Review: Code Name Verity – Elizabeth Wein

 Code Name Verity #1

SYNOPSIS: 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. – via Goodreads

So this is another book that Abbi recommended to me. Yep, she gave me a list, and so far they have all been well worth the read. I don’t even know how to set about reviewing this, because I really do not want to spoil it, so I will do my best. Think of it as “careless talk costs lives”. Code Name Verity starts off, pretty confusing in places and it will take you a few pages to finally get into the writing style and understanding the layout, but from there on out it is pretty smooth sailing. I know that a lot of people looked at this as a really heartbreaking novel, but I suppose I don’t belong to the Stone Cold Bitch Club for nothing. If anything, I found this book to be incredibly inspiring. I loved that we had strong female characters, truly something rare at the best of times. Maddie and Verity were absolutely wonderful and superbly real. They were strong, they were smart, they were adventurous, hardworking and ambitious and I loved that. So cool. Also, the style of storytelling was great, and definitely kept you on the edge of your seat. The uncertainty of war was palpable here, as well as the horrible aspects of it. Nothing was held back. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories that were told, the codes that were used, and all the events that led up to our main characters and their stories. There were also some really interesting supporting characters. The book flowed easily enough, and soon settles into a rhythm that completely draws you in. I enjoyed the fiction here, and how much was steeped in reality, that was something else, and Wein pulled it off brilliantly. It felt authentic, not like a work of fiction, and that is rare. I really liked how it came together, and I found it interesting, but then again I love stories on the war, the history there, all that, as well as the detail that went on in here (though many people have complained about it) – it gave more to that feeling of authenticity I was speaking about earlier. But then, I can enjoy nitty gritty, too. There is so much that I actually want to say but it will spoil on the plot and give things away, but do know that this book is well worth the read, even though it takes a while to kick in. When it does… well yeah, that is just fantastic. I see that there is another book in this series, so I will have to check it out, can’t wait!