easily overlooked in my quest to make it to the end of Verity's story. Anyone looking for a World War II romance won't find one here--not in the usual sense. This is the platonic love affair of two intelligent girls who become close friends while serving their country and are forced to make difficult choices in the middle of one of the fiercest wars ever fought. Difficult choices indeed.

Code Name Verity started out as an ARC I rescued from a used bookstore so I could pass it on to another blogger who would love it. Now I'm more reluctant to let it go. If you think this is the kind of book you can read, read it. It made me blubber and it made me laugh (but not at something that would make me blubber) and I'm going to love it forever.

This is the best book I have read this year. 1943-A British spy parachutes from a plane over France and is captured by the Gestapo. The pilot crashes and the story twist is the spy & the pilot are women. Detailed, extremely well researched and compelling as we learn more about the spy and her best friend as they train and go on missions during the War. The story is told by the spy as she is imprisoned, tortured and forced to give up secrets through a written log of sorts.

Elizabeth Wein keeps the story focused and moving right along. There are moments of humor, tenderness and terror. I gasped, cringed and outright cried several times. Wein does a fine job with the pacing and character development. Some of the French/German was hard to follow but if the speaker didn't restate it in English the context was enough to figure it out. There are secrets galore and many unexpected twists & turns. I don't want to give any of the plot away but I will say that while this is fiction, I believed every word of it actually happened!

5 stars and I already have Wein's next book on reserve at the library.

BLURB:

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.

*****

This is the premise of Code Name Verity. To be honest, I did not expect it to open with the MC already captured and writing her confession. But her voice--oh her voice! Wein does a memorable job of creating a character who is speaking like someone at her wit's end, being tortured and forced to confess, while having more strength than most of us would ever have in the same situation. I was enthralled and loving it by the end of page one. Here's an example (from my book's page 6):

"...I am a prisoner in the Ormaie Gestapo HG because I have no sense of direction whatsoever. Bearing in mind that the people who trained me encouraged my blissful ignorance of airfields just so I couldn't tell you such a thing if you did catch me, and not forgetting that I wasn't even told the name of the airfield we took off from when I came here: let me remind you that I had been in France less that 48 hours before that obliging agent of yours had to stop me being run over by a French van full of French chickens because I'd looked the wrong way before crossing the street. Which shows how cunning the Gestapo are. "This person I've pulled from beneath the wheels of certain death was expecting traffic to travel on the left side of the road. Therefore she must be British, and is likely to have parachuted into Nazi-occupied France out of an Allied plane. I shall now arrest her as a spy. ' "

This is how the first bit of the book goes. Her banter. Her defiance. Her fear of being tortured. And then, just as you think you know what's going on, things change. And then, they change again. And again. And... again. Until things build up to a point where you love these two girls and you feel what they feel and you get why they're doing what they're doing and yet surprised at the same time that half of what you thought was going on was actually something else entirely, and then the scene--THE SCENE--and the emotional part I had read about on the reviews and was anticipating just hit me and I was so emotional about it I actually had to set the book down and walk away. (This has never happened to me before.)

As I type this, I am still affected by it. And yet, the story continues. (I went back to reading a couple of hours later.) I can't imagine anyone not liking Code Name Verity, but as I was impatiently awaiting its arrival, I read a few reviews and was shocked to see that some people flat-out hated the plane/flight elements of the book (it's quite a bit of info, yes, but I did what I always do when I don't "get" something I read about... I took the character for what they said, or glazed over it when I couldn't perfectly picture it). One reviewer said they couldn't even bear to finish it--I understand how subjective reading is (and here's a quick shout-out to writers everywhere--this is life, it is never going to change, some will love us and some will hate us, but for the ones who don't like what we've written, there are ten who do, and for the ones who didn't like it, they'll find ten books that they do) but all I could think as I read that one part, the part that tore me apart was DID THEY GET THIS FAR? WHEN THEY QUIT, HAD THEY READ TO THIS POINT?????

So bottom line, I loved Code Name Verity. I loved the characters, I loved the setting (World War II--Europe), I loved Wein's voice. (Quick side note since this is YA: there is a bit of profanity in it, but in my opinion, it's all in context. Considering what was going on, however, it was used quite rarely.)

I usually stay clear of war stories. With the exception of "War Horse", I skip them. It's just not my cup of tea.

Though I try not to judge a book by its cover, this one did catch my eye. It speaks a thousand words. And the blurb of the novel did seal the deal on giving this one a chance. I am glad that I did.

Verity's voice in the beginning of this novel instantly reeled me in. She became a war prisoner of the Gestapo in WW2, and forced to write her confession day after day. Her voice was funny, filled with sarcastic humor, and even in the midst of such a horrid situation, she made me laugh at her rebellious antics towards her captors. She was human. Defiant. Strong and so brave. She was difficult to ignore and not love.

In the way of these "journal entries" which were read every day by her captors, she weaves the story of her deep friendship with Maddie, a pilot she worked with throughout the war.

The second part of this novel is told through Maddie's voice and she is no less likeable, and no less brave. Thinking of nothing but trying to find her friend and rescue her. It is difficult to write anything more without giving away the plot.

Saying that this is the best WW2 book I have ever read maybe doesn't indicate much considering that I don't really read this genre. For a reader that doesn't venture into these type of novels, and to give this book a four star review may indicate a lot.

I love that this book focused on two normal girls that joined the war, and fought behind enemy lines. And I loved that they were good at what they did and very much respected. There are no happy endings in war, and it translates true with this novel. Though I can not say with all honesty that this was an original type of war story, I can most certainly say that it is forever memorable.

Highly recommended!

This book is really hard to review. It's almost impossible to do so without giving spoilers. It completely sucked me in despite the whole premise itself being a ginormous plot hole...but...no way to detail that without spoilers....

So, I'm not going to review this. I'm just going to tell you what to do when you read it. You remind yourself that this is *fiction* and the characters don't *have* to sound their age because the voice of this novel is what counts. You don't worry that things would never, ever happen that way, because the fun is in the putting together of the clues. You ignore the plot hole big enough to fly a plane through, and just read the book because the writing is good and books set in WW2 are awesome and the main characters are ones you want to cheer for.

I listened to the audio book (so perfectly read) and then reread the print version. This is a novel that resonates on so many levels and won't let go (I dreamt about it last night). First and foremost, it's a story of friendship: Maddie is a female pilot in WWII, and Queenie (one of her many names) is a wireless operator, intelligence operator, prisoner of the Gestapo, and collaborator when she folds under torture. The two characters are some of the most memorable strong and vulnerable women I've ever read in literature.

What also makes this story so extraordinary are the nuances, the shades of grey: even the Nazi inquistor in charge of extracting information from Queenie is humanized (he has a daughter and a love of literature). The suspense of the story and the tension of the struggles to stay alive are utterly compelling, but even more haunting are the fundamental questions of ethics and responsibility that the story poses.

This is a keeper -- a book to reread and to pass on to anyone who isn't afraid to stare into the face of the darkest corners of human nature to find redemption and beautiful moments of grace.

I wish I had something really original to add to the reviews of Code Name Verity that would compel people to read this really original and enthralling book immediately, but the best I can do is wholeheartedly concur with the majority.

Yes, this book does have a bit of a slow start, but stick with it and you will be amply rewarded with a terrific reading experience. Like others, I also can't recount anything beyond bare bone details of the plot without giving away spoilers, which in this case really would spoil your terrific reading experience. Two girls join the war effort in World War II Britain, and during a mission, their plane crashes over Nazi-occupied France. One of the girls (let's call her The Spy) is captured, and through her written confession of everything she knows about the British War Effort, she tells the story of her friendship with Maddie, The Pilot. That is simple enough, but Code Name Verity is so much more. Wein's plotting ability is unsurpassed, but she combines this with amazingly beautiful writing. There is a scene where one of the narrators is describing the green flash (read the book and you'll understand!) that painted a particularly resplendent picture for me. Wein also manages to create vivid characters that I really cared about. Her extraordinary ability to write characters extends to knowing how to write the Nazi antagonists so they are not overdrawn caricatures. Since this is historical fiction, I was convinced that The Pilot and The Spy were based on real people. Wein does an author's debriefing at the end of the book that further explains and adds to the story.

There are several small, possibly implausible plot points which may require the reader to suspend belief a bit, but the rest of the book is so good that any suspension of belief you have to do is easy and worthwhile. This is a place where I really wish I could award half stars on the store, as Code Name Verity is a solid 4.5 stars.

I have never before finished a book and immediately started a reread, but I've been compelled to with this book. My first read was as an audiobook, but I've just purchased the Kindle version and will be reading Code Name Verity a second time this afternoon. I know I'll be rewarded both intellectually and emotionally, and I hope other readers will reward themselves by reading this excellent book.

I got Code Name Verity from NetGalley back in May or June of 2012. I'd seen many people comment on how much they loved this book, and I'd even seen people say based off the description they didn't think they'd enjoy it, but after reading it, they loved it. And that's exactly where I was. I put off reading it because well the description just didn't pull me in. I love love stories. Romance. Falling in love for the first time. But that's not all I'm capable of reading and enjoying.

Elizabeth Wein, I owe you an apology for putting off reading Code Name Verity for so long. This book is "bloody brilliant." That's the phrase that keeps getting stuck in my head when I think about it.

Reviewing Code Name Verity is going to be somewhat difficult because there's so much that doesn't need to be shared with the reader until he/she gets to it in the book. And Code Name Verity is one of those books where EVERY detail is tied into everything else--the bigger picture. Yet you don't realize that until the book is 85% complete. But this is one of those books that I need to go back and re-read because I know I missed so much in the first half of the book now that I know how it ends.

Elizabeth Wein says in the author's note that she would love to go through the entire book and document where she got the idea for each piece of the book, but that it would take a really long time to do so. However, I suggest to her that I'd love to read that. As I'm reading a book I always wonder such things and this is definitely one that I would go back and re-read along with the author's notes. I can totally see that enriching the entire experience for me. (Like watching the Directors Cut of your favorite movie, which I may or may not do all that time.)

As the description above says, the main character is about a British spy (though she's not English, please don't be mistaken on that point) is captured by the Gestapo. The spy part is what I'm really trying to focus on right now. The first half of the book is from the spy's point of view. We don't learn her real name for quite a long time, and she has more than one code name, so it's difficult to know which name to call her in my review. Just covering my bases as there might be readers of my blog unfamiliar with Code Name Verity, I'll just stick with Verity.

As I was saying, the first half of the book is from Verity's point of view. Her character is so well written that she literally jumped off the page within 5 sentences. Probably within the first two sentences I felt like Verity was a real person. I don't know that I've ever had an experience with a character quite like Verity. Sure, I've loved characters, I've seen myself in characters, I've hate characters, etc. But I've never felt like a character was so real as Verity, and especially not so quickly. That being said, when narration swapped to Maddie to continue the 2nd half of the book, I was fearful that I wouldn't be able to get Verity's voice out of my head. However, that was not the case at all. Maddie was just as strong of a character and came to life with her own voice so clear and distinct from Verity's. It's truly amazing to me that Elizabeth Wein was able to create more than one character who came alive in this way because such a gift is truly, truly rare.

Along with such amazing characters and the tie in of every single detail, the way that Code Name Verity was written--as a spy writing out her confession and the journal of a pilot--was brilliant as well. The narration style fit the mood and events of the book perfectly. I don't think Verity and Maddie's story could have been told in any traditional narration style, and the journal/confessional style added to authentication. For example, I loved how both Verity and Maddie would be telling a story and interject their personal feelings or lamentations. It's true stream of consciousness writing, which I happen to really enjoy.

As my fear for swapping narration from Verity to Maddie, I began another book almost immediately after finishing Code Name Verity, and not only could I not get Maddie's voice out of my head (since she was the narrator of the 2nd half of the book), but the events and the end of Code Name Verity prevented me from being able to focus on the new story I had begun. Whoever authored the Goodreads description above hit the nail on the head when they said Code Name Verity would "stick with you long after the last page." I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this book quite frequently for quite some time.

Aside from "bloody brilliant," if I had to describe Code Name Verity, I'd pick "harrowing" (also used in the Goodreads description). That pretty much sums it up. Code Name Verity gets 4.9 stars. Have you read Code Name Verity? What did you think? Let me know!

Code Name Verity is a strong and powerful book and female empowerment and friendship. Maddie and Verity and the best best friends I have ever read. Their friendship is realistic and heartwarming. Everything about them is what every YA book should have. It does have a slow start though and is confusing at times, but in the end, everything clicks. It is a book I definitely feel is worth reading if you're into WWII fiction and friendship.

Once I picked up this riveting book I could not put it down. It is the captivating tale of friendship between two young British women, one a pilot and the other a spy, during World War II. As the story begins, Julie has been captured in France by the Nazis. Like Scheherezade, she writes her “confession” in exchange for time and a reprieve from torture. Her story is mostly an account of her friendship with Maddie, the pilot who flew them to France and whose plane was shot down. Julie’s narrative contains acts of defiance and dark humor, and alternates between the past and present story lines, in which she describes her unbearable situation as a prisoner. The second part of the novel is narrated by Maddie, and is an account of her desperate efforts to rescue her friend.

This is a tale of friendship, espionage, and courage that does not shy away from the horrors of war. It is outstanding on many levels -- the historical details, the strong characterizations (even the Nazis are humanized), the suspense, the plot twists, and the dramatic climax. It was featured on many best books of 2012 lists.

So here's the truth: I loathe war stories. To me, they are depressing reminders of senseless violence and destruction. Depicting events that led to the deaths of millions and millions of people in the creation of a page-turning story discomforts me; in the hands of an unskilled author, it is almost like capitalizing on the deaths of these people in order to write about cool bombs and airplanes. The few successful war novels I've read use war as a mere backdrop for non-war related plots and themes. For instance, WWII features heavily in Ian McEwan's Atonement, but I enjoyed it because it focuses on themes of forgiveness and truth. So though I loathe war stories, I loved Code Name Verity for its beautiful treatment of a friendship between a pilot and spy during WWII.

Code Name Verity follows the friendship of Maddie Brodatt and a girl who goes by many names. It's difficult to write a review for fear of spoiling any of the twists this book takes. The story begins slowly and a bit confusedly, for the narrator chooses to write from the perspective of another narrator, if that makes any sense. At first, it seems like a status quo war novel--there are airplane names and initalisms galore. I was not enjoying it much because I kept forgetting the significations for ATA, WAAF, RAF (well, RAF was the only one I recalled). I am so glad I stuck with it though because we begin to see the friendship unfold in this time of uncertainty and I don't want to spoil, but just promise to stick with it, because it gets SO good.

The writing style is also brilliant. Wein clearly did her research and succeeds in maintaining the complex narrative framework of the novel without sacrificing the true feeling behind it. One minor complaint is I didn't quite believe the authenticity of the voice at times--the girls sounded a bit too modern for the 1940s. Everything else seems authentic, though, and it is incredible that Wein pulled off this puzzling war novel about friendship. For twists and turns, literary and historical allusions, believable and multifaceted characters, you must read Code Name Verity. And when you're done, you'll gasp, "How did Wein do that??" and want to reread it to understand how it all brilliantly came together.

Normally for my reviews I give my own brief summary and then I critique the characters, writing, world building, etc. That is not going to happen here. The synopsis is perfect. If I was to say anymore it would ruin intricate parts of the story.

"Verity" & Maddie are the two most remarkable, well written characters I have ever read. There friendship is so prominent and strong throughout the entire book it leaves you aching, physically aching for them. They are so loyal to each other it hurts you. All of the characters that were designed to hate, you hated. All of the characters you were designed to love, you loved.

The writing is absolutely outstanding. I knew little to nothing about planes prior to this novel but Stein had a way of talking about aeroplanes that pulled you in. I was absolutely fascinated by the amount of detail and research that must have went into this novel.

I loved the point of views. I didn't realize just how remarkable until the end of the book and you realized that so much was given, that was overlooked until everything was explained at the end.
Honestly, I have nothing to say that hasn't been said about this book.

All I can do is rave, and rave. This has far surpassed just being one of my favorite books of 2012, its hands down one of my favorite books of all time.

When I finished, I was physically in pain. My heart hurt, my throat hurt and my eyes hurt. For someone to be able to evoke those type of emotions on you... they are a literary genius. Elizabeth Stein IS a literary genius. I still hurt today for Maddie, and Julie and their love for each other.

Code Name Verity is a masterpiece.

"Kiss Me Hardy, Kiss Me Quick"

Originally posted at [...]
4.5/5 Stars

Oh this book, this book, people! This is a difficult review to write, because when I love a book, when I find a book to be as brilliant and memorable as Code Name Verity is, I feel that I will never be able to convey my thoughts and feelings in any kind of coherent manner. For some strange reason, the better the book, the harder the review is to write...

I first heard about Code Name Verity late last year but normally I shy away from books that deal with concentration/ prison camps, the Holocaust, and the like. Those subjects absolutely rip me up inside, and I can only handle so much of that in the books I read. But it was also evident that the story, which featured two women, one a spy and one a pilot, was going to be centered around their strong friendship, and THAT I could not resist.

From the start I knew that the book would be narrated by both Maddie, the pilot, and 'Queenie'/ Verity, the spy. Neither of those are her real name, and being a word geek, I love that "Verity" comes from the Latin word veritas, which means "truth." Which leads to the fact that I knew one, or both of these narrators, were going to weave an intricate tale, and that not all of it would be true. Unreliable narrators ROCK, people. Love them.

I loved both of these gals and I loved the way the story was initially laid out and told, epistolary style, through Queenie's written confessions. The majority of the book (at least 2/3) is dedicated to Queenie, who not only hands over secret information to the Gestapo, but also recounts her relationship with Maddie, whom she believes to be dead. It's hard for me to say whose voice I loved more, we learn of Maddie through Queenie and vice versa. But if I had to choose it would be Queenie, I loved her gallows humor, and enjoyed trying to figure out what was truth and what was fiction. (If you're wondering I probably figured out less than half before I was supposed to, that Elizabeth Wein is one clever, tricky writer.)

Code Name Verity is meaty too. It's not a very long book, just a little shy of 350 pages, but I found that it was not a quick read at all. I took my time with it, because with unreliable narrators it isn't wise to skim or skip. There is a lot of technical talk, especially concerning airplanes and war terminology, but amazingly enough it didn't bore me or cause my eyes to cross. In fact, it really sparked my interest, and made me want to learn more. I'm not going to be hopping over to flight school to obtain my pilot's license anytime soon, but I do get the fascination with flying a bit better now.

And I loved the history embedded in the book. I'm no expert on WWII, but I have a basic knowledge of events that occurred on the western front. And really I know next to nothing about women's roles during the war, especially women pilots. So this aspect of the book I found fascinating. This book is filled with tons of girl power moments, and I LOVED it. I loved reading about Maddie's beginnings as a British farm girl interested in engines and mechanics, and watching her transform into a bad ass serving member of the RAF. I loved the code and espionage that made up Queenie 's life, though reading about it filled me with anxiety at the same time.

But the friendship! The beautiful yet heartbreaking love between those two girls is what makes this story shine. It is plain from the start, as the reader is introduced to Maddie via Queenie's confessions, that she adores her. That Maddie, as different as she is, is Queenie's 'sister' in every sense of the word. And when Maddie begins her part of the narrative, it's clear that her love for Queenie, and the lengths that she will go to for her friend, is equally obvious. And gut wrenching. Listen, prepare yourself when you read this book. I didn't sob my way through it, but you know, know, as you are reading, that are going to be some tough times ahead. I'm not saying this to scare anyone off, and I hope that I don't, but make no mistake, this is a powerful book. And powerful books can and should elicit strong responses. Code Name Verity most certainly does.

Guys, the writing is superb. I am utterly in awe of how Wein plotted and crafted this story. And this, being Historical Fiction, has obviously been researched to the hilt. Before reading the book, I read a completely captivating interview Wein gave to Leanna over at Daisy Chain Reviews. In it she talks about her inspirations for the book. It is well worth checking out, it really enhanced my reading of the book. Code Name Verity is one of those books that while marketed as a YA read, would appeal to a much broader audience. It is such an amazing book that I think Hollywood would be out of their freaking heads if they doesn't snatch this up and turn it into a feature film. Just make sure you involve the author in the process, guys, because that woman is a genius.

So, in summary...read this book. Beg, borrow, or steal if you must. Well, maybe not steal, but you get what I am saying...It's masterfully written and unforgettable. I have found a new favorite author.

4.5/5 Stars

Oh - my - goodness. I haven't cried at the end of a book since The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I mean, WOW. In this historical fiction filled thriller, we meet Verity who is writing journal entries while captured by the Gestapo. Now, let me be very clear that it WILL take you more than half of the book to get into this book, but other reviewers and readers are not exaggerating when they say that it will pay off. I, myself, was extremely skeptical - this book that was "meh" for over 50% - how could it possible turn around? BUT IT DID.

This book made me bawl like a baby and all I could think of was MY best friend, who I'm lucky to blog with, and what I would do if it were the two of us in World War II. If you don't come away from this book thinking about your best friend, I don't know what to tell you!

What can I say about Code Name Verity that hasn't already been said? I agree with my friends here:

"Code Name Verity is one of those books that will be seared into my brain and heart" - Jamie
"This novel tells such a beautiful, moving tale of friendship that will be staying with me for a long while." -Alexa

Please please make the investment in this book - it's so hard to ask someone to give a book more than 50% when you aren't really into it but I promise, it will pay out. (I have told the truth!)

While technically listed for older teens i urge adults to read this. A harrowing raw story of 2 young women from the British isles working with French resistance in WW2. Some strong hard to read pages as 1 is arrested and tortured by the Gestapo. The book is told in 2parts each being 1 girls story. While hard to read at times we must learn from the courageous people involved here and resist.

I picked up CODE NAME VERITY on a whim, which is surprising considering that I had actually recommended it to a friend first. She loved it, told me I had to read it, so after some debate and boredom with another book, I turned to this. I normally do not read much historical fiction, even though I watch basically every World War II movie there is ever since my parents took me to see Schindler's List when I was a kid (by the way, Schindler's List is not a movie for 6 year olds). I am not a fan of long winded stories about tanks and knockoffs of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (which I am frankly not a fan of).

This book blew my expectations of dull and boring out of the water.

CODE NAME VERITY is about two girls - an undercover operative and a pilot - during World War II. That is all you need to know about this book.

In one word, you could describe CODE NAME VERITY as emotional. If you added a few more words, you could describe it as a rollercoaster of feelings, filled with thrills, nail-biting moments, and heartbreak. This story is sad and uplifting at the same time. It's a story about the will to live and the things people do under duress. It's about confronting fears and the cracks that form when people are broken down.

Verity and Maddie are both complex characters with issues, flaws, and passions. I felt like I got to know them over the course of the book. While this story is told mostly from Verity's POV, it's about Maddie's trials and tribulations. It's only slowly that we begin to learn more about Verity herself. This was a first for me, this plot device, but I was blown away by it.

If I have to take away one thing from CODE NAME VERITY, it would be one of the things that I dislike about a lot of WWII fiction - long windedness. Didn't I mention that before? Well, this story has a tendency to meander at times. For the first 40%, I can imagine some readers will be turned off by an extreme attention to detail. We learn the names of planes, airbases, technical things about wireless sets and encryption codes and the like. It takes a patient person to wade through a lot of the heavy background details. But what this does do well is set up the story. Fifty percent in and suddenly the story turns from slogging into breakneck action, thrills, and crying spells.

Oh, yes. You will cry.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, but I have to mention the parts that slog along. Be patient with CODE NAME VERITY, because after all the twists and turns and reveals, you will want to hug this book tightly and cry yourself to sleep.

VERDICT: An unbelievably emotional story with a slightly plodding beginning, CODE NAME VERITY does not stray from the hard-hitting aspects of YA, which makes it a must read.

Verity has two weeks to tell Captain von Linden everything she knows about British intelligence, or else she dies. Then again, even after she reveals all, she'll probably die anyway. It's World War II, and Verity is a British spy who was caught in occupied Paris when she looked the wrong way before crossing the street. Now she is a POW of the Nazis, and simply by keeping the journal that makes up the first half of the book, she is hated by the other prisoners, who prefer torture to giving away the secrets of their home countries.

But for Verity, writing down all of her secrets, all of her knowledge of British airfields and wireless codes, everything she knows about her best friend Maddie, who was flying the plane from which Verity parachuted down to Paris, is its own special kind of torture. Is it more noble to die for one's country or to want to save oneself from death and torture? Did Verity cause Maddie's death by parachuting out of the plane before it crashed?

Her journal becomes a place not just for Captain von Linden to learn state secrets but also a place for Verity to work out her fears, guilt, and love for her job. She is sharp and snarky, always reminding everyone that she is Scottish, not British, and managing to throw some jabs at the German officers.

CODE NAME VERITY is a taut, thrilling novel that is appropriate for both for teens and adults. Elizabeth Wein has created a gripping story perfect for fans of historical fiction, adventure, mysteries or thrillers, and she does so without sacrificing the character development and literary quality that often seems thrown to the wind in books with complicated, nuanced plots.

I can't tell you much more about the book without giving away spoilers. It's certainly a story you'll want to read as quickly as possible the first time, and then you'll want to read it again to go through it more slowly, picking out all the clues that Wein has so subtly planted. She doesn't shy away from the violence and darkness that characterized World War II, but neither does she revel in it, instead revealing it to be at once grim, unreal, and matter-of-fact.

This is the kind of book you'll be gifting to all of your friends this year. I know I wish I could read it again for the first time, because it was so gripping I never wanted to put it down, and I finished it all too quickly. It's so pleasing to see a book with such a fresh, well-researched subject and without any androids, totalitarian government (or, at least, not a made-up, dystopian one), or computers. This is a part of history I've never seen treated before in novels or textbooks, and Verity shares with you her love of flying and intrigue, without assuming you know everything about flying a plane.

CODE NAME VERITY has just shot to the top of my Favorite New Books of 2012 list, and it will do the same to yours.

Reviewed by Sarah Hannah Gomez on June 1, 2012

I love reading books about friendship. Sometimes I feel like with the craziness of life, a true friend is what keeps you grounded. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is one of those books that will have you looking back on the relationships you have with your friends, and has you wondering if you would be able to do what Maddie felt she had to do.

Set in the era of WWII, where Hitler's reign instilled fear in the heart and mind, we follow the lives of two girls, Maddie and Julie. Two girls, who in a world where there was no war, would not have met or have become friends. Thrust together in a time of great despair, Maddie and Julie build a friendship that even miles won't separate them.

I will admit, that in the beginning I was struggling through this book. Because Maddie was an aspiring pilot, and due to her love of flight, there was a lot of discussion about old airplanes. At times, it felt like the only constant that I was not able to get past was that there was no break from the descriptions of the planes. Once I thought that there possibly couldn't be anything else left to say about planes, there would be more. But once I powered through the beginning, the rest of the book was what I was hoping it would be. A story of friendship, and the sacrifices that one would make to prevent a friend from pain and suffering.

The story reads like a diary/journal of sorts, and split in two parts between Verity and Maddie. I LOVED that. Where the first part ended, the second part would start through the eyes of the next. I couldn't help but be caught up in the whirl wind of emotion that poured out of the pages of Code Name Verity. Author, Elizabeth Wein, put in so much feeling in Code Name Verity. It was because of these little snippits of emotion that were in the beginning half of the book that had me continuing to read, rather than not finishing it. I, for one, am so glad that I decided to keep going.

It was heartbreaking to read about the torture and pain that Verity had to go through when she was captured and held prisoner at Gestapo headquarters. To be forced to watch the torture of other victims as a way to have her confess codes and other military secrets to aid them in the war. To read about how she was tortured, and just how much more she could endure for another week of life....another day even.

Code Name Verity is one of those stories that I won't soon forget. It did reiterate to me the importance of friends, and how sometimes one must do, what needs to be done for the sake of friendship.

I love to be pleasantly surprised by a book! I must admit, I did not have very high expectations for Code Name Verity. It's published by Disney Hyperion Books, an imprint I (incorrectly) thought had more to do with movie adaptations, teen star books, or some crummy little books in a series. I also knew that the primary audience to whom they're marketing the book was teen girls, which I am decidedly not. But Elizabeth Wein does such a wonderful job telling this story, with heroic female characters, historical authenticity, and a plot that takes you in, breaks your heart, and inspires, that I have to give Code Name Verity a big thumbs up.

Verity, code name for a young lady from an aristocratic Scottish family, and Maddie, a working-class English girl, meet during World War 2, becoming best friends. Maddie is a civilian pilot, Verity, a spy. On a mission to deliver Verity to French for some clandestine activities, they crash in France. Verity is eventually captured, while Maddie is taken in by some members of the French resistance. In prison, Verity agrees to divulge information to her Nazi captors. Her written account of her spy activities make up the bulk of the book. Maddie's flight journal, the remainder.

Taking what could have been a predictable, maudlin, run-of-the-mill story, Wein captures the times, the setting, and the feelings and attitudes of the ladies, in their 20s but wise and experienced beyond their years. Although the story is fiction, it is one of those historical novels that very well could have happened, and if it did, it would have been exactly as Wein tells it. She put a ton of effort into making the story as authentic as possible, down to every historical, geographic, and aviation-related detail. It doesn't scream at you as you read, but once I finished, reflecting on the historicity, I was amazed.

I'm not saying that I will now start reading all the YA girls' fiction published by Disney. But I will be a bit more open-minded about the genre now. Check out Code Name Verity. It's a good read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Code Name Verity, Disney-Hyperion by Elizabeth Wein

Although this book is listed as juvenile fiction I found it to be a good read, although I no longer find myself in that age group chronologically. In fact I was born shortly after the time in which this story is set, the European Theater of World War 2.

Though the book is fictional the historical details are well researched and I found myself going to Google to get more information of a story of the war that is not well known, the role of women in the war. Specifically the Air Corps and espionage.

The two lead characters, Maddie a teen age girl with great mechanical skills who becomes a pilot, and Julie, a Scot with an ability to speak several languages and make things up as she goes along, end up in Occupied France. Maddie, the pilot crash lands her plane in a field use3d by the French Resistance while Julie has parachuted out with hopes of fulfilling her secret mission.

Much of the story is revealed through the journals of Julie composed as a prisoner of the Gestapo. The friendship of Maddie and Julie and how these two teen age girls ended up in France is written of scraps of paper which seemingly are the confession of a young girl who has succumbed to Nazi torture.

As the story unfolds all the notes scribbled by Julie become a key ingredient of the story but I must admit that page after page of those notes became a bit tedious for me. I pressed on because I wanted to see how it all came together, how Code Name Verity ended. In the process of reading though the picture of two very real young teens was painted and the war had a human face.

All in all it was a good read especially in bringing to light a part of history that many are not aware of: personal aircraft pressed into service by the military, the active involvement of women in the war effort and the invaluable service they rendered.

I received a galley of this book on Kindle with the expectation I would read it and review it but with no expectation of a positive review.

"Code Name Verity," a magnificent novel that made me shed tons of tears ... A wonderful story!

Elizabeth Wein tells an incredible friendship story between two women during World War II. Reported as a journal in two parts with the view of Verity and Maddie, it portrays the help given by Great Britain in the fight against the Nazis in a fictional way.

By turns funny, poignant, scary and sad, this novel captivates you from the first pages. It takes you into the world of pilots and mechanics with Maddie, in the thrill of espionage with Verity's story. In worlds reserved to men, the two friends will find their place and gain the respect of their colleagues and friends.

Full of courage, both women will confront their fears and will fight against bone-chilling war's troubles. Dive into the story, the reader almost forget that Elizabeth Wein wrote a fiction as the descriptions seem plausible. It is poignant and I'm not ashamed to say I finished my reading while snuffing loudly!

Even if small translation errors can creep into the French dialogue, I found that using different languages ''allow readers to better immerse themselves into the atmosphere.
The characters are numerous even though the story focuses on the strong friendship between Verity and Maddie. I confess also falling for Jaimie whom I would have liked to see starting a romance with Kittyhawk ...

Usually, I tend to shy away from novels and films about World War II, not because they bore me, but because in France, the two world wars were an important part of our not very glorious, dark and tragic History . So, if one wants to escape or seek distractions, it's not necessarily the best subjects...

Yet, "Code Name Verity" takes you into a amazing voyage through History and shakes powerfully your guts. A lesson in courage, determination and love even if it is a fiction.
A Five stars story...
A must read!

Lucie
newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr

*Review posted on Mundie Moms on 1/10/2014*

You know that book that everyone tells you that you should read immediately, and everyone has as their number one favorite read of the year? Well, that was Code Named Verity in 2012. And as the recs came in, I ignored them. There I said it. I knew that the novel was set in WWII and let's just say that I didn't want my heart to be broken. Don't look at me like that, it's true. There are times when I do and then there are entire years when I don't want to go there even in a fictional landscape.

But then, something happened. Something wonderful. I READ THE BOOK. And darn it to pieces, KISS ME HARDY, I fell in love with its perfectly paced plot and the way it pulled me along and made me fall in love with Maddie and Verity. These brave, brave girls stole my heart.

Elizabeth made me want to learn more about the British resistance movement, because let's face it, my U.S. history classes were limited in scope. Now, I want to read every single thing Elizabeth has written. No seriously, I do. I have a feeling her shopping lists are interesting.

Code Name Verity is a beautiful, breathtaking book - one that I almost gave up on.

"Verity" tells her story, present and past, as she writes out her confession for her Nazi interrogators. She's a quirky, clever narrator, adding humor even in morbid situations. Despite this, though, I had a hard time staying interested in Verity's confession. By the time I finished Part One, I was about to declare this book a "did not finish." There is a lot of detail about planes and flight and war in Part One, and it was kind of going in one ear and out the other for me... I was just reading to get through it. I liked reading about Maddie and Verity's friendship, but the bouncing back and forth between the present and the past was a little jarring. I gave it a good try, but I was nearly halfway in and I still wasn't really into it.

And then I read the first sentence of Part Two.

I was hooked from that moment on. It took me a few days to work my way through Part One, but I tore through Part Two in one night. I couldn't read fast enough. There is so much I want to say about the second half of this book, but everything I try to write borders on being a spoiler, and trust me - with this book, you do not want ANYTHING spoiled. It will get your pulse racing as you discover the truth on your own piece by piece.

So if you try this book and, like me, you find it a little slow in the beginning, please stick with it. Hopefully you will have the same experience as I did, where all of a sudden the book explodes into an absolutely incredible story that tears at your heart, a story that makes you smile and cry and want to run to your best friend and hug her tightly.

I received this as an ebook ARC from NetGalley. Full review originally posted on my blog, PidginPea's Book Nook (link in my profile).

I picked this one up because I had read the amazing reviews about it and I needed a good audiobook to keep me awake during the traffic I sit into on the way to work. Most of the audiobooks I'd listened to did nothing more than give me a migraine before I got into the office, and I was about ready to give up on the idea all-together, when I got Code Name Verity.

I'm a big science fiction fan. If it doesn't have an aspect of fantasy in it, I'm probably not going to read it.

But I'll be damned if I wasn't enthralled for every word of Code Name Verity. This book is my enemy. It is my best friend. It made me laugh, cry, and hate myself. I have never been so touched by a story until I read this book. I can't stop thinking about it.

I even listened to the author's note in the end of the audiobook and, if I hadn't, I would have believed every detail in Code Name Verity happened exactly as it was stated. This book is fiction, but it doesn't feel like fiction. If it's not true, why do I feel so torn up by it?

Elizabeth Wein has an amazing talent. She brought the characters in her novel to life so vividly that I'm still having a hard time believing they never actually existed.

My heart broke 100 times over while listening to this book. I believe having the audio made it that much more powerful.

Please don't pass up an opportunity to read this book. Please give it plenty of your time and attention. It deserves nothing less

The main focus of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is about an amazing and powerful friendship forged during World War Two. "Verity" is captured by the Gestapo and is certain she will die, but her Nazi interrogators give her the option of revealing her mission or they will execute her. Verity does decide to tell the interrogators about her mission by writing in a makeshift journal; however what she reveals is not what they were expecting. Verity shares her past and tells about her friendship with Maddie who is a pilot. Soon Verity writes she left her friend Maddie to die when their plane wrecked. Verity fights for her life by revealing a captivating but heartbreaking story that is not quite what it seems. Code Name Verity also features Maddie's version of events and her personal thoughts. Code Name Verity is beautifully written and the characters are well developed and both Verity and Maddie are brave, loyal and characters you will feel for emotionally.
Code Name Verity is a historical fiction novel at its best. It does take some time to become engrossed in the story but continue reading and the novel becomes a book you cannot put down. My favorite part of Code Name Verity is the friendship between Verity and Maddie. They support each other and make unforgettable sacrifices that will leave the reader reflecting and believing in the power of friendship. I enjoy historical fiction and reading about brave women and Code Name Verity exceeded my expectations. I would recommend Code Name Verity to readers who enjoy historical fiction or books about World War Two and readers who love to read about remarkable friendships.

LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! It is now one of my all-time favorites. Although the details about planes and airfields were a bit tedious, I loved the story of the girls' friendship. Just a lovely, gut-wrenching story! I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed....and wanted to start re-reading it the minute it was over. It will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommend this book!!

Giving this book 3 stars makes me feel like I have no class. Certainly, this book deserves a higher rating. But although I appreciated the novel for its meticulous research, daring plot, and unusual narration, it just did not capture my heart.

I’m heartless along with having no class!

The story opens bleakly, with our narrator captured by the Gestapo. We are reading her written “confession” as it were. She spins a tale of two young women — one is from Manchester, the other is a Scottish noble. Maddie and Queenie meet during the war effort in 1936, on an air base. The two quickly become friends, but are separated as they take different paths. Then, they are thrown together again unexpectedly, as both are needed for a top secret mission in France.

I’m not entirely sure why this book was marketed as YA. Although the ages of these women are never discussed, they’re certainly not teenagers. The only reason I can think of is that the book has a less mature tone. This sounds bad, I know. What I mean is, I found the premise to be slightly implausible. Certainly women took on a more significant role in the war effort during World War II, but I found the story of Maddie and Queenie to be such that is only possible in fiction. It’s the kind of wish fulfillment frequently found in YA literature.

One thing is undeniable, however — the book is incredibly well researched. So much so that there’s a bibliography at the end of the book. The detail is superb; the voice is solidly of the period. It was extremely impressive. That being said, I did think that the language was at times overly clogged with this period detail. This made my progress through Code Name Verity somewhat labored.

Another aspect that disappointed me — I can’t seem to stop myself — was the friendship between Maddie and Queenie. I guess I was expecting more chemistry. But, apart from the fantastic early stage of their relationship, the reader doesn’t get to experience the two together so much. This was a bit of a letdown, since I was looking forward to reading about a solid friendship.

All of this is to say that I expected more from the book than I experienced. Somehow, though, I feel more disappointed in myself than in the book.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

I expected a lot from this book and, normally, when I start a book with high expectations, it rarely serves to meet those expectations. Not that I'm saying that CODE NAME VERITY did, but it did come really close.

I loved Verity's voice. It was so strong and vibrant that you couldn't help but be sucked into her life and the story that she was spinning. But, I will admit that I did get kind of bored at some parts of her story and skimmed through some of it rather than fully enjoy it... But, I still love her voice.

The plot wasn't anything that unique, but it did have an interesting spin to it (i.e. having an untruthful main character) that it was able to keep it kind of fresh. I also enjoyed having a more truthful perspective in the second part to provide a deeper insight into the people who interacted with Verity.

I really want to write a longer review, but I'm too tired and also I know that it'll be rehashing a lot of the same things that other reviewers have written. So, I'll sum up my dislikes really quickly: I felt as though she spent more time on Verity's part and not enough on Kittyhawk's half (it was a watered-down version of Verity's voice).

With that said, great book.

.... I should really start writing some more "professional" reviews...
Originally posted at [...]

I love good, historically accurate historical fiction and this novel definitely fits the bill.

The main characters, Maddie and Verity, are wonderfully well-written and deep characters. Any girl can relate to them-they are average girls and yet they do extraordinary things when faced with real struggles. Although they are very different, both characters are very lovable. I couldn't help feeling like I knew them.

The secondary characters are also very fascinating and layered, though the book does not focus on them.

Wein weaves a compelling and beautifully written story of friendship, loyalty, and greater good which manages to be simultaneously humorous and heart-breaking. It paints a realistic picture of war and how people react to the choices they are faced with during wartime. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat, make you laugh out loud, have you sobbing so much that the pages become too blurry to read, but end with your heart full of warmth.

There are no silly love triangles which seem to run rampant in YA novels these days. Yea! In fact, there's no romance (except maybe a slight hint of a possible one... or maybe I'm just being too hopeful :-)) It's about two girls and their real, true friendship.

So, basically, I loved it.
This should NOT keep you from reading this book, but I did find one or two parts slightly hard to get through because of all the technical pilot jargon. Being a pilot herself, Wein couldn't help show off her expertise. So, I found myself skimming a couple of pages, which is why I couldn't give this book a full five stars.

This book was so intense, I did not want to put it down. I instantly connected with Queenie as she was so desperate and beaten down in her circumstances. The entire book I wanted things to miraculously change for the better for her. As she described Maddie and her life as a pilot, I became very attached to the both of them. Their friendship came about in an unusual way as they are from different classes. In fact, that was one minor point made in the book - how WWII started the break down of the class differences in England as all sorts of folks mingled together in their war efforts. Elizabeth Wein wove together enough fact in this historical fiction to make me believe that a story like this actually took place.

Even though there was heart break in this book, I truly wanted to read it all over again as soon as I completed it. It was simply written, yet so full of human spirit that it captivated me. While the story focuses on these two women, there are other men and women who play significant roles that coalesced the story into perfection for me. Even if you have never had an interest in WWII fiction, this is an excellent read. If you have a heartbeat, then this book will grab a hold of you and hold you close until the very end.

Code Name Verity is the book I have been dying to read even before I knew it existed. It's the book I will still be talking about for the rest of the year (and probably much longer). And it's the book with so many complexly interwoven details that I'm sure it will continue to stun me for many rereadings to come.

Verity, the code name of our narrator, is actually an Allied agent who has been captured by the Nazis in occupied France. Opting against torture, Verity (also known as Queenie to her friends) has agreed to divulge codes and other Allied wartime secrets for her captor, SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden. Thus begin the outpouring of secrets. Though even as she is proclaiming herself a coward (and traitor) with her every breath, Queenie is constantly needling her captors and poking fun at her own very dire situation with her endlessly dark and razor sharp humor. What Queenie does write to her captors however is not simply a list of British secrets and codes but the story of herself and her best friend Maddie, an airplane pilot. Woven into their initial introduction and developing friendship are all the details von Linden demanded asked for, but by setting it agonist the backdrop of their relationship, you have an inside view of the life of two strong-willed women during WWII: the secrets they kept and the lies they told.

Almost from word go, you get the immediate sense that Queenie is not all she proclaims to be. In fact, she herself describes herself thus:

"I am in the Special Operations Executive because I can speak French and German and am good at making up stories and I am a prisoner in the Ormaie Gestapo HQ because I have no sense of direction whatsoever."

'Making up stories' indeed. With this one sentence very early on we get an immediate sense of the vitality and humor possessed by Queenie and that perhaps our storyteller is not as reliable as she proclaims herself to be. What makes this story so unforgettable (just like one of Queenie's stories) are the details. Hundreds of tiny historical facts about planes, the RAF, the WAAF, literature, and even the history of the ballpoint pen! I simply couldn't wait to pick up Code Name Verity as each time as I knew every page would contain another adventure, another heartbreak.

Perhaps my favorite line from Cody Name Verity (and you better believe my copy has been bombed with bookmarks) is after Queenie and Maddie have just begun to get to know one another and Queenie writes

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend."

This line, my friends, utterly encapsulates why I am head over heels for this book. Yes, it is full of surprises and intrigue but at the heart it is a beautiful story of two friends -- who would have never, ever become close had the situation been different -- but who did find each other and had one of those stunning relationships that you always find yourself completely giddy over. I can't say it enough, this book blew me away. I simply cannot get the story out of my head. Verity's voice and Maddie's story are so intricately crafted. It's one of those lovely stories that as soon as you finish, you just want to immediately jump right back into a satisfying reread to rediscover (or maybe even for the first time) all those seemingly innocent details inserted along the way. Just go ahead and read it now, I'll patiently wait for your gushing reply. Grab a box a tissues though, you'll be needing them.

So this was a tough one for me. Generally, it was a beautiful story. I appreciate that the author wrote an engaging tale of two women without trying to shoehorn in a love triangle. It definitely kept me reading and I loved the two main characters. Warning for those who want it - it is not a happy tale. Maybe you say "well duh, Nazis do not usually for warm fuzzies make" - and you'd be exactly right. I guess the "young adult" label threw me off a bit.

Keep reading only if you want vague spoilers that, quite frankly, I wish someone had told me.

Ok, so it's not that this is a sad book. It's heartbreaking. Like sob through the last 50 pages sad. If you're the kind of person who likes a good cry then by all means. I am not that kind of person. I recognize why things happened the way they did and I don't fault the author at all for it, but I cannot honestly recommend this to anyone without a large warning label.

I read another reviewer that said they would not hesitate to give it to a middle school student. I would. Not to say it's inappropriate, just make sure you know the child you're giving it to. I don't think it's overly frightening or anything but I'm a 31 year old who had trouble sleeping last night after I finished. If you had given me this book in middle school I wouldn't have slept for a week. Maybe I'm just a softie, but this deals with some VERY heavy stuff. As a disclaimer my favorite book is Ender's Game, so it's not that I'm averse to darkness or surprise endings. I think it's just that I REALLY did not see it coming in this book so I had not prepared myself.

Overall, if you prepare your heart then this is a great love story.

Code Name Verity is a story of friendship and courage told against the backdrop of World War 2. The story is told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator who is held captive by the Gestapo in occupied France. She is there after crash landing with her best friend and pilot, Maddie. The story is "Verity's" confession and is told in a narrative of how she met and became best friends with Maddie in wartime England, detailing their activities during the war.

This is an incredibly heartwarming story that is both tragic and heroic. The last quarter of the book was literally read with a lump in my throat. While the story and some of the locations were fictional, they were based on real locales. The details provided by author Elizabeth Wein were well-researched and add to the realism of the story. The story highlights the heroic actions of those not on the front lines, but who served in the resistance or served in whatever capacity was available to them.

The friendship of the two girls is the driving force of the novel and is truly compelling. The pages fly by as you are drawn further into their lives. The bravery in the face of evil and danger is admirable. The complicated lives and actions of people on both sides of the conflict is handled deftly. This is a story that will linger with you long after the final word. A truly amazing story that should appeal to all ages.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy from netgalley.

Code Name Verity is the simple tale of two women whose friendship transcends the harrowing hardships of World War II. However ... and a huge however at that ... the author unfolds the story in a manner more akin to a "who-done-it" murder mystery than a simple narration. The result is a number of twists, some soft and possibly guessed, and others simply jaw-dropping. The strength of the telling lies in the depth of the main characters, "Verity" and Maddie. Both spring to life in a manner that gives them real presence to the reader. Even minor characters are painted with a stroke that raises them above the flat status of most minor characters.

It is difficult to describe the novel in much detail without spoiling the many surprises, so I won't say any more other than this: "Do yourself an immense favor and read this novel!"

This book came highly recommended by...well, EVERYBODY. I wanted to love this book. I really did. While I love historical fiction, for some reason I just couldn't get into this one. In fairness, I'm not a huge military fan, and all the technical talk about airplanes and flying did make me tune out at times. Is it really that important to take the reader through Maddie's first exposure to an airplane, her training, how she landed her military career, etc. I found myself looking for more drama; less this happened, then this happened, then this happened.

But that's not what bothered me. I think I was put off by the format and the way Julie related Maddie's story, from Maddie's perspective, even though Julie couldn't possibly be in Maddie's head and was not even present during most of what Julie describes.

The other problem I had is the depiction of Julie and Maddie's friendship. They seem to leap much too quickly from their initial meeting to being best friends. I felt like perhaps I missed something?

But when everything fell in place at the end and you realize just how brilliant Julie's storytelling is (no spoilers here!) I wanted to cheer out loud. Kudos to the author for bringing all the pieces together for a book that, by the end, felt complete and satisfying. For me, I struggled with Part 1, but very much enjoyed Part 2 and the interesting way the ending to this tale unfolded.

I got this book as a Kindle First pick and so far it is my favorite out of all the Kindle First books I have gotten. I liked it so much that I got it in paperback after finishing it in Kindle - it has one of those plots where you need a paper book to flip back and forth in order to wrap your mind around what is actually happening. The details beg for notice, but the book does not bog down in them. It is "gritty and realistic" without overdoing it - I dislike books that try to be realistic but devolve into unnecessary gory details and foul language. This book struck the perfect balance where the details were appreciated, but did not detract from the overall quality of the writing. The plot is paced well - it moves along quickly enough that you do not become bored, but it is slow enough for a careful reader to grasp what is going on.

I've listened to this via Audible twice now and liked it the first time better. The premise is intriguing and well researched. As other reviewers have written, it is hard to follow at times with the back and forth between different points of view and long backstories. Despite this, the story is still one that should be told. I should mention that the second time I listened I noticed technical details that were unusual/unexpected or some of the details, while obviously researched, seemed a little contrived in order to make a detailed point. For example, one scene describes a faulty choke, which is fine. But then Wein has the choke fail four times during a trip. Isn't the choke needed to start a car but not to drive it? Also, during the scene in which Maddie and Julie are shot at, Julie describes the forces of gravity knocking her out during a rapid descent. Shouldn't she have felt weightless, as one does descending quickly in a rollercoaster? I admit this is nitpicking but for an author to research something so painstakingly, she sometimes gets a bit over her skis.

I'm not going to go over the plot, as many before me have taken care of that, but I just want to say, stick with the book! I think the beginning is a little slow and somewhat confusing. It takes a bit to set the scene, figure out who is really talking, etc., but the book does pick up! The characters become more likeable and the story starts to come together. There are two narrators (one for about 65% of the book, the other for the last 35%) and once narrator #2 starts talking, the action really starts and all the pieces just fall into place.

I enjoyed the book, but am only giving 4 stars for a few reasons. First, after so much detail and effort spent on getting people back to England, I was disappointed in the ending and felt it was extremely rushed and was an unstasifying finale for MANY characters I'd come to like (not just the main characters - some of the supporting characters are wonderful!). Second, as the narration was unbalanced, I think it took too long to get to "Part 2" of the story (worth the wait, but could've happened sooner). And my final reason for only 4 stars is that while I think the story is aimed at older Young Adult readers, I thought much of the language, actions, attitudes, behavior, etc. of the characters was too immature at times. No almost-grown woman (even in the 1940s) would say or do some of things that Wein has them doing.

With all that, as I said, a truly good read, wonderful story, likeable characters, and unique topic.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first, but reading other reviews convinced me to stick it out and boy am I glad I did! I complained in another review about the use of a written journal to progress the plot, but I have no such reservations here, I think mostly because the entire book is written this way.

What a beautiful, amazing, thoughtful book. The way it indirectly addresses the horrors of the Nazis at the height of WWII is more moving than if torture had been described in detail. It was heartbreaking. The characters are both real and caricatures of themselves, which may sound confusing, but trust me, it's totally relevant to the story. The story is well-written and will stay with me for a long time.

There is not much that can be said in summary of the book, but trust me (and pretty much every other reviewer I've seen)...just read it. Keep reading through the long descriptions of small planes and the mechanics of motorbikes. Keep reading it until everything shifts and you realize you've been reading a slightly different story than you thought you were.

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend."

This book truly defies description. It has won prizes as a young adult novel but, as far as I'm concerned, it can hold its own with the classics of adult literature. It's a book about war and much more: friendship, fear, family, courage and two very young women who have found what they can best contribute to the war effort. One is a pilot and one is a spy.

October, 1943. Before a crippled British plane crashes as it attempts a lightless night landing in Nazi-occupied France, its human cargo parachutes safely to earth. But just days later Verity makes a simple mistake: at a city crosswalk, by habit she first looks right instead of left, giving away the fact that she is, in fact, British. She is immediately captured by the Gestapo, and much of the book is composed of her writings as she collaborates with the enemy. The Gestapo show her photos of the plane with a charred corpse in the cockpit, and Verity despairs for her best friend Maddie, the pilot who dropped her in France.

The plot is best left undescribed and, if you read this book, you'll understand why. But it has made me think long into the night about the nature of courage, of friendship and, ultimately, of war. The characters of Maddie and Verity are beautifully drawn, their voices distinct and heartbreaking in their youth and--despite what they must survive--innocence. It is truly a book for the ages, one I'll remember for years, and easily the best book I've read this year.

When I started reading this book, I already had high expectations. I read and heard great things about this YA book. Plus, as a history major, WWII was one of my favorite subjects to study and love reading both nonfiction and fiction set during WWII. The book had a rocky start–it jumps right into the middle of the story and I needed a few chapters to get into the book. But once I did, I loved it. The story of these two women and how they aided the Allied war effort is truly great. The author wrote that all though this is fiction, it is based in truth. Women could have served in the roles that Maggie and Julie did. The characters embody courage and truth. This is a book worth picking up even if you don't normally read YA.

I really would have quit this book in the first ten pages if the reviews and blurbs hadn't been so overwhelmingly positive. I was totally confused, there were so many characters and the narrator was talking about someone's life who was clearly not there with her. I didn't know if this other person was dead or imagined or what, or how the narrator would know so many intimate details about someone else, like what they were thinking before they even met.

HOWEVER. I trusted the other reviewers, and I kept reading, and I couldn't put this book down. It's funny and sad and fast-paced and thoughtful and plot-driven and character-driven and really everything I look for in a book. Except the first ten pages. But trust me and stay with it, and you'll be very glad you did.

- Rita Arens, author of contemporary young adult novel THE OBVIOUS GAME The Obvious Game

I was a bit hesitant about this book when I first heard about it. It is about World War II. That war had such a big impact on the world and even on my family’s past, that it can be hard to read things that are historically accurate. So I put this book off for almost a year after I first heard about it. Finally, I decided to read it. I am so glad that I did.

This historical fiction novel doesn’t focus on the concentrations camps, on the Jewish people, on all the others taken away by the Nazis to be killed. Instead, this novel focuses on the war effort in England and France. It is about women pilots, spies, and the French Resistence. It is different from what I first expected when I heard World War II.

The novel tells the story of the friendship between “Verity” and Maddie. Verity the spy and Maddie the pilot who flew her to France. The friendship between these two is so intrical to the whole story.

There is so much I would love to tell you about this book I don’t want to spoil any of it for you. I just want to tell you that it is a great book. I am so, so glad that I finally worked up the courage to read it.

This review first appeared at Orandi et Legendi (http://catholicamanda.com).

This book is multi-layered with several surprises. Some reviews have criticized the structure of the book, i.e., bouncing around in time and first person to third person...but I thought the style was creative genius and added to the intrigue. The book didn't pick up speed right away, but once the action' started, I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this. I note that some consider this to be a teen book -- IT IS NOT!

I chose this book as my First Reads pick, and I have to say that it is one of the best books I have ever read. The detail of the plot, the development of the characters, the weaving of the entire story was done so well that I needed to buy the paperback version after reading it on Kindle. I wanted to go back and cross reference foreshadowing with later events, and just reread it in greater detail. It made me laugh and cry and wish that I could have lived in the book. I hesitate to write any more because of the nature of the plot and the story. You should read it. You should really read it.

Cody Name Verity is a book about friendship but also so much more. Queenie and Maddie both narrate with their separate voices their life of serving in WWII. Beginning with Queenie recording Maddie’s life we gain personal access to both of their lives. Written in first person, the story keeps you wanting to read more about both girls past and present life. Both girls are strong and independent, and their story is interesting though there were a few slow points during the story.
From the beginning, the book is riveting even though it is a little unclear what is occurring. It took getting through half the book until everything finally began making sense. After that, I could not put the book down.
I would definitely suggest the book for anyone wanting a riveting book. Even though some points were slow or confusing, I gave the book 5 stars which truly shows how the overall effect was wonderful and memorable. The good parts overcame the less good parts. The confusing parts eventually resolve themselves. By the end of the book, you will be personally attached to all the characters.

Inspiring and heartwrenching, this is one of my favorite books of the year so far.
This is a story of two girls who, under normal conditions, would have never met let alone become best friends as they came from different social classes. But since this is wartime they find themselves together and bond in the strongest way possible, and will do anything for the other's safety. They find themselves crashlanded in occupied France, one captured, interogatted by torture, and sentenced to execution by the Nazis, the other hidden by Ally sympathizers in their farmhouse. Verity, her code name only, must confess her mission to the Nazis in order to buy more time and possibly her freedom. Instead she gives them information that they could not decode- but someone else could.
It is a wonderfully written novel of loss and survival, strength and the beauty of friendship.

This book is the literary equivalent of an earworm, in a good way. ("Earworm": tune that gets stuck in your head and that you can't get rid of.) I finished Verity several days ago and I don't think a single day has gone by since in which I haven't thought of some aspect of the story and/or characters. The main characters and the supporting cast are so finely drawn that each could be the jumping off point for their own novel. Wow. Double wow.

My only issue is with whoever decided this is "young adult" fiction. No way. The intensity of the story, especially the powerful descriptions of physical and psychological torture, are very adult material, indeed.

I have not cried after reading a book for a long time. I am an emotional person though, I have a good cry more often than I should, but I rarely cry for a fiction book. It's all make believe, isn't it? Of course. no need to cry. No one really died of cancer, lost a boyfriend or broke a leg and missed the biggest performance of their life. I close the book and all goes back to normal.

But not with this book, Code Name Verity.

I knew right away this book would touch me deeply and make me think about things I don't want to dwell on. The opening scene starts with the main character tied to a pole in nothing but her underwear, tortured and mocked for her service to her country.

Code Name Verity is a book about truth, and when you reach the end, you realize it is also about loyalty, and how far you are willing to go to for those things and people you love the most.

The book is realistic and raw, so raw at times I cringed. The main character suffers torture so terrible I can't even imagine. You want her to remain strong, so you can admire her, but the truth is, would you remain strong?

For the amazing writing and the engaging story line this book gets a five star rating, and it deserves every last star

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein was SURPRISING and incredibly well written. I was totally blown away by this novel and found myself enthralled and completely invested in the characters almost instantaneously.

The novel opens in Nazi-occupied France, with spy Verity being taken into Nazi custody after her plane crashes. She is tortured and forced to write down everything she knows about the English military to give information to the Nazis! Verity uses the opportunity to tell her story of best friends and platonic love.

LOVED this novel. So many twists and turns. A great novel with incredible characters. I can't wait to read Elizabeth Wein's next novel 'Rose Under Fire'. I would definitely suggest this to all YA readers!

-Sarah
[...]

I was telling a friend of mine that a story with two female leads as main characters was a very hard one to tell. She agreed with me, then told me to read this book. I’m so glad that she did. I love stories of friendship, loyalty, danger, high stakes, and genuine love. This story is incredible. I wept at the end. There is so much love in this book, the real kind, the kind that sacrifices everything and is brave in the face of death and pain. The kind that transforms you and makes you rise above your fears. The love of a best friend. The setting of WWII for this story is powerful, poignant, and shocking. The details of torture and devastation are brutal, but not so stomach-turning that I had to stop reading. Elizabeth Vein wrote a brave and wonderful book. I recommend it highly.

This may well become a classic, hence I'm rating 5 stars instead of the 4 originally planned. The bond between the two women is the critical strength of this book, and the author having the characters developed in a "stream of consciousness" writing style promotes an intimate knowledge of their bond. Multiple layers to the book, but it was the espionage aspect described on the book cover that got me to purchase the mystery book. The British and the XX Committee have become a fascination (Small Death in Lisbon; Dusko Popov; Operation Mincemeat; John Cecil Masterson who has written a couple mysteries still in my to-read stack; even Ian Fleming peripherally). Don't let it's classification in the young adult genre cause concern, Code Name Verity is a powerful book. It's also a quick read, but a book you'll want to reread after a couple years. ALERT: Don't look at reviewers' explanation of the book's plot, etc., as that will spoil the book for you. Warren Bull (during the book club review of this book) cited Margaret Atwood's "innocent anticipation"...and that's how you have to come into Code Name Verity.

When she's caught by the Nazis in Occupied France, Scottish agent Verity knows that she is as good as dead. The only weapons she now possesses are her wits and select bits of information that the Nazis desperately want. In order to buy herself time, she makes a deal with the Germans: they give her some time, and she'll tell them everything. But Verity's confession is not what they expected. She begins not with herself, but with Maddie, her best friend and the pilot of the plane that brought her to France. And the result is not so much a confession, but a glimpse into the friendship between two strong and courageous girls in the face of evil, and how much each of them are willing to sacrifice for their country, beliefs, and each other.

Code Name Verity is a tremendous and moving novel about friendship, sacrifice, and love. The first half is told from Verity's perspective; as a narrator, she is engaging and strong, even as she reveals her weaknesses and fears. Her spirited, bright nature conceals the less evident fact that she is a very unreliable narrator. From the very beginning Verity is up to something in how she constructs her confession, centering it on her best friend, but her intentions and motives aren't clear. Readers don't see just how creative, resilient, and brilliant she is until the second half of the novel, told from Maddie's perspective. Between the two young women, Wein presents a vibrant and oftentimes tragic account of what World War II was like for countless of young people, how it changed them, how it forced them to re-evaluate their fears, and what those experiences demanded of them. As the story unfolds, not every situation is black and white, not every character is either good or evil, and truth becomes a slippery thing. This meticulously written and emotionally charged novel demands your complete attention until the shocking end and won't be easily forgotten.

Code Name Verity is a rare gem in YA literature. It's a historical fiction novel that is beautifully written, incredibly moving, and insanely good. This combination is near impossible to find so when you do find it, it makes it that much more treasured. I will forever treasure Code Name Verity.

I've never read a lot of historical fiction which is somewhat odd seeing as history is probably my second favorite subject behind English/Literature, of course. Code Name Verity was my first real taste of historical fiction and I must say that all historical fiction is this good, I'll be buying every historical fiction novel I can. Well, at least every YA historical fiction.

The characters were wonderful. I grew attached to every one of them. I'm still unsure on how I feel about several of the "bad" guys. With the narrator's account of the story, I felt a lot of the lines were blurred when it came to villians of the book. Of course, we know with WWII there were real, true villians but this book makes you question whether all of the bad guys truly believed in what they were doing or if they were doing it simply out of fear. In the end, the reason for it doesn't truly matter. There crimes are inexcusable but Code Name Verity allows readers to question the villian's motives.

The narrator tells you from the beginning that things aren't going to end well for her in the beginning. Yet, how the things end for her still managed to surprise me. Looking back, I can see the foreshadowing but I was shocked as I first read it. Also, I should point out that this book is told from two different narrators and I'm referring to the first.

The audio edition of Code Name Verity was excellently done. I loved the accents! It has me wanting to go to Scotland! :) Both of the narrators capture the tone of the novel perfectly.

Code Name Verity is an excellent portrayal of how harash and cruel war is. It will have readers asking the age old question, "Is all fair in love and war?" After reading Code Name Verity, my answer will be a pure, resounding no.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is a very special book. The writing is exceptional and the way both stories are told is so unique. The focus is on the friendship of two brave women who are still able to laugh in an impossible situation. They are still able to have a clear head in a literal life and death situation. That even in the face of torture, are able to sacrifice for the good of the whole.

Code Name Verity is a must read for those who wish to be challenged by a book. I want to be careful not to give anything away, because this book contains many twists and turns, Code Name Verity is just brilliant. An author being able to write about WWII era planes in a way that held my interest, just shows how strong the writing is. You can feel what they feel and it can be heartbreaking. Through all of the action, and there is a lot of action here, the relationships are what truly stands out. The French family who risk their necks, literally, to help rescue prisoners to a woman who sees the talent in another and makes sure she is able to fly. Through the horror of war, we see the real strength of character. The way we can help make the world a better place by standing for our convictions and making difficult choices.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein deserves all of the accolades it has received and is a must read. It is haunting and brilliantly written. It is an emotional and powerful story that I highly recommend.

This is an audiobook review.

I’d heard this book was amazing, so I was very excited to listen to it, but I was definitely not prepared to love it so much. I think I was a bit sceptic of all the hype, but let me tell you it is well deserved.

These characters are so rich. They are lovely girls and an even better team. I loved learning about them and getting to know them. This story is a rather crude portray of World War II, and even if it isn’t too descriptive we know some of the characters endure terrible torture and have to face adverse circumstances. They are scared and in great danger the whole time, but it was refreshing to see how brave these girls are. Brave in a very real way and not in the fantasy type of heroine I also love. I’m not sure how old they are, but I guessed they were around 18-20 years old? So they were mature enough to make the decisions they did, but still young enough to allow us to feel the injustice of war.

The most beautiful thing about this story though, is that it focuses on these two friends Maddie and Julie/Queenie. It is one of the greatest love stories I’ve read about, but not in the romantic kind of love, but rather in the friendship transcends every barrier kind of love. They knew each other so well, and they were so smart. They each had their unique personality and it was fun to see how they combined so well.

As far as the storytelling goes, I most appreciated that everything connects. This story was so carefully woven. Every single detail of the story is relevant, and once we get both sides of it, I mean Maddie and Julie’s version of what is happening to them, it all comes together nicely, and let me tell you, it takes up a different shape than the one we were expecting. I love stories that can surprise me!

The historical part was excellently done as well. In the audiobook version, the author does a little debriefing of what is historically accurate and what not, but it is extraordinary the amount of research and detail she put into her work. I must say that everything felt plausible and I wasn’t bothered by any historical inaccuracy because you have to be too much of an expert on the subject to know. So as far as I’m concerned, this story was very well researched and fit together perfectly, plot wise and historical wise.

The narration was fabulous! This is one of the cases where the audiobook definitely enhances the reading experience by adding something extra. Both of the narrators are very talented, and I liked that we had two, one for each point of view, because it really helped to differentiate the girls from each other and they felt as unique as they were.

I loved to listen to the different accents; it was so pleasant to the ears. I’m by no means an expert but the Scottish accent was really well done, and even the French words were pronounced flawlessly. I tend to struggle when listening to a British person speak, because I’m not used to the accent, but had no trouble with these narrators, so I really enjoyed their sweet narrations with no trouble at all. Every voice was distinctive and the story really came to life.

In sum, I’m in love with this story. I can’t wait to listen to the companion novel, and anything else this author has or will write. She has incredible talent as a storyteller and a power to move the reader’s heart.

My review from Goodreads:

What to say about this book ... I obviously really liked it since I gave it 5 stars and put it on my favorites list. It's actually one of those books that makes me wish that I either gave more books I like 4 stars or could add a sixth for the ones like this. It's just a level above most others (at least for me). Ever since I read Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (last February according to Goodreads) I've been hoping for another book that struck me in the same way. I think this is it. It's also one that I can definitely see rereading. I actually kind of wanted to start it over again as soon as I finished ...

I don't usually explain what a book is about in a review because everyone has probably read the description for themselves by the time they get this far, but I don't think the publisher's description does it justice. Understandable because there's so much that the reader has to find out by actually reading the book, but still. So I'll give it a try. The book is set during WWII (though I'd advise those who don't love historical fiction or "war books" not to shy away, because I don't think it's really about the war). It's told from the point of view of two young women, Queenie and Maddie. As a Scottswoman of the nobility and a middle class English girl respectively, Queenie and Maddie are unlikely best friends brought together by war. Early in her narrative, Queenie says, "It's like being in love, discovering your best friend," and friendship is what the book is really about. Queenie eventually becomes a spy (for lack of a better word) and Maddie (as a woman pilot) part of a group that ferries planes and passengers (sometimes the secret kind) on home soil. One event leads to another, and Queenie is caught in Nazi occupied France and held and "questioned" by the Gestapo. There is next to no hope of her survival and so she makes a deal with her captors. Her story/confession (as much information as she can provide) for the luxury of things like clothing, a blanket, and the hope of a humane death. This is where the book actually begins, and the first roughly half is Queenie's story as written out for the Gestapo captain who is holding her. The second part of the book is an account of events by Maddie, some overlapping, some not.

This book is well written, compulsively readable (I thought), and well researched (with a really great author's note at the end). I found myself with a lot of questions in the first part of the story, but the kind that made me want to keep reading, not that made me want to put the book down. The two parts come together perfectly and the two narrators' voices are well done. I really recommend this book to pretty much any reader. There's plenty of suspense and a compelling plot without sacrificing characterization at all. Fair warning though, because of the personal way it's written, you might want to have a box or two of tissues handy ...

What a page turner! While the first couple of"chapters" are confusing to follow, once you understand what's going on you can't put the book down. The story is written so beautifully about two best friends and their relationship through the war. My heart is still mourning the death of a certain character, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Will definitely be reading the companion book

I resisted this one a bit: sometimes I'm a bit leery of books that have a lot of "this is the best book ever" reviews attached to them. Also, it's set in WWII, and I didn't think I'd be all that interested in books from that era.

I'm so glad I decided to try this because it was so good. Well-written, gripping, unusual, funny, sad, exciting, and yes, a bit of a tearjerker, although my tears didn't come right away. I was standing in the shower after finishing it and just started to bawl.

The twists are well done, and now that I know how it turns out, I should probably go back and reread to pick up on everything I missed the first time through, because I think it was all there, I just didn't know what I was looking at.

Wonderful book, well-deserving of the hype and accolades it is receiving. One of the best books I've read this year, for sure.

“I am no longer afraid of getting old. Indeed I can't believe I ever said anything so stupid. So childish. So offensive and arrogant.
But mainly, so very, very stupid. I desperately want to grow old.”

I think this was a very well crafted story and once I was finished it had me researching the topic which I previously didn't know much about. Overall I loved this story and found Queenie's narration especially gut-wrenching. I do think there was too much technical information about the planes and actual flying..or at least I just found those parts a little boring, but the overall story and how it was laid out was fantastic.

Gosh I have no idea where to start this book; I'm not typically an historical fiction fan, and the only books I've read which are "war related" were the ones I was forced to read for my war module for my A2 English lit course and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak which had me endlessly sobbing. So I didn't really know what to expect going into this book.

Code Name Verity was really tough to get into, I would read a few pages, stop, read another few pages, get distracted by another book then try to get back into it. Some of the reasons I found it so tough was because I've just been devouring contemporary romances lately, so jumping straight into this which opened by focusing heavily on aircraft; the different types and the training required was hugely difficult. Also I was confused as soon as I started, as I had no idea who the narrator was, what was going on (the story would flit back and forth between time spans, what she did during the war effort and what was happening to her when she was captured). And we didn't even know her name until much later on!

I don't want to say too much as it would probably give the whole plot away, but the gist of the story was that Verity was captured by the Gestapo, we don't know how, we don't really know where she is, or if anyone is on their way to rescue her, but the conditions are horrible. She's given some paper and a pen to give every amount of detail as possible and if she doesn't then there will be consequences. Her friend Maddie who she was travelling with before she was captured has died; they've shown her the pictures so she doesn't have much to live for but to tell the truth. Living with the guilt of Maddie's death and the torture she's been put through, we are led through her memories leading up to her being captured, some are dire and heartfelt, but Verity brings so much more to the story. Despite the circumstances she finds herself in she is such a funny character some of her descriptions and writing had me laughing out loud, it definitely helped to lighten up the sombre consequences she found herself in.

It did take me until about 4o% that I properly understood what was going on and by that time I had formed such a close relationship with Verity; she'd been through so much but still put on a face of bravado and attempted to bat away her captors with her endless strength, intelligence and funny humour. I had thought that I knew how this story would turn out but I couldn't have been more wrong. The unexpected twists and turns were like a punch to the gut and the events leading up to the climatic end I could never have been prepared for. I just wish things could have ended up differently.

The other characters; Maddie, Jamie, Rosalie and even Paul with his gropey hands brought so much to the story, that it was impossible not to fall so hard and fast for them.

I went into Code Name Verity with to be honest not much expectations, but Wein managed to deliver something which was achy, breathtaking and hauntingly bittersweet. I know it will remain a book which I won't be able to forget.

I am always looking for the book that grabs me and shoves me into the pages and suddenly I am there, suffering whatever fate the rest of the characters are. I try to look away, I did try actually and almost put this down and not pick it up. But something did grab me. It was the story of these women, amazingly clever, amazingly strong in spite of their situation. It grabbed my heart and crushed it and then let the pieces flow together again. It is a story, but not a story. It was the lives of many. SOE agents dropped into France barely lasted six weeks, if that. What they faced was horrific and rarely did one survive. I am still haunted by the words, the actions, the strength these women had. Quite a memorable book. "Kiss me Hardy. Kiss me quick!"

Where do I even begin with this?

I finished this book in JUNE and it's been over 7 months and I still can't get myself to form words great enough to praise this MIND-BLOWING experience of a book. I was left emotionally wrecked after finishing Code Name Verity.

It was written in such a way that I felt every single emotion and hurt right along with them. I WAS A COMPLETE MESS. No matter how hard I tried to close the book and sleep I couldn't because the writing made me so invested in the story and the unbreakable bond of Verity and Maddie. Their friendship was like no other and I became emotionally attached to them both.

Even after all this time I still can't fully form the words to describe this book. I'm not exactly sure how I handled the end of the story, but I knew it involved ugly sobbing and a lot of ice cream. I wasn't able to read another book for DAYS! Code Name Verity is most definitely one of my favorite books of 2012, if not one of my favorite books I've read so far.

I originally heard about this book while listening to NPR sometime in the fall of 2012 and thought it would be a good purchase for my grandmother as a Christmas gift. She is always up-to-date on the new books and I was hoping I would finally get a good novel for her that she hadn't read yet. Not only did she read it in one day due to its intriguing plot and creative character voices, she lent it back to me so I could read it too. I LOVED IT. As I write this review, I see that 85 people made a comment saying that "this is the type of book that you can only read for the first time once," whatever that means. After having read it, I only wanted to re-read it. And I did. And I was glad I did. Highly recommend it, hope there are more interesting stories like this one to come.

If you stop to think, the plot of this book is implausible, but the writing is so captivating that I did not stop to think. I did skip one or two paragraphs here and there that were too painful to read. Indeed, knowing that the book was about a spy who was a prisoner of the Nazis, made me postpone reading it for a long time, but if you are the kind who closes her eyes at selected movie scenes, don't let your sensitivity make you skip a good read. Also, I think the author is quite knowledgeable about the topic so that the book was instructive, not just a good read.

Captivating!? Sorry, no pun intended.

This was a hard book for me to read, but I finished it and highly recommend it. I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age but I couldn't get it out of my mind even several days after finishing it. The ending particularly upset me.

I have to admit that I struggled with Code Name Verity at first; it was a slow read for me, one that I found difficult to get into but one that with an ending so powerful and unforgettable that it redeemed itself and made my experience completely turnaround!

Although this story is set in World War II, it's really a story about two girls who become best friends and what was most likely the period in their life that had the great impact on them. It's also written in journal format, which is something I've mentioned before that I never seem to take to well as a reader. But the story itself is a beautiful tale that leaves a mark on your heart.

Reasons to Read:

1.Lively, endearing characters:

Maddie and Queenie are two of the most incredible characters I have ever read about; their personalities literally jump off the pages, and they're just fantastic young women to read about. They're so realistic and familiar, that it's hard to believe that they're no more than fiction. Queenie, especially, was one character that I found totally endearing and striking. The choices she makes, the stories she tells... she's one character you WON'T forget soon. And Maddie is equally brave, in her own unique-Maddie way. Gah, I love these two so much!

2.An ending that'll make you go "WHAT?!":

Yeah, it' sone of THOSE endings. I mean, you kind of figure that you know what to expect... but it's still so heartbreaking and momentous and just THERE, and you really don't want it to happen. Yet, it's shocking all on its own. It's a good thing though, I mean, I loved it even though it made me tear up a bit too. It's a good book with feeling is what I'm trying to say, I suppose.

3.An interesing perspective of WW2:

And that ending? I won't spoil anything, but I think it does a noteworthy job (as does the book) of offering us readers a very interesting perspective of World War II, one that we wouldn't often get to see. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a movie or read a book that deals with female pilots or wireless operatives. But on top of that, Queenie and Maddie aren't overly concerned with the war. They're concerned with doing their jobs properly and of meeting their expectations, but we also get to see all the little ways in which a war like this tears peoples' lives apart. Beautiful and tragic, all at the same time.

But I have to warn you that I struggled with the first half of the book. Queenie was easily my favourite character and I loved what she had to say, but I found the way it was written to be difficult to stick with. As I already mentioned, I'm not one to enjoy reading journal entries - I always find it lacking as a method of narration, because we only get to read what that person is writing down on paper. And it almost feels anti-climatic since everything said is being described after the fact and upon further reflection by an individual. Plus, I found Code Name Verity even more difficult to read as a journal because while Queenie's writing it, she's writing it from the perspective of her friend Maddie. Or, what she thinks Maddie's perspective/story would be and how to best tell it.

People told me to stick with it and keep reading and HOW GLAD AM I THAT I DID JUST THAT. I honestly would have felt like I missed out on one of the books of the year had I not finished this one. But I really enjoy historical fiction and this one is great- right down to the writing style and character voices/slang used. Another fair warning though: there's a lot of talk of airplanes and flying that went way over my head. A lot of it. I think it's more so to set an atmosphere and get into the character's heads but it can drag on to read about.

And I should add that by the time I finishd the book I realized that the journal style was necessary for the set up of the story; I can't fathom any other way that it would've worked as well as it did.
This books is one of the few that gets better after you read it. The way it sinks in, and you can't get it out of your head. It isn't a book that you finish and forget about immediately afterwards.

ARC/e-galley received from Random House Canada for review.

New Release! Free copy of this book provided for review by Netgalley.

Premise: Two young women became friends in England during the early days of World War Two. How they met, who they are, and why one of them is writing the story of her life from a Gestapo prison in France, are all things you'll have to read the book to find out.

Wow. Just wow. All the reviews of this book are going to talk about how difficult it is to review, but there's really no way around it. This is definitely a book which you want to read knowing very little about it, so I will do my best to focus on my response to the novel, and not mention any details revealed beyond the first chapter or two.

From the first page, this is a compelling story, pouring from the pen of a young woman imprisoned in France. "I AM A COWARD" are the first words on the first page. Is she? She writes her memories down to bargain with her jailers for a blanket, for a little more life, and perhaps just to establish her own story. You'll have to be the judge of her character.

The story she tells includes details about the British War Effort to placate her readers, but it's really the story of Maddie and Queenie. One a middle-class Brit with a penchant for mechanical things and a love of the sky, one an upper-class Scot who speaks several languages and has an electric imagination.

This is the saga of their friendship. It is not always a happy story.

I devoured this book in one sitting. I barely looked up until the last page. It felt as though I hardly breathed during the last third. I kept thinking I had reached the end, and then the narrative threw another curve ball at me. I swore at this book, out loud, in both anger and awe. I re-read phrases, burning them into my brain. When I reached the end, I took half a day to process it and then began reading from the beginning again.

Is it perfect? No - there are a few points where I have a slight suspension of disbelief problem, but they are very few and I forgive them all for letting this story unfold.

Bonus for me and others like me: this book is full of literary and historical allusions, facts and trivia. Most of the literary ones I knew, and they deepened my enjoyment of the story, and even the historical tidbits I didn't know I had no trouble following. (One particular reference I looked up later, and damn if I didn't tear up all over again.)

Reading this was full of the joy of discovery. I was completely enraptured by the characters, by the style, and by the story.

SUMMARY -
Verity is not her real name. They don't know her real name, who she's been and what she's done. But they will. Soon, they will, because she will tell them. But as her captors, torturers, get her to tell more and more of her story, and Verity wonders what happened to Kittyhawk when they were separated, the truth is slowly revealed. Verity and Kittyhawk will never be the same.

MY THOUGHTS -
I adore this book. And while that phrase seems a bit too...tame for the grittiness that is Code Name Verity, I seriously love it. I'll be sure to buy it someday soon, and read it again, because I definitely want this on my shelf. Over the last months since I read it, it has come back to me again and again. I think now I appreciate it even more than when I first read it. It has stuck with me, and I've decided - it's one I will buy for my children. I will recommend it to everyone. It's just one of those books. Everyone needs to read it.

Everyone. This is not something that I take lightly. I have never recommended a book to just "everyone" before.

Granted, the story started out slow. But not slow in a way that bored me. Instead, it fascinated me. The story of Verity and her best friend, who they met, how close they became, the fears they expressed to each other... If I hadn't had this kind of intro to who they were together, I wouldn't have understood them when they were separated.

Elizabeth Wein's writing is very beautiful. Simple, great for this type of book. And still, she brought across a great power through her writing. If you know to start out your story with "I AM A COWARD" then you've got something good going for you. There are SO MANY quotes from this book that I remember that move me...one in particular. If you've read the book, you know exactly which one I'm talking about.

CHARACTER NOTES -
Verity is definitely my favorite. I loved absolutely everything about her: her weaknesses, her strength, her guilt and sorrow and pain and love and the small joys she spoke of in her report. She's complex and just...stunning. Yes that's exactly the word for her: stunning. Her fears, how they changed over the course of the book, made her more real to me than ever. And how smart she was! So...elegant.

Kittyhawk was a neat character as well. It's her side of the story that's hardest to read about, and she makes the perfect impression for it. Her bravery, selflessness, and unconditional love (yes - unconditional) blew me away.
At first I was a little bummed when the story switched to Kittyhawk halfway through. I was invested in Verity's brilliance, and I didn't want to leave. But I'm so glad it switched. I can't say anymore than that. But I am SO. GLAD.

There's a lovely cast of side characters (or, not so lovely, if you please). Von Leowe and James, in particular, are an excellent addition to this story.

STORY NOTES -
"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." (Can't remember the page number!)

There are few things in life greater than having a best friend. I can say that with full confidence, especially since my best friend was gone in Panama for a month during the summer. (Side note: If your best friend is leaving town for a bit, choose another book to read while he/she is gone... If you read this, anxiety will ensue.)
Reading a story about best friends, with no romance or stupid drama getting int he way, is just...amazing. Touching. Sincere. I loved every single minute of it, even when the story was slower going. Because it did have its slow moments. Again, that's not to say it was boring - not at all! The pace in the lingering kind, the one you only want to read for 15-30 minutes a day because you want it to last. It's so beautiful.

I didn't really appreciate all the talk about planes because it was written like the reader should already know all this stuff. It makes sense, seeing as Verity and Kittyhawk were pilots and/or worked with planes, but it made my head spin a bit, trying to keep up.

Now, let me tell you - you have to keep reading!!! Even if you have no idea where it's taking you - just go with it! Everything ties together. Everything. It will blow your mind and shatter your heart into a gazillion tiny little pieces. And then you'll realize you're still living, breathing, feeling, and that you just read something life changing.

(I promise, I'm not exaggerating!)

SUMMING IT UP -
River-crying material. Yup - that is this book. I have cried - like full-on tears - TWICE while writing this review, over two days. I hope everyone takes a break from other genres to read this incredible historical fiction worthy of every shelf!
LOVE.

For the Parents -
Violence - toward the end. Brief strong language and reference to torture. Recommended 14+.

This was an absolutely wonderful book that gives an interesting viewpoint of World War II in a way that is engaging and absolutely engrossing.

The first part of the book is written as a confession/journal from a girl named Queenie's point of view. She is being held hostage by Nazis as a British spy. As part of her "confession" she is relating the tale of her friendship with a female British pilot named Maddie.

The second part of the book is written as a journal from Maddie's POV. I won't say much more about that because it would spoil the story.

Both characters have very distinct voices. Queenie laughs in the face of danger and has an excellent sense of humor even in the face of torture. Maddie is more tentative but no less fierce.

I really enjoyed both perspectives. Queenie is fearless and can't resist having a sense of humor about the strangest things. She occasionally plays pranks on the Nazis even knowing that they will punish her for it...just because she needs a good laugh. Despite the absolutely bleak setting of her story, she makes you laugh and as a reader I completely admired her.

Maddie is more timid. She admits to breaking into tears every time she hears gunfire, she admits to being terrified and at times hiding...but she is no less fierce. Despite her fears, she does what she has to. She is incredibly loyal and absolutely resolute. Her section of the book wasn't as...dare I say given the subject matter...funny but it was still incredibly engaging.

You can tell Wein did a lot of research to write this book. It is a very interesting accounting of the roles of both female spies and female pilots in World War II. There are a lot of interesting facts in here and Wein states what is true and what is fiction in the Afterward. I really enjoyed learning about this aspect of World War II through the eyes of these two wonderful friends.

This book is also about friendship. It's about how two women with completely different personalities can be best friends, about the loyalty of friendship, and the sacrifices that sometimes have to be made if you love your friend enough. It's also about women first stepping into careers dominated by men and being darn good at what they do.

This book was impossible to put down. It had me laughing out loud at points. It also had me in tears at points, there are parts of the story that are absolutely heartbreaking... The story is uplifting in some ways, but I have yet to read a book about the Nazis that ends in a truly happy way. Honestly just thinking about what the women in this book go through upsets me even still.

So while not a comfortable read, it definitely makes an impact. It is targeted toward young adult audience. This is about war though; there is torture and there are horrible things described in this book. So just a warning to those who are sensitive to those things...but should you let that stop you from reading this book...absolutely not. These things really happened in Nazi occupied France and people should read about them.

Overall an absolutely wonderful read. I enjoyed that this book gives a different look at the history behind World War II. I loved learning more about women spies and pilots of that era. The two women who feature in this book are absolutely stunning and engaging to read about. I could not put this book down. Seriously everyone needs to read this. If you are particularly interested in World War II, another great book about the Nazis and how they affected the general non-Jewish German population is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

Writing a review for Code Name Verity is proving to be a decidedly difficult task. It's a profoundly moving book, and I'm especially enamored with the fact that it focuses primarily on a friendship unlike any other. It is with extreme gratitude that I thank Elena for (nicely) pushing me to read this book, as I would have regretted missing out on it!

I love historical fiction, particularly when there are detailed descriptions. This novel struck me as an interesting account of what it must have been like in Europe during wartime. It felt very real to me, and the author did a great job weaving a story out of the details she uncovered during her research. It's especially interesting that the role women played during this time was really the main focus of this story, and I definitely found myself craving more information and books about the war and the women of that time.

Friendship is always a relationship I consider particularly important, so I really enjoyed reading about Verity and Maddie and their friendship. Though each girl is very different, their friendship definitely made sense to me. The strength of their bond, and the genuine love and respect and pride they had in each other was just heartwarming to read about. It is this friendship that touched a part of my heart, and made me feel deeply, deeply moved as I read.

The way the novel is formatted makes it come across as very personal. I love how it reads like a journal; this moved me to feel the things that Verity must have felt, as well as making her much more relatable as a character. Though I wasn't expecting many of the things she wrote about, I must say that choosing to employ this method in telling this story was a smart move. It definitely worked for me as I found myself feeling sucker punched and emotionally thrown at certain points while I was reading!

This novel tells such a beautiful, moving tale of friendship that will be staying with me for a long while. In fact, the only (semi) negative thing I can say about this book is that you just have to be in the right mood to read it. It's a wonderful example of historical YA, and I look forward to finding other gems in this particular sub-genre. Code Name Verity may not be for everyone, but it cetainly is a book that I will return to time and time again, especially when I crave reading an unusually crafted, lovely piece of work.

I loved this book. Its structure is unique and intriguing and demands some attention and thoughtful reading, but the payoff is worth it. It's one of those stories that will stay with me. ( I see a review here in list left by someone who didn't even read the whole book! Seriously?)
This is a well told story of friendship and war and, while the theme is serious, I did not find it a downer...but an inspiration to live better. This should be on every young woman's reading list.

I literally finished this book minutes ago and I felt compelled to leave a review, which I don't normally do. As many people mentioned, this is difficult to do without giving spoilers away, so let me only say that I loved it! I'm an avid reader, I love historical fiction, so this book falls right into that genre, it is so cleverly written and original. That being said, I can't say that a book has made me outright bawl like this one did in years! I like that it did, it really got to me. I'm not going to try and explain the plot or characters, so many other people who reviewed this book have done that so there is no need. Just know, that when you start reading this, for at least the first half of the book you kinda wonder what all the hype is about. Stick it out, by the time you finish you will get it! It is going to take a long time for me to shake this read off, it will be on my mind for days!

This is a book that anyone will tell you "do not read any reviews or any blurbs. Just read it. Trust me." And, here I am, attempting to write a review of it. Stupid, right? Well, I don't care. I will attempt to the best of my ability to convince you, reader, to immediately purchase and read this book without telling you a damn thing about it. I recognize that is a tall order, and seemingly impossible. So I shall do my best.

This book is about two women in WWII. One is a pilot, one is a spy, and they get shot down in their ferry plane in Nazi-occupied France. The first half of the book is told from the spy's point-of-view. The second, from the pilot's. That is all I will tell you. This book is full of twists and turns, and you second-guess yourself constantly trying to figure out everything that could potentially happen. But I'm not going to talk about that either.

What I will tell you, is that this is one of the most perfect books I've ever read. I cried my eyes out at some points, but even in a lot of difficult scenes, I was laughing through my tears, and I absolutely fell in love with the narrative. These two characters are so well-written, and so fascinating, I did not want the story to end. I got the audiobook and it is the first audiobook I have ever listened to. It was divine. The actresses could not have been more perfectly cast, and they embodied the spirit of the protagonists superbly.

This book is a journey. And many things take you a very long time to figure out, if you ever figure them out. I have been going back and forth with others that have read it, trying to look for clues in everything I've read, and I'm sure I will be doing so every time I read this (which will be numerous. I'm having a hard time not immediately starting it right this second). You don't even find out the first protagonist's name until more than halfway through the book. And if I told you her name, it wouldn't even ruin the flow of the book, or give a huge amount away. But it would absolutely ruin your discovery of the character, and I will not have that.

I am one of those people that will jump ahead in books just to see if what I guessed would happen, does happen. But for this book, I flatly refused to do so, because I enjoyed the journey so very much. And I can nearly guarantee that you will too. I recognize that's a large claim to make, but I can't even comprehend someone not loving this book. So, just read it. And if you loved it, tell me. If you hated it, tell me too, because that would absolutely fascinate me.

This was an emotional rollercoaster of a book in the best way possible, I loved the story and the voice. Not my usual type of book, but I enjoyed it immensely. Spent the last 1/8th of the book sobbing as well as a good 30 minutes after. I haven’t cried for a book that hard ever, and only once or twice have I even cried for one. I felt like I was a character in the book, and felt just how they did.

I have read many Holocaust books but this is the first one I have been unable to finish. Written in a very uninteresting way. Offensive language that could have been left out and the story still been written. Confusing.

I'll just be really honest here--I don't know what to write or say about Code Name Verity. I can't reveal too much of the plot. In the other hand, I have to write just enough for you to want to pick up this book. I'm afraid if I start writing about how I felt while and after reading this book, I might accidentally include unnecessary spoilers (and I guarantee that you will hate me for it, maybe). I'll write as much as I can and I shall try my best to not include any spoilers.

Code Name Verity is a story about two best friends, Queenie and Maddie. Although they are quite the opposite, Queenie being born from posh lineage, Maddie, a bike shop owner's granddaughter, that didn't stop them from becoming best friends while serving together in WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and staying like that even when the war separates them. These two have very little in common, but deep down they are incredibly strong, intelligent, loyal, and compassionate women.

All Maddie ever wanted was to fly airplanes. When the war started, they didn't accept female pilots but soon enough, they did. Queenie is fluent in both German and French. She has the ability to able to fleetingly change to different roles. She can be herself one second and someone entirely different the next.

I admit that Maddie and Queenie are very unique and fascinating characters but the character that fascinates me the most is Queenie's capturer and interrogator, SS-Hauptsturmfürer von Linden. I thought of him as a pure evil guy (even his name sounds scary) but as the story progresses, I learned a few about his life which changed the way I see him and which will cause the readers to be as confused as Queenie.

It was a bit confusing at the beginning because Queenie tells her present story in first person, but switches to third person and focuses on Maddie every time she talks about the past. It was a little strange at first, having the narrator talk about herself in third person, but soon enough, I realized that it was an exceptional way for the author to help her readers adapt to constant alternations between the past and the present.

The story starts off when Queenie gets captured by the Gestapo in France. Weeks passed and I think you can already guess what would happen to someone captured by the Gestapo--tortured. She made a deal with von Linden. He allows her to live for a few more weeks in exchange to writing down all the events that led her to him.

ver·i·ty

n. /`veritē/

A true principle or belief, esp. one of fundamental importance; truth

Most people (myself included) don't know what verity means. I only knew what verity meant when `they' asked her (Queenie) what the truth was--is. That's when everything started to make sense. Imagine a person reading a book. Imagine that that person doesn't know the real identity of the narrator is or what the book is really about until...half of the book or almost half. Code Name Verity is a strange book, in a good way. I didn't know or care whether it was the truth she was saying or if it was really her who says she is. I am very sure about one thing though; everyone--I mean every person--who has the ability to read must read this. Code Name Verity is one of those rare books; heart-breaking yet uplifting.

Code Name Verity is a remarkable work of fiction.

(I'm very sorry for not being apparent and for continuously switching tenses.)

Reviewed by Alenette from Into the Land of Books

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is historical fiction at its best! The book contains intense journal entries from two points of view; Queenie's and Maddie's experiences in the World War II Air Force and in the resistance. These two women are best friends, one is Scottish and one is British. The story is intense and heart wrenching and the author's note at the end of the book is priceless with its research stories and highlights.

Every time von Linden, the Gestapo interrogator, appears in a scene, I'm annoyed. Annoyed because I don't buy the premise that he's letting his prisoner write a novel to disclose her war secrets. But more annoyed that I care so much about the prisoner and her friends that I simply cannot put the book down. In Elizabeth Wein's novel of historical fiction, Code Name Verity, the plot materializes as a tightly bound mosaic, and it is this weaving that keeps readers glued to this otherwise questionable premise. The plot begins with two women serving in World War II, one of whom, Verity, a Resistance spy, is captured and held at a Gestapo headquarters in Ormaie, France after her plane crashes (piloted by her best friend Maddie) into enemy territory. The ensuing action occurs off the page as we read Verity's daily notes and stories from the past which she passes on to the Gestapo in exchange for a few more days of life (and torture).

Much of the book centers on the history of Verity's relationship with Maddie, her pilot friend, and how their unlikely friendship blossomed around depressing military hangars. Historical novel enthusiasts will enjoy Wein's flight knowledge and meticulous description of period aircraft (which truly authenticates the historical portion of the novel). Additionally, her subtle but constant blackouts continually remind readers of the realities of living in war-time Britain. Wein's sense of place also helps to lighten the darkness of the novel, and her descriptions recount the beauty of England from the air: "with all the Cheshire plain and its green fields and red chimneys thrown at her feet like a tartan picnic blanket" (8).

Wein's strongest literary tactic is her character development. While I question the believability of the "creative writing" prisoner, the creation of a novelist/diarist character brings an extra authenticity to the novel. We are able to get inside their heads, and we understand how they are vulnerable, wreckless, desperate, yet incredibly strong. When Verity despairs, "You'll shoot me at the end no matter what I do" (5), we will her to go on. A minor complaint for Wein's characters, is that they lack period diction. Several times Wein necessarily whips out Verity's authentic Scottish brogue, but the phrasing and rhythm of 1940s British English fails to appear.

What Wein sacrifices with speech and a questionable plot premise, she regains through her characters' circumstances. While I faltered at the brink of the "suspension of disbelief," I never forgot that it was a novel about war. Loss is real, and she never subdues the violence. The plausibility of the novel is found in the moral dilemmas with which prisoners are faced and the ensuing discomfort we feel as these moral dilemmas are placed, quite accurately, in the context of World War II. The mind games she plays with us are almost as intriguing as the cunning characters themselves.

Wein's novel, then, accurately depicts the emotional turmoil and ethical dilemmas of military personnel and prisoners of war, and she weaves a narrative of gender roles, ethnicity, fear, and truth into an exciting and harrowing novel, one necessarily touched with pain and loss. While she fails to produce accurate diction and a flawless plot premise, her characters and circumstances are so real that ignoring them would seem as inhumane as the character of the Gestapo interrogator, SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden.

Set during World War II this is a unique and imaginative Young Adult read. Verity and her friend Maddie are close friends. It's unlikely that without the War their paths would have crossed, coming from such different backgrounds, but War has brought them together.
The story opens with Verity being interrogated by the Gestapo, she's been captured and tortured, and is about to spill the secrets of the Allied Forces. Verity chooses to write her confession down, in detail, and it is in this confession that we learn about her dear friend Maddie - how they met, became friends, and how Verity finds herself just where she is now.

Despite not even knowing Verity's name for some time, and not even meeting Maddie during the story - these are two warm and realistic characters. So very different; a rich girl from Scotland and a working-class Stockport lass, but united in their strong friendship and in their battle to prove themselves in what is very much a man's world.
There are some heart-breaking scenes within this story, yet there is a sense of tremendous strength of character, and a real insight into active service for women during the War.

Elizabeth Wein has produced a inventive, fascinating and emotional story with strong female lead characters.

The less you know about the contents of this book going into it, the better your reading experience will be. For CODE NAME VERITY is a truly exquisite book, one of those rare stories that will touch the heart of every reader who is fortunate enough to encounter it.

CODE NAME VERITY is fueled by the memorable narrative of a feisty, fiery, and fiercely intelligent and loyal character who will shoot her way to the top of your "favorite characters" list. I don't know about you, but I go absolutely head over heels for characters who are smarter than me, those whose intelligence isn't shoved into my face with telling sentences, but instead unfolds over the course of the book.

The book winds through flight and war terminology but transcends historical fiction with its narrator's fun, relatable, and just basically genuine voice. I found myself practically cackling with laughter at the narrator's numerous antics, even in her terrifying situation. Elizabeth Wein's writing is brilliant: the pace and style of words mimic the event that the narrator is telling, long or short, dialogue vs. narration, profound vs. charming.

You'll notice that I didn't use any names in this review. That's because, first of all, the war setting makes it unclear whether or not the characters are using their real names, and secondly, part of the enjoyment of this book is figuring out when characters are telling the truth and when they are not. Don't let that--or my woefully inadequate review--deter you. Read CODE NAME VERITY; I am 99% sure you won't regret it. Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction set in World War II and character-driven novels.

With its interesting premise, strong center female friendship, and an unreliable narrator, I thought I was sure to love Code Name Verity. I haven’t read many WWII books recently, but as a teenager I gobbled up every single WWI and WWII book my school library had, so I thought Code Name Verity might be a return to my reading roots, especially considering the high praise this book has gotten from so many reviewers I trust. Yet I found myself being let down on all accounts by Code Name Verity’s pacing and plot—two highly important elements that I found completely lacking.

I will start with the few positive elements I found in Code Name Verity, and that was the two main characters, “Verity” and Maddie themselves. While I didn’t quite understand their friendship (more on that later), as separate characters I was completely enamored with them. The first half is Verity’s confession, as she is writing down the story of how she came to be captured by the Nazis and tortured. She’s given up eleven sets of codes, and now she tells her captors she’ll tell the truth to win back her clothes.
Verity’s confessions are tough to read at times. While none of the descriptions of the torture Verity undergoes are very detailed (she’s writing them down after the fact, so there’s some distance), they did tend to get graphic at times, fair warning. Even if I was having trouble with the story Verity was telling, I did love Verity’s voice. This young woman has lost everything, she’s so sure that she’ll be executed, and she finds small ways to fight back. I’m also a huge fan of an unreliable narrator. Even though Verity is insisting that she’s telling the truth, since the reader only gets her story, it’s impossible to know if she really is until the end.

But as much as I liked Verity, I loved Maddie. She’s a pilot, through and through. She knows that is what she’s good at, and she’s not trying to be anything else (unless forced to for her life). While Verity is a natural actress, all Maddie can do is remind herself to “fly the plane”. The second half of the book is told through Maddie’s journal, and I found Maddie’s part easier to read and more compelling, not only because I wanted to know what happened but because I thought it was better written as well.

Despite the fact I liked Verity and Maddie separately, Code Name Verity REALLY hinged around Verity and Maddie’s friendship. If you can’t buy into that relationship, the plot is not going to work for you, and it did NOT for me. I love good friendship stories, but I just didn’t feel this one. Sure, you can tell me they would do anything for each other (and they do often risk their lives for each other), but I’m confused as to how their friendship deepened so quickly. They really only have a few scenes together in the first half of the book when Verity is telling her story, and I never felt it. There were technically emotional scenes, but I never felt it, ever. In that regards, it reminded me quite a bit of how I felt about Not a Drop to Drink—like the words on the page were making an emotional scene, but the author somehow didn’t translate that emotion in a believable way.

I found the big “oh!” moment towards the end so heavily foreshadowed and personally unemotional that it just didn’t really do it for me. The pacing of Code Name Verity is so very, very slow. I was told that it picks up halfway through but I never felt like it did. The beginning of the book gets so bogged down in back story that by the time the main story started, I was rather unimpressed.

This is a really good novel. I really recommend it.

Firstly, though, please don't let the words "young adult" turn you off. This might be characterized as a "young adult" novel, but that is way too limiting. I honestly feel that this novel can be enjoyed from age 13 and up. It's a good novel, period.

I don't want to get too much into it...because I think this novel is hard to review without offering up any spoilers...and I don't want to do that.

I devoured this book in about two days. It starts out quick (in my opinion) and draws you in right away. The story moves quickly and you find yourself wanting to read and read to see where it goes.

I thought the characters were believable and three-dimensional. You find yourself quickly becoming emotionally invested in the fates of the main characters...and if an author can do that...they're well on their way to writing a successful novel.

As this is a historical novel, it needs to be mentioned that the author did a nice job of bringing to life WW2 Europe. I obviously was not alive, then, but it has a feeling of authenticity to it...without being drawn too deeply into the details. The setting is so important to the overall story in this novel...so had the author not been successful in setting the scene it could have been a major problem.

I felt that this was a story that got its emotional hooks into me. That's a good thing. It not only held my attention by being interesting, but when I was done, I felt like I'd been on a journey. It took me places emotionally. I felt like I was there with the main characters...when they were happy, I felt happy. When they were scared, I was scared...and so on. The author allowed me to be there in the story.

I really do recommend this novel. It's lively, believable, gritty, and real.

I do not have children, nor am I close with children who are young adults, and so given what I read about the decline of education and how young adults are increasingly self-absorbed and out of touch with the world around them, I'm very uncertain how this book ended up in the YA genre. This would be great summer reading for a upperclassman in high school or even college student, but I think it'd be disturbing for anyone under the age of 16. Just my two cents and again, not a parent.

All that aside, this is an incredibly well-written story. You learn about best friends Maddie and Queenie through Queenie's confession/statement to the Nazis. Further into the book one may think she is incredibly self absorbed and/or flakey, but everything is quite deliberate in the end. You see the incredible strength of two young women trying to overcome sexism and prove that women are just as brave and honorable as men.

And succeed.

Again, incredibly well-written, detailed, and dramatic (in the good sense, not melodrama). As Lt. C. Carwood Lipton of Easy Company once said, "It was a different time back then."

Just finished my second reading of this remarkable book. I hope the "young adult" label doesn't dissuade readers because it is simply one of the most exciting,poignant and gripping tales one could read in any genre. A story of friendship, heroism and wonderful historical fiction that stacks up among the best.

I especially recommend it to young girls of a strong and adventurous nature. Maddie and Julie are terrific role models who defy gender stereotypes even while forced to stay within them.

I loved the literary allusions and hope that if they aren't recognized by a young reader, the strength of the story will lead her to seek out their meaning.

Like Maddie and Julie, I tend to blub every time I read this jewel of a story.

If you are an aficionado of spy novels or even non-fiction, this probably isn't for you. Also, it is listed as a YA book, and I can't believe that age group would stick with it. The author uses more than half the book to set up the complicated story, and I guess I am too dense to get the clues. It is well written, and characters developed, but not much of a story in the first part. I didn't think that the depth of the women's relationship was fully revealed in the set-up. I almost gave up, but I'm glad I didn't. The second half (or 3rd third) is the unveiling of a clever plot, but with almost too many coincidences. POSSIBLE SPOILER: It's heartbreaking.
I was disappointed. I give it a lukewarm recommendation.

I have to admit that I struggled with Code Name Verity at first; it was a slow read for me, one that I found difficult to get into but one that with an ending so powerful and unforgettable that it redeemed itself and made my experience completely turnaround!

Although this story is set in World War II, it's really a story about two girls who become best friends and what was most likely the period in their life that had the great impact on them. It's also written in journal format, which is something I've mentioned before that I never seem to take to well as a reader. But the story itself is a beautiful tale that leaves a mark on your heart.

Reasons to Read:

1.Lively, endearing characters:

Maddie and Queenie are two of the most incredible characters I have ever read about; their personalities literally jump off the pages, and they're just fantastic young women to read about. They're so realistic and familiar, that it's hard to believe that they're no more than fiction. Queenie, especially, was one character that I found totally endearing and striking. The choices she makes, the stories she tells... she's one character you WON'T forget soon. And Maddie is equally brave, in her own unique-Maddie way. Gah, I love these two so much!

2.An ending that'll make you go "WHAT?!":

Yeah, it' sone of THOSE endings. I mean, you kind of figure that you know what to expect... but it's still so heartbreaking and momentous and just THERE, and you really don't want it to happen. Yet, it's shocking all on its own. It's a good thing though, I mean, I loved it even though it made me tear up a bit too. It's a good book with feeling is what I'm trying to say, I suppose.

3.An interesing perspective of WW2:

And that ending? I won't spoil anything, but I think it does a noteworthy job (as does the book) of offering us readers a very interesting perspective of World War II, one that we wouldn't often get to see. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a movie or read a book that deals with female pilots or wireless operatives. But on top of that, Queenie and Maddie aren't overly concerned with the war. They're concerned with doing their jobs properly and of meeting their expectations, but we also get to see all the little ways in which a war like this tears peoples' lives apart. Beautiful and tragic, all at the same time.

But I have to warn you that I struggled with the first half of the book. Queenie was easily my favourite character and I loved what she had to say, but I found the way it was written to be difficult to stick with. As I already mentioned, I'm not one to enjoy reading journal entries - I always find it lacking as a method of narration, because we only get to read what that person is writing down on paper. And it almost feels anti-climatic since everything said is being described after the fact and upon further reflection by an individual. Plus, I found Code Name Verity even more difficult to read as a journal because while Queenie's writing it, she's writing it from the perspective of her friend Maddie. Or, what she thinks Maddie's perspective/story would be and how to best tell it.

People told me to stick with it and keep reading and HOW GLAD AM I THAT I DID JUST THAT. I honestly would have felt like I missed out on one of the books of the year had I not finished this one. But I really enjoy historical fiction and this one is great- right down to the writing style and character voices/slang used. Another fair warning though: there's a lot of talk of airplanes and flying that went way over my head. A lot of it. I think it's more so to set an atmosphere and get into the character's heads but it can drag on to read about.

And I should add that by the time I finishd the book I realized that the journal style was necessary for the set up of the story; I can't fathom any other way that it would've worked as well as it did.
This books is one of the few that gets better after you read it. The way it sinks in, and you can't get it out of your head. It isn't a book that you finish and forget about immediately afterwards.

ARC/e-galley received from Random House Canada for review.

New Release! Free copy of this book provided for review by Netgalley.

Premise: Two young women became friends in England during the early days of World War Two. How they met, who they are, and why one of them is writing the story of her life from a Gestapo prison in France, are all things you'll have to read the book to find out.

Wow. Just wow. All the reviews of this book are going to talk about how difficult it is to review, but there's really no way around it. This is definitely a book which you want to read knowing very little about it, so I will do my best to focus on my response to the novel, and not mention any details revealed beyond the first chapter or two.

From the first page, this is a compelling story, pouring from the pen of a young woman imprisoned in France. "I AM A COWARD" are the first words on the first page. Is she? She writes her memories down to bargain with her jailers for a blanket, for a little more life, and perhaps just to establish her own story. You'll have to be the judge of her character.

The story she tells includes details about the British War Effort to placate her readers, but it's really the story of Maddie and Queenie. One a middle-class Brit with a penchant for mechanical things and a love of the sky, one an upper-class Scot who speaks several languages and has an electric imagination.

This is the saga of their friendship. It is not always a happy story.

I devoured this book in one sitting. I barely looked up until the last page. It felt as though I hardly breathed during the last third. I kept thinking I had reached the end, and then the narrative threw another curve ball at me. I swore at this book, out loud, in both anger and awe. I re-read phrases, burning them into my brain. When I reached the end, I took half a day to process it and then began reading from the beginning again.

Is it perfect? No - there are a few points where I have a slight suspension of disbelief problem, but they are very few and I forgive them all for letting this story unfold.

Bonus for me and others like me: this book is full of literary and historical allusions, facts and trivia. Most of the literary ones I knew, and they deepened my enjoyment of the story, and even the historical tidbits I didn't know I had no trouble following. (One particular reference I looked up later, and damn if I didn't tear up all over again.)

Reading this was full of the joy of discovery. I was completely enraptured by the characters, by the style, and by the story.

SUMMARY -
Verity is not her real name. They don't know her real name, who she's been and what she's done. But they will. Soon, they will, because she will tell them. But as her captors, torturers, get her to tell more and more of her story, and Verity wonders what happened to Kittyhawk when they were separated, the truth is slowly revealed. Verity and Kittyhawk will never be the same.

MY THOUGHTS -
I adore this book. And while that phrase seems a bit too...tame for the grittiness that is Code Name Verity, I seriously love it. I'll be sure to buy it someday soon, and read it again, because I definitely want this on my shelf. Over the last months since I read it, it has come back to me again and again. I think now I appreciate it even more than when I first read it. It has stuck with me, and I've decided - it's one I will buy for my children. I will recommend it to everyone. It's just one of those books. Everyone needs to read it.

Everyone. This is not something that I take lightly. I have never recommended a book to just "everyone" before.

Granted, the story started out slow. But not slow in a way that bored me. Instead, it fascinated me. The story of Verity and her best friend, who they met, how close they became, the fears they expressed to each other... If I hadn't had this kind of intro to who they were together, I wouldn't have understood them when they were separated.

Elizabeth Wein's writing is very beautiful. Simple, great for this type of book. And still, she brought across a great power through her writing. If you know to start out your story with "I AM A COWARD" then you've got something good going for you. There are SO MANY quotes from this book that I remember that move me...one in particular. If you've read the book, you know exactly which one I'm talking about.

CHARACTER NOTES -
Verity is definitely my favorite. I loved absolutely everything about her: her weaknesses, her strength, her guilt and sorrow and pain and love and the small joys she spoke of in her report. She's complex and just...stunning. Yes that's exactly the word for her: stunning. Her fears, how they changed over the course of the book, made her more real to me than ever. And how smart she was! So...elegant.

Kittyhawk was a neat character as well. It's her side of the story that's hardest to read about, and she makes the perfect impression for it. Her bravery, selflessness, and unconditional love (yes - unconditional) blew me away.
At first I was a little bummed when the story switched to Kittyhawk halfway through. I was invested in Verity's brilliance, and I didn't want to leave. But I'm so glad it switched. I can't say anymore than that. But I am SO. GLAD.

There's a lovely cast of side characters (or, not so lovely, if you please). Von Leowe and James, in particular, are an excellent addition to this story.

STORY NOTES -
"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." (Can't remember the page number!)

There are few things in life greater than having a best friend. I can say that with full confidence, especially since my best friend was gone in Panama for a month during the summer. (Side note: If your best friend is leaving town for a bit, choose another book to read while he/she is gone... If you read this, anxiety will ensue.)
Reading a story about best friends, with no romance or stupid drama getting int he way, is just...amazing. Touching. Sincere. I loved every single minute of it, even when the story was slower going. Because it did have its slow moments. Again, that's not to say it was boring - not at all! The pace in the lingering kind, the one you only want to read for 15-30 minutes a day because you want it to last. It's so beautiful.

I didn't really appreciate all the talk about planes because it was written like the reader should already know all this stuff. It makes sense, seeing as Verity and Kittyhawk were pilots and/or worked with planes, but it made my head spin a bit, trying to keep up.

Now, let me tell you - you have to keep reading!!! Even if you have no idea where it's taking you - just go with it! Everything ties together. Everything. It will blow your mind and shatter your heart into a gazillion tiny little pieces. And then you'll realize you're still living, breathing, feeling, and that you just read something life changing.

(I promise, I'm not exaggerating!)

SUMMING IT UP -
River-crying material. Yup - that is this book. I have cried - like full-on tears - TWICE while writing this review, over two days. I hope everyone takes a break from other genres to read this incredible historical fiction worthy of every shelf!
LOVE.

For the Parents -
Violence - toward the end. Brief strong language and reference to torture. Recommended 14+.

This was an absolutely wonderful book that gives an interesting viewpoint of World War II in a way that is engaging and absolutely engrossing.

The first part of the book is written as a confession/journal from a girl named Queenie's point of view. She is being held hostage by Nazis as a British spy. As part of her "confession" she is relating the tale of her friendship with a female British pilot named Maddie.

The second part of the book is written as a journal from Maddie's POV. I won't say much more about that because it would spoil the story.

Both characters have very distinct voices. Queenie laughs in the face of danger and has an excellent sense of humor even in the face of torture. Maddie is more tentative but no less fierce.

I really enjoyed both perspectives. Queenie is fearless and can't resist having a sense of humor about the strangest things. She occasionally plays pranks on the Nazis even knowing that they will punish her for it...just because she needs a good laugh. Despite the absolutely bleak setting of her story, she makes you laugh and as a reader I completely admired her.

Maddie is more timid. She admits to breaking into tears every time she hears gunfire, she admits to being terrified and at times hiding...but she is no less fierce. Despite her fears, she does what she has to. She is incredibly loyal and absolutely resolute. Her section of the book wasn't as...dare I say given the subject matter...funny but it was still incredibly engaging.

You can tell Wein did a lot of research to write this book. It is a very interesting accounting of the roles of both female spies and female pilots in World War II. There are a lot of interesting facts in here and Wein states what is true and what is fiction in the Afterward. I really enjoyed learning about this aspect of World War II through the eyes of these two wonderful friends.

This book is also about friendship. It's about how two women with completely different personalities can be best friends, about the loyalty of friendship, and the sacrifices that sometimes have to be made if you love your friend enough. It's also about women first stepping into careers dominated by men and being darn good at what they do.

This book was impossible to put down. It had me laughing out loud at points. It also had me in tears at points, there are parts of the story that are absolutely heartbreaking... The story is uplifting in some ways, but I have yet to read a book about the Nazis that ends in a truly happy way. Honestly just thinking about what the women in this book go through upsets me even still.

So while not a comfortable read, it definitely makes an impact. It is targeted toward young adult audience. This is about war though; there is torture and there are horrible things described in this book. So just a warning to those who are sensitive to those things...but should you let that stop you from reading this book...absolutely not. These things really happened in Nazi occupied France and people should read about them.

Overall an absolutely wonderful read. I enjoyed that this book gives a different look at the history behind World War II. I loved learning more about women spies and pilots of that era. The two women who feature in this book are absolutely stunning and engaging to read about. I could not put this book down. Seriously everyone needs to read this. If you are particularly interested in World War II, another great book about the Nazis and how they affected the general non-Jewish German population is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

Writing a review for Code Name Verity is proving to be a decidedly difficult task. It's a profoundly moving book, and I'm especially enamored with the fact that it focuses primarily on a friendship unlike any other. It is with extreme gratitude that I thank Elena for (nicely) pushing me to read this book, as I would have regretted missing out on it!

I love historical fiction, particularly when there are detailed descriptions. This novel struck me as an interesting account of what it must have been like in Europe during wartime. It felt very real to me, and the author did a great job weaving a story out of the details she uncovered during her research. It's especially interesting that the role women played during this time was really the main focus of this story, and I definitely found myself craving more information and books about the war and the women of that time.

Friendship is always a relationship I consider particularly important, so I really enjoyed reading about Verity and Maddie and their friendship. Though each girl is very different, their friendship definitely made sense to me. The strength of their bond, and the genuine love and respect and pride they had in each other was just heartwarming to read about. It is this friendship that touched a part of my heart, and made me feel deeply, deeply moved as I read.

The way the novel is formatted makes it come across as very personal. I love how it reads like a journal; this moved me to feel the things that Verity must have felt, as well as making her much more relatable as a character. Though I wasn't expecting many of the things she wrote about, I must say that choosing to employ this method in telling this story was a smart move. It definitely worked for me as I found myself feeling sucker punched and emotionally thrown at certain points while I was reading!

This novel tells such a beautiful, moving tale of friendship that will be staying with me for a long while. In fact, the only (semi) negative thing I can say about this book is that you just have to be in the right mood to read it. It's a wonderful example of historical YA, and I look forward to finding other gems in this particular sub-genre. Code Name Verity may not be for everyone, but it cetainly is a book that I will return to time and time again, especially when I crave reading an unusually crafted, lovely piece of work.

I loved this book. Its structure is unique and intriguing and demands some attention and thoughtful reading, but the payoff is worth it. It's one of those stories that will stay with me. ( I see a review here in list left by someone who didn't even read the whole book! Seriously?)
This is a well told story of friendship and war and, while the theme is serious, I did not find it a downer...but an inspiration to live better. This should be on every young woman's reading list.

I literally finished this book minutes ago and I felt compelled to leave a review, which I don't normally do. As many people mentioned, this is difficult to do without giving spoilers away, so let me only say that I loved it! I'm an avid reader, I love historical fiction, so this book falls right into that genre, it is so cleverly written and original. That being said, I can't say that a book has made me outright bawl like this one did in years! I like that it did, it really got to me. I'm not going to try and explain the plot or characters, so many other people who reviewed this book have done that so there is no need. Just know, that when you start reading this, for at least the first half of the book you kinda wonder what all the hype is about. Stick it out, by the time you finish you will get it! It is going to take a long time for me to shake this read off, it will be on my mind for days!

This is a book that anyone will tell you "do not read any reviews or any blurbs. Just read it. Trust me." And, here I am, attempting to write a review of it. Stupid, right? Well, I don't care. I will attempt to the best of my ability to convince you, reader, to immediately purchase and read this book without telling you a damn thing about it. I recognize that is a tall order, and seemingly impossible. So I shall do my best.

This book is about two women in WWII. One is a pilot, one is a spy, and they get shot down in their ferry plane in Nazi-occupied France. The first half of the book is told from the spy's point-of-view. The second, from the pilot's. That is all I will tell you. This book is full of twists and turns, and you second-guess yourself constantly trying to figure out everything that could potentially happen. But I'm not going to talk about that either.

What I will tell you, is that this is one of the most perfect books I've ever read. I cried my eyes out at some points, but even in a lot of difficult scenes, I was laughing through my tears, and I absolutely fell in love with the narrative. These two characters are so well-written, and so fascinating, I did not want the story to end. I got the audiobook and it is the first audiobook I have ever listened to. It was divine. The actresses could not have been more perfectly cast, and they embodied the spirit of the protagonists superbly.

This book is a journey. And many things take you a very long time to figure out, if you ever figure them out. I have been going back and forth with others that have read it, trying to look for clues in everything I've read, and I'm sure I will be doing so every time I read this (which will be numerous. I'm having a hard time not immediately starting it right this second). You don't even find out the first protagonist's name until more than halfway through the book. And if I told you her name, it wouldn't even ruin the flow of the book, or give a huge amount away. But it would absolutely ruin your discovery of the character, and I will not have that.

I am one of those people that will jump ahead in books just to see if what I guessed would happen, does happen. But for this book, I flatly refused to do so, because I enjoyed the journey so very much. And I can nearly guarantee that you will too. I recognize that's a large claim to make, but I can't even comprehend someone not loving this book. So, just read it. And if you loved it, tell me. If you hated it, tell me too, because that would absolutely fascinate me.

This was an emotional rollercoaster of a book in the best way possible, I loved the story and the voice. Not my usual type of book, but I enjoyed it immensely. Spent the last 1/8th of the book sobbing as well as a good 30 minutes after. I haven’t cried for a book that hard ever, and only once or twice have I even cried for one. I felt like I was a character in the book, and felt just how they did.

I have read many Holocaust books but this is the first one I have been unable to finish. Written in a very uninteresting way. Offensive language that could have been left out and the story still been written. Confusing.

I'll just be really honest here--I don't know what to write or say about Code Name Verity. I can't reveal too much of the plot. In the other hand, I have to write just enough for you to want to pick up this book. I'm afraid if I start writing about how I felt while and after reading this book, I might accidentally include unnecessary spoilers (and I guarantee that you will hate me for it, maybe). I'll write as much as I can and I shall try my best to not include any spoilers.

Code Name Verity is a story about two best friends, Queenie and Maddie. Although they are quite the opposite, Queenie being born from posh lineage, Maddie, a bike shop owner's granddaughter, that didn't stop them from becoming best friends while serving together in WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and staying like that even when the war separates them. These two have very little in common, but deep down they are incredibly strong, intelligent, loyal, and compassionate women.

All Maddie ever wanted was to fly airplanes. When the war started, they didn't accept female pilots but soon enough, they did. Queenie is fluent in both German and French. She has the ability to able to fleetingly change to different roles. She can be herself one second and someone entirely different the next.

I admit that Maddie and Queenie are very unique and fascinating characters but the character that fascinates me the most is Queenie's capturer and interrogator, SS-Hauptsturmfürer von Linden. I thought of him as a pure evil guy (even his name sounds scary) but as the story progresses, I learned a few about his life which changed the way I see him and which will cause the readers to be as confused as Queenie.

It was a bit confusing at the beginning because Queenie tells her present story in first person, but switches to third person and focuses on Maddie every time she talks about the past. It was a little strange at first, having the narrator talk about herself in third person, but soon enough, I realized that it was an exceptional way for the author to help her readers adapt to constant alternations between the past and the present.

The story starts off when Queenie gets captured by the Gestapo in France. Weeks passed and I think you can already guess what would happen to someone captured by the Gestapo--tortured. She made a deal with von Linden. He allows her to live for a few more weeks in exchange to writing down all the events that led her to him.

ver·i·ty

n. /`veritē/

A true principle or belief, esp. one of fundamental importance; truth

Most people (myself included) don't know what verity means. I only knew what verity meant when `they' asked her (Queenie) what the truth was--is. That's when everything started to make sense. Imagine a person reading a book. Imagine that that person doesn't know the real identity of the narrator is or what the book is really about until...half of the book or almost half. Code Name Verity is a strange book, in a good way. I didn't know or care whether it was the truth she was saying or if it was really her who says she is. I am very sure about one thing though; everyone--I mean every person--who has the ability to read must read this. Code Name Verity is one of those rare books; heart-breaking yet uplifting.

Code Name Verity is a remarkable work of fiction.

(I'm very sorry for not being apparent and for continuously switching tenses.)

Reviewed by Alenette from Into the Land of Books

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is historical fiction at its best! The book contains intense journal entries from two points of view; Queenie's and Maddie's experiences in the World War II Air Force and in the resistance. These two women are best friends, one is Scottish and one is British. The story is intense and heart wrenching and the author's note at the end of the book is priceless with its research stories and highlights.

Every time von Linden, the Gestapo interrogator, appears in a scene, I'm annoyed. Annoyed because I don't buy the premise that he's letting his prisoner write a novel to disclose her war secrets. But more annoyed that I care so much about the prisoner and her friends that I simply cannot put the book down. In Elizabeth Wein's novel of historical fiction, Code Name Verity, the plot materializes as a tightly bound mosaic, and it is this weaving that keeps readers glued to this otherwise questionable premise. The plot begins with two women serving in World War II, one of whom, Verity, a Resistance spy, is captured and held at a Gestapo headquarters in Ormaie, France after her plane crashes (piloted by her best friend Maddie) into enemy territory. The ensuing action occurs off the page as we read Verity's daily notes and stories from the past which she passes on to the Gestapo in exchange for a few more days of life (and torture).

Much of the book centers on the history of Verity's relationship with Maddie, her pilot friend, and how their unlikely friendship blossomed around depressing military hangars. Historical novel enthusiasts will enjoy Wein's flight knowledge and meticulous description of period aircraft (which truly authenticates the historical portion of the novel). Additionally, her subtle but constant blackouts continually remind readers of the realities of living in war-time Britain. Wein's sense of place also helps to lighten the darkness of the novel, and her descriptions recount the beauty of England from the air: "with all the Cheshire plain and its green fields and red chimneys thrown at her feet like a tartan picnic blanket" (8).

Wein's strongest literary tactic is her character development. While I question the believability of the "creative writing" prisoner, the creation of a novelist/diarist character brings an extra authenticity to the novel. We are able to get inside their heads, and we understand how they are vulnerable, wreckless, desperate, yet incredibly strong. When Verity despairs, "You'll shoot me at the end no matter what I do" (5), we will her to go on. A minor complaint for Wein's characters, is that they lack period diction. Several times Wein necessarily whips out Verity's authentic Scottish brogue, but the phrasing and rhythm of 1940s British English fails to appear.

What Wein sacrifices with speech and a questionable plot premise, she regains through her characters' circumstances. While I faltered at the brink of the "suspension of disbelief," I never forgot that it was a novel about war. Loss is real, and she never subdues the violence. The plausibility of the novel is found in the moral dilemmas with which prisoners are faced and the ensuing discomfort we feel as these moral dilemmas are placed, quite accurately, in the context of World War II. The mind games she plays with us are almost as intriguing as the cunning characters themselves.

Wein's novel, then, accurately depicts the emotional turmoil and ethical dilemmas of military personnel and prisoners of war, and she weaves a narrative of gender roles, ethnicity, fear, and truth into an exciting and harrowing novel, one necessarily touched with pain and loss. While she fails to produce accurate diction and a flawless plot premise, her characters and circumstances are so real that ignoring them would seem as inhumane as the character of the Gestapo interrogator, SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden.

Set during World War II this is a unique and imaginative Young Adult read. Verity and her friend Maddie are close friends. It's unlikely that without the War their paths would have crossed, coming from such different backgrounds, but War has brought them together.
The story opens with Verity being interrogated by the Gestapo, she's been captured and tortured, and is about to spill the secrets of the Allied Forces. Verity chooses to write her confession down, in detail, and it is in this confession that we learn about her dear friend Maddie - how they met, became friends, and how Verity finds herself just where she is now.

Despite not even knowing Verity's name for some time, and not even meeting Maddie during the story - these are two warm and realistic characters. So very different; a rich girl from Scotland and a working-class Stockport lass, but united in their strong friendship and in their battle to prove themselves in what is very much a man's world.
There are some heart-breaking scenes within this story, yet there is a sense of tremendous strength of character, and a real insight into active service for women during the War.

Elizabeth Wein has produced a inventive, fascinating and emotional story with strong female lead characters.

The less you know about the contents of this book going into it, the better your reading experience will be. For CODE NAME VERITY is a truly exquisite book, one of those rare stories that will touch the heart of every reader who is fortunate enough to encounter it.

CODE NAME VERITY is fueled by the memorable narrative of a feisty, fiery, and fiercely intelligent and loyal character who will shoot her way to the top of your "favorite characters" list. I don't know about you, but I go absolutely head over heels for characters who are smarter than me, those whose intelligence isn't shoved into my face with telling sentences, but instead unfolds over the course of the book.

The book winds through flight and war terminology but transcends historical fiction with its narrator's fun, relatable, and just basically genuine voice. I found myself practically cackling with laughter at the narrator's numerous antics, even in her terrifying situation. Elizabeth Wein's writing is brilliant: the pace and style of words mimic the event that the narrator is telling, long or short, dialogue vs. narration, profound vs. charming.

You'll notice that I didn't use any names in this review. That's because, first of all, the war setting makes it unclear whether or not the characters are using their real names, and secondly, part of the enjoyment of this book is figuring out when characters are telling the truth and when they are not. Don't let that--or my woefully inadequate review--deter you. Read CODE NAME VERITY; I am 99% sure you won't regret it. Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction set in World War II and character-driven novels.

With its interesting premise, strong center female friendship, and an unreliable narrator, I thought I was sure to love Code Name Verity. I haven’t read many WWII books recently, but as a teenager I gobbled up every single WWI and WWII book my school library had, so I thought Code Name Verity might be a return to my reading roots, especially considering the high praise this book has gotten from so many reviewers I trust. Yet I found myself being let down on all accounts by Code Name Verity’s pacing and plot—two highly important elements that I found completely lacking.

I will start with the few positive elements I found in Code Name Verity, and that was the two main characters, “Verity” and Maddie themselves. While I didn’t quite understand their friendship (more on that later), as separate characters I was completely enamored with them. The first half is Verity’s confession, as she is writing down the story of how she came to be captured by the Nazis and tortured. She’s given up eleven sets of codes, and now she tells her captors she’ll tell the truth to win back her clothes.
Verity’s confessions are tough to read at times. While none of the descriptions of the torture Verity undergoes are very detailed (she’s writing them down after the fact, so there’s some distance), they did tend to get graphic at times, fair warning. Even if I was having trouble with the story Verity was telling, I did love Verity’s voice. This young woman has lost everything, she’s so sure that she’ll be executed, and she finds small ways to fight back. I’m also a huge fan of an unreliable narrator. Even though Verity is insisting that she’s telling the truth, since the reader only gets her story, it’s impossible to know if she really is until the end.

But as much as I liked Verity, I loved Maddie. She’s a pilot, through and through. She knows that is what she’s good at, and she’s not trying to be anything else (unless forced to for her life). While Verity is a natural actress, all Maddie can do is remind herself to “fly the plane”. The second half of the book is told through Maddie’s journal, and I found Maddie’s part easier to read and more compelling, not only because I wanted to know what happened but because I thought it was better written as well.

Despite the fact I liked Verity and Maddie separately, Code Name Verity REALLY hinged around Verity and Maddie’s friendship. If you can’t buy into that relationship, the plot is not going to work for you, and it did NOT for me. I love good friendship stories, but I just didn’t feel this one. Sure, you can tell me they would do anything for each other (and they do often risk their lives for each other), but I’m confused as to how their friendship deepened so quickly. They really only have a few scenes together in the first half of the book when Verity is telling her story, and I never felt it. There were technically emotional scenes, but I never felt it, ever. In that regards, it reminded me quite a bit of how I felt about Not a Drop to Drink—like the words on the page were making an emotional scene, but the author somehow didn’t translate that emotion in a believable way.

I found the big “oh!” moment towards the end so heavily foreshadowed and personally unemotional that it just didn’t really do it for me. The pacing of Code Name Verity is so very, very slow. I was told that it picks up halfway through but I never felt like it did. The beginning of the book gets so bogged down in back story that by the time the main story started, I was rather unimpressed.

This is a really good novel. I really recommend it.

Firstly, though, please don't let the words "young adult" turn you off. This might be characterized as a "young adult" novel, but that is way too limiting. I honestly feel that this novel can be enjoyed from age 13 and up. It's a good novel, period.

I don't want to get too much into it...because I think this novel is hard to review without offering up any spoilers...and I don't want to do that.

I devoured this book in about two days. It starts out quick (in my opinion) and draws you in right away. The story moves quickly and you find yourself wanting to read and read to see where it goes.

I thought the characters were believable and three-dimensional. You find yourself quickly becoming emotionally invested in the fates of the main characters...and if an author can do that...they're well on their way to writing a successful novel.

As this is a historical novel, it needs to be mentioned that the author did a nice job of bringing to life WW2 Europe. I obviously was not alive, then, but it has a feeling of authenticity to it...without being drawn too deeply into the details. The setting is so important to the overall story in this novel...so had the author not been successful in setting the scene it could have been a major problem.

I felt that this was a story that got its emotional hooks into me. That's a good thing. It not only held my attention by being interesting, but when I was done, I felt like I'd been on a journey. It took me places emotionally. I felt like I was there with the main characters...when they were happy, I felt happy. When they were scared, I was scared...and so on. The author allowed me to be there in the story.

I really do recommend this novel. It's lively, believable, gritty, and real.

I do not have children, nor am I close with children who are young adults, and so given what I read about the decline of education and how young adults are increasingly self-absorbed and out of touch with the world around them, I'm very uncertain how this book ended up in the YA genre. This would be great summer reading for a upperclassman in high school or even college student, but I think it'd be disturbing for anyone under the age of 16. Just my two cents and again, not a parent.

All that aside, this is an incredibly well-written story. You learn about best friends Maddie and Queenie through Queenie's confession/statement to the Nazis. Further into the book one may think she is incredibly self absorbed and/or flakey, but everything is quite deliberate in the end. You see the incredible strength of two young women trying to overcome sexism and prove that women are just as brave and honorable as men.

And succeed.

Again, incredibly well-written, detailed, and dramatic (in the good sense, not melodrama). As Lt. C. Carwood Lipton of Easy Company once said, "It was a different time back then."

Just finished my second reading of this remarkable book. I hope the "young adult" label doesn't dissuade readers because it is simply one of the most exciting,poignant and gripping tales one could read in any genre. A story of friendship, heroism and wonderful historical fiction that stacks up among the best.

I especially recommend it to young girls of a strong and adventurous nature. Maddie and Julie are terrific role models who defy gender stereotypes even while forced to stay within them.

I loved the literary allusions and hope that if they aren't recognized by a young reader, the strength of the story will lead her to seek out their meaning.

Like Maddie and Julie, I tend to blub every time I read this jewel of a story.

If you are an aficionado of spy novels or even non-fiction, this probably isn't for you. Also, it is listed as a YA book, and I can't believe that age group would stick with it. The author uses more than half the book to set up the complicated story, and I guess I am too dense to get the clues. It is well written, and characters developed, but not much of a story in the first part. I didn't think that the depth of the women's relationship was fully revealed in the set-up. I almost gave up, but I'm glad I didn't. The second half (or 3rd third) is the unveiling of a clever plot, but with almost too many coincidences. POSSIBLE SPOILER: It's heartbreaking.
I was disappointed. I give it a lukewarm recommendation.

I, quite literally, couldn't put this book down! I started it in early afternoon and stayed up until the wee hours of night to finish it. Beautiful, satisfying, emotional read. I didn't purchase it originally, but it will definitely be added to my home library.

So good! Don't listen to the last hour or so while trying to get ready for work--tears and putting on eye makeup just don't go well together.

Suspenseful, with strong heroines and more than a few surprises along the way. I just can't recommend this one enough!

Bah, I'm desperate to discuss this book but I'm afraid I'd ruin it for you. It's a difficult book to review without spoilers.

What I can say is that the first 60% was interesting and good but occasionally I found myself wondering what all the fuss was about. Then the wheels came off. You think you know but you don't. The author ripped my heart out then ran it over with a Lysander again and again.

Stick with it, it's worth the price of airfare. Highly recommended, y'all.

Prepare yourself to cry when you read this book, because it definitely tugs at the heartstrings...but in a GOOD way! It's a powerful, satisfying read. And the plot twists are absolutely ingenous. It will stick with you long after you read it, that's for sure. And like I said, bring tissues.