Sunday, September 30, 2012

Guest reviewer Stephanie Cowart @ashbychick reviews Code Name Verity


Code Name Verity
By Elizabeth Wein



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.
(Goodreads description)



This is the book I will be pushing recommending to everyone I know and even those I meet on the street. It was haunting, tragic, triumphant and magical. I can’t wait to read it again!

I first heard about it on Maggie Stiefvater’s blog. Her review was amazing and I knew I’d want to check out Code Name Verity as soon as possible. I was really grateful to get a copy to review from the publisher via Netgalley.

This is a book where hardly anything about the plot can really be mentioned so I’ll give you “Five Things About Code Name Verity”:

1)The Writing – it was flawless. The characters are writing down their story in the book and I wondered if it would get old for me. It didn’t and hearing the characters “voice” this way made everything about the book that much better.

2)The Time Period – I am fascinated by just about all aspects of World War II. I’ve never read anything about female pilots in the war and I was so impressed at how much research the author did into the subject. These women were so brave and unique. I would have loved to meet one of them!

3)The Plot – I know I can’t say anything specific. But can I just say that throughout this book I laughed, shed tears, gasped and was silent in contemplation. I’m amazed at how much the story of these two friends affected me.

4)The Characters – of course I loved the two main characters. But I was also impressed with all those who had been installed around the girls. From Nazi interrogators to resistance fighters to RAF pilots all were well-written and believable.

5)The Aftermath – I have been thinking about this book non-stop since I read it. I’m dying to discuss it with someone (hence me pushing it on everyone I know!) because the story is just so amazing.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I’m usually a very fast reader. I’m known to finish 500 page books in a day. But this book I read slowly on purpose. There is so much information. At the time you may not think it’s all important but it is…every last story, character, joke, setting etc. the author uses it all. I was so glad that I read slowly enough to truly digest the whole of the book. Even so, I look forward to reading it again as Code Name Verity has captivated me and I don’t ever want to let it go!

Highly recommended!

About the Reviewer

Hi! I’m Stephanie and I love to read!

I’m the thirty-something wife of a brilliant computer programmer and mom to two rough-and-tumble boys, ages 5 and 3. I live in beautiful Signal Mountain, TN – just 10 minutes from Chattanooga.

I’ve had so much fun blogging since April of 2007. It started out mostly talking about me and my family and then I realized I was talking about books so much that my bookish musings needed a place of their own. Thus http://abookinhand.com came to be!
You can still find me over at http://stephaniecowart.com talking about life, my boys and posting tons of pictures.



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