Code Name Verity (edition 2012)

Overall an excellent read.
I preferred the character of Maddie, and wished the whole book could have been in 3rd person narrative form, rather than in the occasionally coy-seeming voice of the other girl who's ostensibly writing the story of Maddie. That and the unreliable narrator conceit, seemed coy and annoying and uneccessary. Possibly it might go over better with young adults, though the reading list--Kim, Swallows and Amazons, Peter Pan--may only appeal to adults, especially if they're anglophiles.
But it's a good story--can't wait for the movie, where you don't have to deal with the above authorial-voice problems!--especially as an insight into the women pilots of WW2, in the ATA, whose story is compelling.
The cover (at least in the US edition), however, is dreadful: apart from being indecipherable, it's absurd, ugly and gives a terrible impression of the book. ( )

The fall of 1943, Nazi-occupied France. An British plane crashes and a young female spy is captured. She has been named Verity. As she is being interrogated, she begins to tell a story, about her best friend Maddie, the pilot of the plane that wrecked. How two people from very different backgrounds met and an unbreakable bond formed. Verity also begins to divulge classified information, to keep herself alive and to learn Maddie’s fate, but is she telling the truth or weaving a complex and dangerous web of lies?
This is a beautifully written, deftly plotted story about survival and friendship. The author captures the period vividly and I learned many details about the war that I never knew before, including the presence of female spies and female pilots in the RAF. Highly recommended.

“But a part of me lies buried in lace and roses on a riverbank in France-a part of me is broken off forever. A part of me will be unflyable, stuck in the climb.” ( )

This book reads like a (tragic) love story to friendship. The author has carefully interwoven a great deal of history about what it was like to be a woman and a pilot during the war; she seems to only bend realism for plot in that there were relatively few female spies, but there were some, and female pilots were not unheard of. I listened to this book on audiobook and would recommend doing so, because the Scottish and British accents add to the WW2 ambiance. (The male speaker who introduced each bit had a voice that grated on me, however; he can go.)

A Scottish spy being held by the Nazis writes her account of how she met her best friend Maddie, a pilot, and how they flew and crashed into Nazi-occupied France. She tells this tale under torture, often describing what is happening to her. This is the first half of the book. The second half is the writings of Maddie herself in her pilot's notebook, describing being in hiding and desperately searching for Julie. Nothing is wasted in this book: the girls' discussions of their deepest fears, the things they carry with them, the people they meet often come up again, and this is a book where you have to pay attention.

My primary criticism of this book is that in some ways I think it would have worked much better with large but alternating chunks of narrative switching back and forth between the two girls, especially since Julie swears over and over again that she has told the truth to the Nazis, and Maddie reveals what really is true and what is not. ( )

A really good historical fiction read for young adults. Tells some of the history of British women's contributions to World War II through their service in the air. Quite well done. ( )

This is an amazing book, but one that is difficult to describe without ruining the experience of reading it. It takes place during the Second World War, and starts as the confession of a young Scottish woman who was caught as a spy in German-occupied France. She has been tortured at the hands of the Germans, and is now telling all she knows of the British war effort. But mixed up in this is the story of her friendship with a female pilot.

Code Name Verity is classified as a young adult book, and is the type of book that I wish was around when I was a teenager. However it's a young adult book that can and should be read by adults too. It's a book about friendship, and the style of heroism that is being scared yet carrying on to do what needs to be done. The characterisation of the two young women is wonderful, but even the smallest parts are well-drawn, and don't seem like cardboard characters.

I really loved this book, although it is at times a hard book to read, featuring torture, and imprisonment and the constant fear of bombs and war in general. I would definitely recommend it. (I would not really recommend reading it while on a bus though.)

Why I picked it up: I've read an Elizabeth Wein before, I was intrigued by the setting and it was getting a lot of good reviews. ( )

Oh. My. Gosh. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any girl that likes to read about history. ( )

3Q, 3P ( )

A pacy WWII read, using an original angle of female pilots and spies. I've yet to test my theory, but I think this book will appeal to my older readers (the book has a reading age guide of 14+) who've enjoyed Cherub and especially its prequel series: Henderson's Boys.

There's some dark content in this book, which pulls no punches on the treatment of Nazi-captured, Special Operations agents, in war-time France. Clearly a well-researched book, the facts were dispensed evenly, as part of the story-telling, with no obvious 'preachy bits, with lumps of learning’ - paraphrasing one of my long-term Shadowers!

I enjoyed the character development, the contrast between members of different classes of society and the way that clues to the ending were strewn throughout the story. The bonds of friendship, honour and ‘valeur’ were shown as aspirational. My favourite character was Jamie, the 'Pobble with no toes'. When he gifted his boots, his generosity resulted in helping another character both physically and psychologically.

A deftly crafted and highly memorable page-turner, a great shortlist pick and a potential 2013 Carnegie Medal winner. ( )

What it is about WWII novels that makes them such fertile ground for wonderful unreliable narrators with tight intricate plots and amazing female characters? This, Atonement, Enigma...(and how do you write these novels? I WANT TO KNOW FOR REASONS.) ( )

Code Name Verity is exactly the kind of book I love, but it took me at least 30 pages to really get into the story. I'd heard great things about it, and so I was caught by surprise by the apparent complete implausibility of the first section - until in my frustration at how the narrator, a prisoner of war in Nazi-occupied France, could possibly know so much about another person, and why on earth is she writing down so many details about the British war effort so willingly, I flipped to the author's note at the end and saw the words "unreliable narrator". Aha!

Once I realized this wasn't just a shoddily written book (and I may have discovered that on my own, but I've read too many books that are too similar to that first bit, and earnest about it, to suspect that it was on purpose), I was completely enthralled. I love unreliable narrators, and books about periods and elements of history previously unfamiliar to me, and adventure stories about spies and feats of daring-do, and good friendship between women, and this book has it all.

I don't want to spoil the novel, because reading it without knowing what was coming up next really made it all the more exciting for me. But I do want to mention that the epistolary nature and the use of multiple narrators was really well done. Wein takes liberties with history in order to create a good story, but she doesn't avoid the realities of war or being part of the French Resistance in 1943, even as she softens some elements.

In this book, people die. The protagonists are young women in what is essentially a men's world and suffer because of it (though, thankfully, the reader is never faced with a rape scene or the aftermath - small mercies!). Torture happens, and people have to make difficult choices between one bad option and another. Readers who don't want to read about these things will not want to pick up Code Name Verity.

But despite the grim realities of the war, there is a lot of humor and love in the book. Life does go on, after all, even in the midst of war. Not every day is a battle, and there are friends to be made and fun to be had despite everything. I think the book really shines in balancing the beautiful and the ugly, the dark humor and the simple pleasures.

Code Name Verity is a must-read, and I expect that I will be reading it again sometime. There are so many little details and the fact that the narrators must by necessity obscure and even outright lie in their stories makes it all the more compelling to read again to puzzle out the truth. Plus, the story of Queenie and Maddie's friendship and adventures was a lot of fun - it makes me wish I had thought to ask for flight lessons when I was younger, instead of feeling like girls weren't allowed to fly (my grandpa co-owned a small 4-seater aircraft back then). ( )

This book is awesome. Read it. Now. ( )

Heart-wrenching, gorgeous, and some how both desolating and triumphant. Each scrap of narrative, each secret note passed under the nose of captors, each moment of truth hidden under torture and secrecy is so beautiful and thrilling and unforgettable. I do not like sad books, I do not prefer epistolary novels, and CODE NAME VERITY transcends both labels to be beautiful and unforgettable. ( )

5Q, 5P. Code Name Verity is one of those rare stories that is both beautiful and horrible - highlighting the best and worst in the characters that fill the pages, and making us love them anyway. Written from the point of view of a young female spy who has been captured by Nazis during World War II, the story that unfolds is as much about the power of friendship as it is a thrilling spy novel about intrigue and espionage. Verity (the main character), is a self-identified coward and traitor, who has chosen to confess to her Nazi captors in exchange for her clothes. After being tortured and starved, Verity firmly states that "The warmth and dignity of my flannel skirt and woolly sweater are worth far more to me now than patriotism or integrity" (3-4). What follows is a narrative that centers on her best friend Maddie, the pilot that flew her into France and is presumed missing or dead.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the way the story unfolded, what I loved best about this book was the fact that it presented strong, positive female characters that are well-rounded, developed, and complex. The author clearly researched women's roles in WWII thoroughly, and gave her characters the power to fill those roles with honesty and integrity. They are motivated not by the men in their lives, but by their own sense of purpose, their own tenacity, and the strength that they find in themselves and in each other. ( )

Once in a while there is a book that has a deep, inventive, fascinating story that you can't help but be sad when the book comes to an end. Code Name Verity is one such book for me. A wonderfully layered World War II story, told from the perspective of two close female friends, the book features special operatives, spies, secret missions and daring pilots. I found this book to have plenty of intrigue and a really fine attention to historical detail. Truly a great read-- for adults and teens-- including younger teens with advanced reading skills. ( )

Such an amazing and beautiful story. Julie (Queenie) and Maddie form a close friendship during their dangerous World War II years, and as they alternate the telling of the story, it is slowly revealed just how brave and special both of these young women are. I listened to the audio version, and while it was a little confusing at first with all the names thrown out, hearing the Scottish burr and the British lilt of Molvin Christie's and Lucy Gaskell's voices added a wonderful element to the story. The writing is superb, and the characters will get into your heart. ( )

Do not be turned off from this book solely on the label of YA. It is a well written, emotionally charged novel that I just could not put down. A sometimes difficult to read imagining of war and the very real consequences of fighting in one this novel would fit well with anyone who likes war novels, adventure stories and just plain well written characters. I highly recommend Code Name Verity! ( )

A wonder filled story of friendship, spies, history, and humanity set during the second World War. With the amount of detail one needs to remind oneself that this is a work of fiction but many incidents are based on facts and the flying experience of the author comes through in the details about the airplanes. Read it in one sitting for maximum impact. ( )

Let me say first of all that this is Not My Thing. This sort of book is not something I'd voluntarily read if not pressured into it by numerous friends. I don't LIKE books like this. At all. Ever.

And yet, this one was not so bad. It was first of all, very well-written. The narrators were engaging and real. The situation, gruesome as it was, read as quite believable. The plotting was solid. Did I like it? Not so much. Was it really, really good? Yes.

Stars. This is impossible. For me? 3, maybe. For the writing? A solid 4.5. Call it 4 because if you like this sort of thing, you will LOVE this.

( )

An extremely powerful and emotional story. I love how Wein told the story through letter and reports. The first hand account complexly layered the story, leaving crumbs for the reader. The historical details were well-researched and realistic. Incredible storytelling. So heartbreaking and wonderful. ( )

I've been an Elizabeth Wein fan for long enough that when I heard about Code Name Verity, I knew I was going to be buying it. And when I heard that it was being published in February in the UK and May in the US, I knew I was going to be buying it from the UK. Which I did, and it came Saturday night and I wasn't going to read it, but then I started and literally didn't put it down, including when I was unloading and loading the dishwasher, until I was done.

And then I spent the next hour sobbing. No joke. Because this book is beautiful and compelling and absolutely devastating.

Most of what I want to say about this book, I can't, because it would be too spoilery and this is a story where spoilers matter. But here are a few thoughts.

In the immediate aftermath of the story, the barrier between fiction and reality was completely gone. I mean, I often cry over stories. I cried over The Fault in Our Stars, because I'm not an inhuman robot. But--well, remember my reviewish thing of that? One of my main points was that Hazel and Gus's Indianapolis is not mine. Even with books that have entered deep into me, I remember they're fiction. I might pretend they're not, especially while I'm reading them, but that whole time, I'm really aware that the characters and the places aren't real. When I read Code Name Verity, that wasn't true. I completely and utterly believed in Maddie and Verity*, and in their relationship and in the secondary characters.

And I loved that the central relationship in the story, the axis around which everything pivots, is the friendship between Maddie and Verity. It's so wonderful and different to read a YA book in which the focus is not on romance, but on female friendship, and wonderful to see such a believable relationship between the two girls. I love the line about not believing that they never would have met--it sounds like something from a romance novel, but it's true here. It helps, I suppose that my sister is my best friend and so I believe the way they interact, the fact that they're closer than family in some ways.

The other key thing for me is that most recent World War II fiction, especially for young adults, seems to shy away a bit from the reasons the war was actually fought. (Even Connie Willis's books, which I love despite the fact that I hear there are some inaccuracies, do this.) Code Name Verity doesn't. Both Maddie and Verity are always aware of the reasons they're fighting. Verity has to be. And yes, there were some scenes that were stomach-churning and I didn't want to read them--not because they were described in detail, but almost because they weren't. But I think this book is hard and at the same time (I don't know how else to say it) necessary.

Although Wein looks unflinchingly at the real evils of the Nazi regime--not only for Jewish or other obviously persecuted groups, but for everyone involved--her German characters are never stereotypes. At the very beginning of the book, they might seem to be, but over the course of the story they prove to be real people. They are complex and contradictory, always on the verge of being sympathetic, but never smoothed over. And it strikes me that this is exactly how they should be, and how they so seldom are portrayed in fiction.

Also, Elizabeth Wein constructs this narrative in an absolutely genius way. I realized while I was reading that something was up with Verity's story, but I couldn't figure out quite what. I had theories, but none of them were right, so I won't even bother mentioning them, besides the SPOILERS. But I'm just in awe of the writing chops involved in this book. I would go back and re-read it right now, to try and work some of it out, except that I know I couldn't handle it at the moment.

And it's a book that's going to stick with me. I could tell that when I went on the worst book-induced crying fit since reading A Tale of Two Cities when I was 13. Even more than that, it's the way I've been thinking about it constantly since then--not the awful bits, but the bits about Verity and Maddie. And individual lines--we make a sensational team; Kiss me, Hardy; I have told the truth (Saturday night I had almost stopped crying and then I had to put the book away and I saw the tagline on the front and started crying again). I was so close to the characters that they didn't seem to be either historical or fiction. And that, my friends, is a good book.

All my other Elizabeth Wein reviews
Elizabeth Wein's post about the Code Name Verity blog tour
Chachic's review

* This might be very slightly spoilerly, so look away if you want: I don't know what to call Verity, because I feel like giving her her real name is honoring her somehow, but the moment when her name is revealed is so powerful that I don't want to spoil that either.

________

I also posted a live blog the second time I read this: http://bysinginglight.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/code-name-verity-reread-live-blog... The password is Puss Moth ( )

I'm not ever sure where to begin. What a beautiful, brave, horrible, heartbreaking story. The things that love and hatred can move people to do is incredible.

What a roller-coaster ride those last twenty or so pages were.
I hate that it ended the way it did, but I also feel like it's the best ending there could be.
Oh Maddie. Oh Jamie. Oh Julie!

I went from having to force myself to read it (this is our book club book this month) to almost crying by the end.

What a clever plot. The way it all comes together in the end. Really well done.

Although there was some beautiful imagery, and it was very well written, the writing was also very heavy. Hence the 90 pages it took for me to begin to like it. I found myself skimming a lot at first.
But Maddie and Julie's friendship was told so beautifully, and I loved being able to see bits and pieces of them through each other. I loved how you almost learned more about each of them through the other one's story. ( )

I'm not ever sure where to begin. What a beautiful, brave, horrible, heartbreaking story. The things that love and hatred can move people to do is incredible.

What a roller-coaster ride those last twenty or so pages were.
I hate that it ended the way it did, but I also feel like it's the best ending there could be.
Oh Maddie. Oh Jamie. Oh Julie!

I went from having to force myself to read it (this is our book club book this month) to almost crying by the end.

What a clever plot. The way it all comes together in the end. Really well done.

Although there was some beautiful imagery, and it was very well written, the writing was also very heavy. Hence the 90 pages it took for me to begin to like it. I found myself skimming a lot at first.
But Maddie and Julie's friendship was told so beautifully, and I loved being able to see bits and pieces of them through each other. I loved how you almost learned more about each of them through the other one's story. ( )

I loved this book. I really, seriously adored this book. I mean, whoa.

I love reading books about strong, resilient teens. Specifically teen girls. I also love when those teens have flaws and do things wrong and must rise to the occasion. Code Name Verity had all of this.

But what I love most of all is when a story centers around a friendship. And Wein's gorgeous novel is grounded in the story of two best friends. There may be a hint of a love story for one of the girls, but it doesn't even matter. What matters is the relationship between these two girls and how they interact and help each other through the war.

Also, on the fair warning front, there are some pretty graphic descriptions of torture. So, there's that.

I think it's amazing, though. And how Wein handles the storyline is super impressive. This book both gutted me and gave me hope. Just a lovely, lovely read and one of my Top 5 of the year, so far.

[earlier review: Oh man. Excellent. Better review to come after I've composed myself!] ( )

This exceptional historical novel has already received a great deal of well-deserved praise. A superbly crafted, finely detailed, completely engrossing, and totally compelling story. ( )

I really enjoyed this book--probably my favorite book of 2012.
I am a big fan of Connie Willis' books Blackout/All Clear. As I read CNV, I kept thinking that Maddie and Verity would have been great friends with the characters in All Clear! ( )