Code Name Verity

Mar 26, 2012 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Maja by: Chachic

Shelves: 2012-favorites, amazing-writing, made-me-cry, all-the-right-choices, alternating-povs, favorites, never-saw-it-coming, reviewed-in-2012, role-models, historical-fiction, own-a-dtb

Reviewing this book feels much like walking through a minefield. (Not that I know what that feels like, but I can imagine, you know.) On the one hand, I can’t reveal too much of the plot. I can’t reveal almost anything, really, lest I ruin the experience for you guys. On the other hand, I have to write just enough to make you want to pick this book up because it’s one you don’t want to miss. Trust me. I suppose I could just point you to Maggie Stiefvater’s wonderful review and leave it to her to...more Reviewing this book feels much like walking through a minefield. (Not that I know what that feels like, but I can imagine, you know.) On the one hand, I can’t reveal too much of the plot. I can’t reveal almost anything, really, lest I ruin the experience for you guys. On the other hand, I have to write just enough to make you want to pick this book up because it’s one you don’t want to miss. Trust me. I suppose I could just point you to Maggie Stiefvater’s wonderful review and leave it to her to convince you, but I’m not that much of a coward. *coughs* I just did that! *coughs*

So here goes nothing…

I don’t normally read historical fiction unless it’s highly recommended. Code Name Verity was, directly or indirectly, recommended to me by two of my trusted friends, Chachic and Jo, and, as I already mentioned, my favorite young adult author Maggie Stiefvater. And of course they were right.

Code Name Verity is a story about two best friends, Maddie and Queenie, fighting in World War II. They probably never would have met in peacetime, as they come from entirely different circles of society: Queenie is Scottish royalty who grew up in a castle, while Maddie is 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 close even when the war took them in different directions.
All Maddie ever wanted was to fly airplanes. She was in training before the war and when the war started, she waited patiently for them to accept female pilots, which eventually they did. Queenie’s talents lie elsewhere: she is fluent in both German and French and able to momentarily slip into any role, be herself one second, and someone entirely different the next. Although these two have very little in common on the surface, deep down they are both incredibly strong, intelligent and compassionate women.

But for me, the most fascinating character was Queenie’s capturer, Hauptsturmfürer von Linden. He starts as pure evil, of course, but as the story progresses, we are offered small details of his life that give him an entirely different face, one that is complex and multi-layered and that causes the reader to be just as conflicted as Queenie.
I don’t know what I expected, but he just looked like anybody - like the sort of chap who would come into the shop and buy a motorbike for his lad’s 16th birthday – like your headmaster.

Our story starts when Queenie gets captured by the Gestapo in France. Upon breaking her with torture and turning her into a collaborator, von Linden allows her to write down the events that led her to his cruel hands, and her written testimony is what we are given.

The narrative itself takes some getting used to. 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 I soon realized that it was an excellent way for Wein to help her readers adapt to constant alternations between the past and the present.

Every once in a while you know that you’ve stumbled upon a classic. Code Name Verity might have been published in 2012, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will endure the test of time. It has the weight (although not quite the genius) of The Book Thief. I'm sure it will receive awards and critical acclaim.

Also posted at The Nocturnal Library (less)

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Mar 07, 2013 jo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: blew-my-mind, great-britain, queer, books-i-teach

this book.

everyone on goodreads, stymied by the impossible task of saying anything about what happens in this book without giving away the entirety of it, sputters and stutters and eventually says, READ IT. read it read it read it readit readit readitreaditreadit PLEASE READ IT

there's moira's lovely review but most of it is blacked out. read it for the enthusiasm and sense of wonderment. come back to it after you've read the book and click the spoiler link so you can have the book explained to...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jo by: Chachic

Shelves: own, 2012, ya, good-grief, history-smishtory, just-been-cutting-onions, of-epic-proportions, soul-sister-heroine, you-got-a-friend-in-me

A note: This review is going to be a bit vague because I really, really, reallyreally don’t want to spoil this book for anyone. Because oh my gosh….

A note on the note: This review really is going to be vague unlike all my other ‘vague’ reviews which go on for about a year.

The first thing I did after I finished reading this book was to pick up my phone and text my best friend, who I have known since I was eleven and has been there through every single one of my problems and ill-advised fringes,...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Emily May rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-na, historical-fiction, its-me-not-you, 2012, boring

I have a feeling I'm not going to be very popular by posting this review, everyone seems to love this book so far and I feel more disappointed in myself and my tastes than the novel or the author. Code Name Verity is one of those books that are the reason why I created the shelf its-me-not-you. I mentioned this very recently in my review of The Book Of Blood And Shadow and it is also similar to the experience I had trying to read The Book Thief and Feed. I just found 90% of the book long-winded...more

I have a feeling I'm not going to be very popular by posting this review, everyone seems to love this book so far and I feel more disappointed in myself and my tastes than the novel or the author. Code Name Verity is one of those books that are the reason why I created the shelf its-me-not-you. I mentioned this very recently in my review of The Book Of Blood And Shadow and it is also similar to the experience I had trying to read The Book Thief and Feed. I just found 90% of the book long-winded and unnecessary.

The novel opens where the narrator has been captured by the Nazi opposition during WWII. She is given paper to tell her story and she does so through the eyes of her friend Maddie. Different, definitely. Maddie's story is told in various anecdotes, a technique I've already failed to appreciate in The Book Thief but I suppose the intention was to subtly build up a picture of both girls' pasts and their friendship. This book is not very plot-focused or fast-paced, it's about conversations and people and female pilots during the second world war, which would all have been great if it had been balanced out with a touch of drama.

I cannot tell you just how much I wanted to like this. It's about women's involvement in the war and us Northern girls - two topics that don't get nearly enough press. But, for me, there was just too big a focus on piloting and aircraft and I'm sorry but I struggled to care. If you read the author's note at the end she will tell you that this book is actually meant to be about pilots:

"This book started off rather simply as a portrait of an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot. Being a woman and a pilot myself, I wanted to explore the possibilities that would have been open to me during the second world war."

And not enough else was brought in. There's only so many descriptions of a pilot's job I can sit through before I start to snooze, each to their own but flying planes has never been an interest of mine. The best parts of this book were the touching ending and the fact that the narrator is delightfully unreliable (I love them, I do! Eugenides, I miss you...) but I needed more. All I really want is for a book to rouse some passion in me, whether it be excitement, sadness, anger even... I felt nothing.
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May 27, 2012 Katie Montgomery rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: loved-you-so-much

Page 2: DAMN this book is good.
Page 25: GODDAMN this book is good.
Page 60: This may be the best WW II novel I've ever read. EVER. SUCK IT, HEMINGWAY.
Page 68: Crying.
Page 70: Laughing.
Page 113: Biting freshly manicured fingernails to smithereens DAMNIT WEIN I PAID FORTY DOLLARS FOR THESE NAILS.
Page 150: Okay, so, I have to pee, but I really don't want to have to stop reading. This could get uncomfortable.
Page 200: *THUMP* "Um, Katie, you OK up there?" "... It's cool. I just fell out of bed."
Page...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Maggie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of The English Patient :)

Recommended to Maggie by: Chachic

Shelves: 2012, i-ve-just-read-you-and-i-love-you

Do you remember when The English Patient came out? Or rather, do you remember when the Seinfeld episode about The English Patient came out? (Elaine goes to see it and HATES it, and is either shunned or dragged back to the theater to rewatch because everyone else loves it. She ends up getting sent to Tunisia by her boss, J. Peterman, because the movie was filmed there. Cameo by Holly the waitress/witch from True Blood playing a waitress.)

I'm usually Elaine in these situations, so I worried a litt...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Reynje rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-to-be-hugged, dual-or-multiple-pov, emotional-napalm, historical-fiction, favourites, printz-winners-and-honor-books, read-2013, young-adult, ya-lit

Among my Goodreads friends, Code Name Verity seems to fall very clearly into two categories: "Not for me" and "True love 5ever!". There are actually very few people I know who sit in between these.

When I first attempted Code Name Verity, I thought I was Camp A. Upon second attempt, turns out I'm Camp B. Which actually isn't all that surprising considering my love of war history, unreliable narrators etc.

Anyway, review to come, eventually..

Until then: KISS ME, HARDY!

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May 09, 2012 Giselle added it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, own, did-not-finish, contemporary, historical-fiction

Did not finish Read 70%.
I knew this was over my comfort zone to begin with. But I wanted to give it a try as it does sound like a good story - and it is, it was just too much for me. Too much piloting and plane details I didn't get. Too many war specifics that I didn't completely understand. I can easily see that if you can get into it it would be a fantastic novel, though. The narration is wonderful and the reason I kept reading so long. So don't dismiss it on my account.

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Apr 06, 2013 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Sian Latham

Shelves: i-love-these-books-so-much, elizabeth-e-wein-s-books

I might have enjoyed this book but it was so scientifically inaccurate that I couldn't.

You CAN'T light kerosine with a match, it just doesn't work.

(Not that I've tried it)

(Well, I have, but not down someone's throat.)

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Oct 14, 2012 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, historical-fiction, netgalley, ereader, for-review, highly-recommended, own

Sometimes when I read, it feels like a book has reached down into my soul and pulled out something I didn’t even know was there. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is one of those books. I may not have sobbed buckets upon finishing, but I left Code Name Verity changed just a little bit, where it counts.
Read the rest of my review here

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Jul 10, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-ww-ii, kindle, spies-real-and-fiction

There is something lacking in war stories that make it to television. We have great battle epics, such as appear on HBO, and we have the rescue stories that appear everywhere. Understandably the battle epics focus on men; what women appear are wives, girlfriends, mothers, nurses, victims. The rescue stories tend to focus more on women rescuers, possibly to make up for the lack of women in the battle stories. I don’t know. And this is true even when the film is not about WW II. Look at Birdsong,...more There is something lacking in war stories that make it to television. We have great battle epics, such as appear on HBO, and we have the rescue stories that appear everywhere. Understandably the battle epics focus on men; what women appear are wives, girlfriends, mothers, nurses, victims. The rescue stories tend to focus more on women rescuers, possibly to make up for the lack of women in the battle stories. I don’t know. And this is true even when the film is not about WW II. Look at Birdsong, War Horse, Cold Mountain.

Yet, women did fight in most, if not all, of the wars. Whether it was as last line of defense, disguised as a man, as spies, in factories, as couriers, as pilots, tank drivers, or snipers; women were fighting in battle long before Congress debated whether or not it should be allowed.
I’m not sure why this gets ignored. Perhaps because the unknown stories outweigh the known ones. Perhaps because it disrupts our view of motherhood. Perhaps because being a wireless operator is less glorious than being a fighter pilot. Maybe because the women didn’t want to talk about it. But it’s been known for awhile. Shoot, The Longest Day has a woman Resistance member.
Another thing that gets downplayed or ignored is female friendship, which always takes second seat to a romance or, more often, fighting over a man. One woman is always superior, better, than the other.

So it is refreshing to read something like this book.

I swear if this book doesn’t win some award, I’ll thump someone. I’ll break legs. I’ll hunt awards committees down. I’m tired of watching good authors get passed over for stupid reasons.

Now the bookstores will tell you this book is Young Adult. That is a lie. It is a historical novel for anyone (though parents should be warned there is torture).

The book relates the experiences of Maddie and Queenie, two young women who joined various British divisions, Aircraft Aux and SOE, during WW II. It starts with Queenie writing as she is imprisoned in occupied France. She has been picked up because she looked the wrong way when crossing the street. The book is told, largely, though first person (the narrative does switch, but the voices are so different), and is a book about friendship as well as a person’s ability to do. The focus is mainly on women, though the men are not depicted as evil or misogynistic. It is such a layered and tight book, and I can’t say why because I don’t want to spoil it. If you are looking for a war torn romance, this isn’t it (a romance is hinted at).

But this book. This is a great book. From the first sentence, you are brought in. The characters, in particular Maddie and Queenie, are so real. It is like they are there before. The novel is also, in some ways, a rebuke to those stupid cat fighting television shows because the women help themselves here.

Just read it. Okay.

P.S. I’ve looked over the negative reviews, and some people do have a point. I will say, however, what they complain about is explained in the second half of the book (and Queenie is tortured for a variety of reasons even as she is writing, though this might have been corrected post ARC).
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May 31, 2012 Amy (Turn the Page) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorite-books

This will probably be one of the vaguer reviews I have written for Turn the Page. It would be unforgivable to spoil anything, and frankly, I doubt I can really do the novel justice. I saved this post to go up on the 8th of March, in honor of International Women's Day, because it seemed fitting to feature a book that not only celebrates female solidarity, love and friendship but also stars two independent heroines in unconventional, dangerous roles for their time.

Every once in a while, a book com...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Celine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Extraordinary, extraordinary, extraordinarly brilliant and beautiful book. I'm not a reviewer, you all know it, but please please please read this Book.I wish I could give it ten or more stars.

Have a look at this Booksmugglers review and as a contrast this delightful books i done read review if you need further convincing. I also ended up pimpiing it like crazy on this radio programme if you'd like a listen.

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Mar 17, 2012 Monica Edinger rated it 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely extraordinary. This story of friendship and war is over-the-top wonderful. The writing in every way is gorgeous from the elegant development of the young women to the setting to the remarkable plotting. It took me some time to read because it is harrowing in parts and I could only take that in small doses. A unique, completely original, and brillant work. My blog review.

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Apr 26, 2012 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-favorites

4.5 Stars.

Originally reviewed here.

I don’t know how to write this review. It seems to be a lot like Fight Club. The first rule of Code Name Verity is you don’t talk about Code Name Verity. But I shall try.

My feelings toward Code Name Verity are somewhat of a Catch 22. I would have never heard of this book if I hadn’t seen some amazing reviews, but if I hadn’t read such amazing reviews, I would have approached with an even greater air of mystery and no expectations. It’s not that I didn’t greatly...more 4.5 Stars.

Originally reviewed here.

I don’t know how to write this review. It seems to be a lot like Fight Club. The first rule of Code Name Verity is you don’t talk about Code Name Verity. But I shall try.

My feelings toward Code Name Verity are somewhat of a Catch 22. I would have never heard of this book if I hadn’t seen some amazing reviews, but if I hadn’t read such amazing reviews, I would have approached with an even greater air of mystery and no expectations. It’s not that I didn’t greatly enjoy Code Name Verity, I did very much and I so hope you read it, it’s that I didn’t fall in love quite as I expected to. I feel in love a whole other way. When everyone tells you as you start a book to store up on tissues, it kind of make you feel like you missed something when you only tear up briefly in two parts, and shed nary a tear. I just want to get that confession out of the way. I found Code Name Verity to be incredibly beautiful and powerful, and yet I feel like it affected me differently than I expected. I expected tragedy, and yet what I found was daring and hopeful, a fierce friendship to adore. I just couldn’t find myself distraught over Code Name Verity, because to me it was too inspiring and steadfast to blubber. In no way am I saying those who have been wrecks upon finishing this book are in any way weak or wrong, I just had a different reaction. I was pretty happy, and that was why I teared up.

I first heard of Code Name Verity shortly after devouring Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis. I loved that duology very much, and was positively salivating for more historical fiction set in WWII, but not the mainland Europe WWII, WWII as it was experienced in Great Britain. Needless to say, I pounced on the opportunity to read this book. And, despite physically taking place in France, Verity’s confessions of operations in Great Britain were exactly what I was looking for.

I think I’ve grasped on to WWII Great Britain, because for me it is a fear I can understand. Growing up, we are taught about the horrors of the Holocaust, given amazing books like Number the Stars and The Diary of Anne Frank that are so heartbreaking and frightening, it’s quite frankly beyond my mental capacity to feel like I can truly understand the terror. It’s just too terrible. I know it happened, and I feel so strongly about it, and yet, I know I can never really understand. Reading about the war effort in Great Britain, however, is something I can wrap my head around. I’m not saying I can fully grasp it in the sense that I’ve ever experienced anything even approaching the blackouts, the Blitz, or attempting to navigate with no street signs, but it’s certainly an easier circumstance to picture yourself in. It kind of makes you think that most American’s sense of danger during the war effort was laughable in comparison to Great Britain in the same way that most of Great Britain’s sense of danger was laughable in comparison to those living in mainland Europe. This reality was emphasized through the events of Code Name Verity, and I appreciate so much that this book was able to help me understand the stepping stones of fear that existed in WWII.

But then, the reality is, Code Name Verity isn’t really about WWII. It’s about women who do what they love and what they are good at, not for the war effort, but because they can and they want to. It’s about friendship, comradery, and true bravery. Not the kind of bravery where you think ‘I’m going to do this because it’s the right thing do do’ or ‘it will save so many people’ or ‘I will sacrifice myself’, but the kind of bravery where you don’t even think because in your mind there is no other option.

I came to feel so strongly for both Maddie and Verity through Verity’s writings. There’s nothing quite like an indignant Scot (do not call one English…I get the same way when people say I’m from the Mid-West), and a girl who loves flying so much that she will risk her life to do it often. The equation drawn between love and friendship is beautiful and real in a way that makes Code Name Verity one of the most powerful stories of friendship I have ever read. The entire book you are questioning Verity’s story, wondering how much is real, but you never question her relationship with Maddie.

Code Name Verity was a magnificently written story that managed to exceed my expectations, while simultaneously not meeting them whatsoever. It wasn’t quite the story I expected, but I think for that I loved it more.

I have told the truth.(less)

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Oct 16, 2012 Maureen E rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, simply-superb, young-adult

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...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Caitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-ya-fiction, when-you-cry-at-the-end, female-heroines, 2013

I am really sad now but I loved this so much. Even if it means that any reference of Horatio Hornblower's death will send me into tears.

I'm revising this to add: this is a remarkable, astonishing book. It's very clever, with many twists and turns, and wonderful fresh characters. Please please don't let yourself be spoiled before reading it, and take your time reading it too. There's a lot here. Take it all in.

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Jul 03, 2012 Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 21c, historical-fiction, teen, favorites

My only complaint about this book was how hard it was to read the last 75 pages while crying.

Really moving, engrossing historical fiction about two women best friends, one a pilot and one a spy, during World War II. The narrative unfolds very cleverly: (view spoiler) Wein's writing evokes the horrors of wartime, the intensity of the tw...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Stephanie (The Night Bookmobile) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, best-of-ya, favorite-characters

I highly recommend the audio of this and I don't normally like audiobooks very much. The narrators were brilliant and I could fully imagine them as their characters. The personalities were in their voices (the accents!) and it really added to the story and made it come to life.

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May 16, 2012 stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, absolutely-must-read, eagerly-awaiting, good-more-than-once, historical-fiction, would-rec, wwii, young-adult, desert-island-books

IT HAS BEEN RELEASED! GO READ GO READ GO READ!

This book is quite simply utterly brilliant, and that is before I read the Author's Notes where she mentioned she consulted with the Imperial War Museum (quite is my favorite museum in the entire world).

(a quick ETA: yes, I am a student of history, but not military history, and as such, do not care much about planes. But if you think this is about planes, you aren't reading the same book I am. Or, at least, you won't be if you keep reading. Trust me...more

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May 26, 2012 Nah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bite Me, Book

At first I was a little hesitant to read this book because history tends to bore me, therefore I usually steer clear of any historical books. But I am so glad I gave this book a try.

It was bloody brilliant. Although fiction, the story felt so real. As if I was reading the diary of an old war vetern. I clung to every word Elizabeth Wein spewed out through the voices of Maggie and... we'll call her Verity, two very different yet complementary and extraordinary women that met in the mi...more

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May 18, 2012 Small Review rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: disney-hyperion, historical-fiction, pages-400s, published-2012, ssp, special-shelf

Originally posted on Small Review

Oh gosh, I can't believe the time. Is it, yes, it's 12:36 AM and I really should have gone to sleep already but I've spent the past hour sobbing and trying to read through tears is a little slower than normal reading. But it was so worth it. This book is perfection. Full review to come.

You ARE the wind beneath my wings!

Ten Tissues on the Beaches Scale of Friendship

At first I really wasn't interested in this book. I mean, the bonds of friendship between two w...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, e-book

Read all my reviews at http://www.flyleafreview.com

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 b...more

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Feb 17, 2012 meeners rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ww2, eliot-reference

stunning. enthralling and brilliant and heartbreaking. ELIZABETH WEIN, WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD. i love books like these - where the form is necessary to the content, where the writing is not a performance but a craft. it's not just being clever, it's being...true to the story you want to tell, and the voices who end up telling it. verity indeed!

example: (view spoiler)...more stunning. enthralling and brilliant and heartbreaking. ELIZABETH WEIN, WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD. i love books like these - where the form is necessary to the content, where the writing is not a performance but a craft. it's not just being clever, it's being...true to the story you want to tell, and the voices who end up telling it. verity indeed!

example: (view spoiler)

oh dear, i still feel rather incoherent. almost all the other reviews mention the need to keep a hanky nearby so i won't count it as a spoiler if i chime in. i do not cry easily with books but MY GOODNESS. with this one i cried and cried and cried. and because i (unwisely) stayed up late reading this book in bed and because i didn't have any kleenex on hand and couldn't bear to tear myself away from the book even to go hunting around the room to find some, i literally cried as i read, snivelling miserably into blankets that will no doubt need to be thoroughly washed tomorrow, wishing i still lived with a roommate (who could then make me a soothing cup of tea and maybe fetch me some chocolates from the grocery store down the street). kleenex: it is your friend! do keep some at hand.

(also, can i just say how WONDERFUL it is to read a story that is so thoroughly centered around FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS?? in a day and age when so many movies and even TV shows and books STILL miserably fail the bechdel test, it is like a finding an oasis in the desert to come across stories like this one. moar plz!)

and finally, because i cannot resist, a quote to sum up the sense of catharsis and calm i feel:

. . . After the kingfisher's wing
Has answered light to light, and is silent, the light is still
At the still point of the turning world.(less)

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May 21, 2012 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As seen on: Bookosaur

Code Name Verity tells the story of Verity and Maddie, two women who find themselves at the centre of the British war effort during World War Two. Verity and Maddie couldn't be more different: Verity comes from a family that's "established in the upper echelons of the aristocracy", whereas Maddie is the "granddaughter of an immigrant tradesman". Despite their differing backgrounds, however, Verity and Maddie become fast friends, forming an unlikely friendship in a dangerous...more As seen on: Bookosaur

Code Name Verity tells the story of Verity and Maddie, two women who find themselves at the centre of the British war effort during World War Two. Verity and Maddie couldn't be more different: Verity comes from a family that's "established in the upper echelons of the aristocracy", whereas Maddie is the "granddaughter of an immigrant tradesman". Despite their differing backgrounds, however, Verity and Maddie become fast friends, forming an unlikely friendship in a dangerous time.

Told in two parts, Code Name Verity begins with the words "I am a coward." The first sentence of Code Name Verity is to the point and without flourish, but it's one that managed to pull me in so quickly and so deeply that I didn't come up for air until I had devoured the entire story, cover to cover (even the author's notes at the end!). These telling words belong to Verity, a Special Operations Executions spy who has been captured by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France. Verity is being detained in the Château de Bordeaux, a once-fancy hotel that has been repurposed into a prison, where questionable interrogation tactics are employed and unspeakable acts of torture occur. Verity, who has been on the receiving end of these unspeakable acts, writes these four words because she has agreed to provide the enemy with a detailed account of the British war effort in exchange for a stay of her execution. Though Verity faces certain death whether she cooperates or not, every piece of information she confesses to the enemy equals a little more time to live, and as long as she collaborates, she is spared from torture. Using whatever paper is available - hotel stationary, a prescription pad, recipe cards, sheet music - Verity writes her "Great Dissertation of Treason", but weaved in the narrative, amongst the disclosure of the location of British airfields and the types of aircrafts in operational use, is the story of the friendship between Verity and Maddie.

Code Name Verity is like nothing I've read before, which given the oversaturated genre of YA fiction is an impressive feat. Indeed, Code Name Verity is a unique story in that it features a female pilot and a female spy, both nontraditional and lesser known roles of women in the Second World War. I'm not sure if I missed the pertinent lesson in history class, but before this novel my perception of the role of women in WWII was limited to women in more traditional roles, like working in factories and sewing aircraft upholstery. Now, thanks to Code Name Verity, not only do I have an image of a woman contributing to the war efforts from behind the scenes, but I also have an image of a woman piloting a Lysander or a Puss Moth, like Maddie, or operating as a spy in Nazi-occupied France, like Verity.

I was fascinated by these unconventional roles, but in focusing on Maddie's role as a pilot Wein provides a lot of information on aviation and aircraft types, which seemed a bit dense at times. Admittedly, I did get bogged down a bit in certain parts when I was bombarded by aviation information, but aviation is a subject matter that is foreign to me and may be a great deal more interesting to someone who either has experience with flying or at least an interest in it.

One thing I did absolutely love was the literary references that are sprinkled in throughout the story. I especially loved the numerous Peter Pan references. For example, Wein writes: "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." Or: "Von Linden resembles Captain Hook in that he is rather an upright sort of gentleman in spite of his being a brute, and I am quite Pan-like in my naive confidence that he will play by the rules and keep his word." Whether intentional or not, the juxtaposition of J.M. Barrie's story and the story of Verity and Maddie is delightfully clever. Peter Pan and his lost boys never grow up, but in Code Name Verity, Verity and Maddie (and all the other young soldiers who are sent to fight in the war) are forced to grow up before their time.

As for the characters of Verity and Maddie, I adored them both. I admired Verity's grit, her resolve, her humour, her defiance, and I loved Maddie's strength, her selflessness, her determination, her love of flying. But, above all else, I loved their friendship. Somehow, amidst the bombs and explosions, the blackouts and darkness, and the shortages and ration cards, Verity and Maddie formed an unbreakable bond, and that's really what this story is about, after all. It's not about the planes, or a love interest, or even the war. In the end, it's a "jolly girls' adventure story".

"I am a coward." Though it was these simple words that captured my attention from the onset, it was the friendship between Verity and Maddie that grabbed ahold of me throughout Code Name Verity, and I don't expect to be released from its grasp for quite some time still.(less)

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Nov 19, 2012 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-war-ii, historical-fiction, young-adult, france, england, epistolary, 3-stars

This is one of those books that's almost impossible to talk about without revealing plot elements, and that's most enjoyable to discover as you go. So, if you think you'd like a young-adult novel starring two women--one a pilot, one an intelligence officer--in WWII, and you don't like spoilers, you should probably avoid all reviews (mine included) and just read it.

Now for the review.

Overall, Code Name Verity is an enjoyable book. The story is gripping, with tension and danger throughout--natural...more This is one of those books that's almost impossible to talk about without revealing plot elements, and that's most enjoyable to discover as you go. So, if you think you'd like a young-adult novel starring two women--one a pilot, one an intelligence officer--in WWII, and you don't like spoilers, you should probably avoid all reviews (mine included) and just read it.

Now for the review.

Overall, Code Name Verity is an enjoyable book. The story is gripping, with tension and danger throughout--naturally enough, as one of the protagonists spends the book as a Nazi prisoner. The characters are fairly vivid, and I enjoyed reading about a pair of tough, capable women. I was unaware of the role of women pilots in England's Air Transport Auxiliary during the war, and so especially enjoyed reading about Maddie's advancement as a pilot. The author, a pilot herself, does a great job of communicating her love of flight, and her clear knowledge of planes adds verisimilitude. Wartime England and occupied France are both brought to life, and the writing style is adequate without drawing attention to itself.

Two problems then. First, I liked the idea of the main characters' friendship better than its execution; they seem to leap right from getting acquainted to undying sisterhood, with readers missing a step somewhere along the way.

Second, there are the myriad problems with the epistolary format. The first 2/3 or so of the book is supposed to be written by Julie, the captured intelligence officer, as a "confession" for her captors. Unreliable narrators are fun and this keeps the reader guessing. But for the premise to work, we must believe that 1) the Nazi captain is such a lover of literature that he doesn't mind that his prisoner's "confession" is actually a novel-length narrative weaving together her own day-to-day life as a prisoner and her best friend's wartime experiences, and 2) despite that, he's too dense to realize that she's not telling the truth--even though the third sentence of her account is "I have always been good at pretending," even though she paints herself as a gutsy con artist throughout and admits to making up details. That's a lot to swallow. I'd figured out much of what Julie was hiding halfway through her narrative--for instance, that she liked the translator much more than she let on--and had a hard time believing someone whose job is getting the truth out of prisoners wouldn't have figured her out too. Wein just does not handle well the tension between an author's need to give hints to the reader of what's really going on, and Julie's need to write a completely convincing document. Interspersing Julie's story with other documents could have arrived at the same result without making both her and her captors look stupid.

Maddie narrates the last third, and the premise here doesn't make much sense either--she writes most of it in hiding in France, where if found her writing would endanger not only her but the family sheltering her. The two characters' voices sound alike, and the voice doesn't quite fit either of them: too refined for Maddie the working-class mechanic, not refined enough for the ultra-privileged Julie, and too young for either. (Their voice reminded me of Cassandra Mortmain in I Capture the Castle, and she isn't much like either of them.) In both cases their styles are also too novelistic to be plausible--complete with dialogue, scenes, etc.

There are some plot details, too, that don't add up. (view spoiler) But, in the end, Code Name Verity is a competent book that I would have enjoyed much more at age 14 than as an adult. It's very young-adult, in everything from pacing to plot elements to the characters' voices, and I wonder why Wein chose that route, given that the protagonists are women in their 20s doing dangerous and specialized work (despite that, they're rather jarringly referred to as "girls" throughout, perhaps to make them seem closer to the intended audience's age).

So, do I recommend the book? Maybe. Despite the glowing reviews, I found nothing mindblowing about it. But if you typically enjoy YA and are willing to engage in a lot of suspension of disbelief around the premise, you will probably like it better than I did.(less)

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May 01, 2012 AH rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-netgalley, favorites, historical, read-apr-2012, young-adult, babr-reviews

Excellent! 5+ stars.

You know that you’ve read a powerful book when you still think about it days after you’ve finished reading. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is such a book. It is an intense read set against the backdrop of World War II England and occupied France.

To fully enjoy Code Name Verity, avoid all spoilers. Do not skip ahead; do not peek at the end. Have a supply of tissues ready; you will need them. Read this book slowly to savor that Scottish girl’s defiance and her sense of hum...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars

wow. not only is this the best book I've read in a long time, but it's also a book that I can guiltlessly recommend to all my non-children's lit reading friends. teens and adults will both find this an absolutely compelling piece of historical fiction. Code Name Verity will be a strong, if not presumptive favorite for both the national book award and the printz.

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May 15, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, adult, feminism, historical-fiction, essays-letters, young-adult

It has been very interesting to see the reviews for Code Name Verity stack up. Most have been either positively glowing, or the I did not finish/forced myself to finish this abysmally boring book type review; there isn't really much middle ground. As a long-time fan of Elizabeth Wein I cannot say I am surprised. I have long loved her books, but then I love historical fiction with an emphasis on the historical and a light touch on the fiction. I like it Dragnet style -- you know, the names have...more It has been very interesting to see the reviews for Code Name Verity stack up. Most have been either positively glowing, or the I did not finish/forced myself to finish this abysmally boring book type review; there isn't really much middle ground. As a long-time fan of Elizabeth Wein I cannot say I am surprised. I have long loved her books, but then I love historical fiction with an emphasis on the historical and a light touch on the fiction. I like it Dragnet style -- you know, the names have been changed but the stories are real. Tim O'Brien style real stories -- any of them could have happened, some of them did, and good luck figuring out which ones are which. I have long since given up on accurately predicting who else will love Wein's books.

All of the hallmarks I have come to expect from a Wein book are present in Code Name Verity. Relentless attention to detail (both historical and otherwise). Subtly laid clues that you only pick up on in retrospect ("How did I miss that?!"). An unflinching acceptance of the fact that even the most evil of human characteristics are still human, (the result of which has been some of the most interesting and nuanced "bad guys" I have ever read). And, of course, the amazing heroines. Women who are cunning and fierce and brave and do unthinkably difficult things because they must be done. The women in Code Name Verity are, I think, her best yet. Sometimes her heroines are a little too...much for me -- I admire them but don't always relate to them. I had no such problem here. ( In fact, I can't help but think that if I ever met Elizabeth Wein face to face I would be a bit in awe of her. Is she as formidable and dignified and smart as her characters?)

Here are the reasons I love Code Name Verity. First, it is epistolary with the action-y current parts told in first person (making it much more pressing) and the more pleasant history told in third person. I think that was an absolutely brilliant idea on Wein's part for separating the past narration from the present. It is about real things that real women were doing in the World War II. (Yes, we did more than grow victory gardens). Her history is spot on -- I know even Homer nods and all that, but I defy the casual reader to spot an inaccuracy that Wein herself doesn't point out in her notes. It is a story told from an Allied perspective that still shows the Germans to be capable of the full range of human emotions and behaviours, not just the bad ones. On a related note, Wein acknowledges all the different aspects of what was going on at the time, but she doesn't really play the sympathy card. "Just the facts, Ma'am." (Of course, the different ways that her crafty and unreliable narrator will present those facts can get awfully twisty!) It is about air planes and flying and female pilots! (I became obsessed with female pilots after Ezra Idlet gave me a copy of Beryl Markham's West With the Night one evening after a long discussion about great female characters in books.) Finally, it's also a wonderfully written story of a beautiful friendship; they love each other so much that you can't help but love them for it. Code Name Verity reminds me of nothing so much as Rick Yancey's Mostrumologist books. It is not for everyone, and many of the things that make it so exceptional to its fans are what will turn everyone else off. But, if any of those things sound appealing, this could end up being one of your favorite books ever.

Blogged at Chronicles of a Book Evangelist; a review copy was provided by the publisher.(less)

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Jul 10, 2012 elissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: youngadult, capitol_choices_2013, 2012favorites, my_10s_reads, historicalfiction, war_stories

Lovely historical fiction, with a sweetly sad ending. Some not-so-lovely things going on in this WWII story, but the story and characters are extremely well done. I love the "author's debriefing".

1/28/13: Congrats to Elizabeth Wein on the Printz Honor win!! Well-deserved!

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