Review Detail

Previously published on my blog: http://fictionfervor.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/review-code-name-verity-by-elizabeth-wein/

I am not a fan of historical fiction. No, I've never particularly enjoyed the genre. I've always been a fantasy and sci fi girl through and through, but I decided to give Code Name Verity a chance for two reasons: (1) I thought it was about time that I tried something new and (2) this book was so hyped-up and I was curious.

Admittedly, I don't like hyped-up books. I always like rooting for the underdogs, so whenever I see a hyped-up book, I want to read it to prove everyone else wrong. I want to prove that another book--one of the underdogs--is better. Sometimes I do finish the book and think, "So-and-so book was better." And sometimes I finish the book and think, "I was wrong."

Code Name Verity was one of the latter.

The first few pages of this book were a bore. I was looking for an excuse to drop it, but I decided that I'd give it fifty pages before I'd start another book. The narrator--"Verity"--seemed to draw out her words, making her sentences much longer than they had to be. I had trouble deciphering her eloquent language, and I mostly skimmed over the tedious descriptions she provided.

Somewhere in those fifty pages, I realized that the writing was just her style.

Fifty pages along, I got too caught up in the plot to even think about her writing style.

Even though I have never been a fan of history (hey, this A+ student here is a whiz in math and science, all right?), World War II has always been such an interesting topic to me. War is just so horribly fascinating. Not the machinery and aircraft used, no. (I get bored to death, hearing about those.) No, it's the people. The spies. The interrogators. The pilots. The soldiers. They fascinate me, these people who are willing to lay down their lives for a cause they believe in. And the people in this book are just so plausible. They could be one of my friends. And they all have their faults and imperfections, but they also have their good aspects. I loved Verity and Maddie and Jamie. I loved how Verity always took offense when people called her English (she's Scottish), I loved the feeling Maddie had when she was in the air, I loved how understanding Jamie was. These people--HOW ARE THEY SO BELIEVABLE.

And the complexities in this novel! ELIZABETH WEIN, YOU ARE GENIUS. Surprises hitting me AT EVERY TURN, and clues being passed EVER SO SUBTLY. Just absolutely genius. I really wish I could say more on the subject, but there would be simply too many spoilers.

And perhaps the most important aspect: Verity and Maddie's relationship. I have a best friend, you see, who's been with me for eleven years of my life. (Considering that I'm only a teen, that's more than half my life.) And I get it. I really do. The knowing someone like the back of your hand, the emotions behind everything that you do. I get it. It's hard to explain--it really is--but Wein captures it so perfectly.

Code Name Verity was fabulous. It's more than a book about the hardships of war. It's a book about a bond so deep that death can't sever. The name of that bond? Friendship.

Source: ARC/galley received from publisher for review