Book Review: CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I am a coward.
I wanted to be heroic and I pretended I was. I have always been good at pretending….God, I tried hard last week. My God, I tried. But now I know that I am a coward. After the ridiculous deal I made with SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer von Lindon, I know I am a coward. And I’m going to give you anything you ask, everything I can remember. Absolutely Every Last Detail.
Read an excerpt
(Wein, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. New York: Hyperion, 2012.)

I got this post all ready to go months ago when I read the book, and then I never actually sat down to write the review. With everything going on, me and blog posting haven’t gotten along. So maybe once a week posts?

Anyway, the book. LOVED it. This is my new favorite WWII book (sorry, Book Thief). It’s about a young British spy who is caught by the Germans. She tells the story about her and her best friend, a British pilot. I think their friendship is one of the absolute best in YA literature.

The story itself was very different from other WWII novels I’ve read too. It was the war from a different perspective–meaning it wasn’t focused on the Holocaust aspect. I’m sure there are other novels like this out there, but I haven’t read them. This story is more focused on pilots and spies and that sort of thing.

Also, compared to other WWII novels I’ve read, it wasn’t as depressingly heavy. It wasn’t a light read by any means (believe me, I still cried my eyes out at some parts), but there was a great balance of humor and total love for these two friends that it had a different feel to it. It didn’t leave me hating human kind (which I admit happens way too often with war stories and me).

Beautiful, beautiful story. A really great read. I totally recommend it.

*news about code name verity*

Author connect: Website | Blog | Twitter
Sequels: None
Similar books: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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*for writers*

Agent: Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, Ltd.

A Page from Elizabeth Wein’s Book: So many things. But definitely the number one thing to take notes on is the friendship between Maddie and Julie. They are the ultimate best friends.