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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
The first half of the book was tough for me, I think because we couldn’t trust the narrator. But at about half way when it switches POV the story seemed to pick up and some plot points were connected. It wasn’t very fast paced and the narration was tough at points
I’m not sure how I feel about the book as a whole. It was a good one to have finished, it did leave an impression at the end, I appreciated *spoiler* the lack of pretty bows and all ending well. War is ugly after all.
I enjoyed seeing the friendship between the two MCs from two perspectives, and I appreciated the first half more after reading the second half. But I never really like when books are “written” by the characters. I don’t know about you, but I never record line by line dialogue in my journals and it always feels forced when authors try to write that way. However, again, by the end I better appreciated why the author chose to write it.
All said and done, it was worth pushing through when I didn’t get into the beginning.
Also, *spoiler* I don’t think Verity made a mistake. I think she needed a way into that building, so she looked the wrong way in purpose. But that’s just me.
I enjoyed seeing the friendship between the two MCs from two perspectives, and I appreciated the first half more after reading the second half. But I never really like when books are “written” by the characters. I don’t know about you, but I never record line by line dialogue in my journals and it always feels forced when authors try to write that way. However, again, by the end I better appreciated why the author chose to write it.
All said and done, it was worth pushing through when I didn’t get into the beginning.
Also, *spoiler* I don’t think Verity made a mistake. I think she needed a way into that building, so she looked the wrong way in purpose. But that’s just me.
Beautiful, exciting, funny, surprising, clever, heartbreaking.
I think I'm just really, really tired of reading about WWII. And reading from "YA female" perspectives. Maybe this was good? I gave no flips.
Given all the critical acclaim and awards this book has received, it must be my problem that I could barely finish it and, despite careful thought and consideration, cannot figure out WHY it has gotten all the praise. Clearly, I'm missing something (everything). The heart and fuel of the book is the friendship between Maddie and Julie - a friendship we never really see or understand but are somehow supposed to care deeply about. The two parts of the book are presented as the written accounts of two different characters - with no change in voice or tone. Julie supposedly writes her part as a bargain to be kept alive as a prisoner of war. The reasoning is that she is writing a confession that will have valuable information for the Germans - but it is more of a meandering account of past events that neither reveals war secrets nor tells of her friendship with Maddie in any real way. The author does demonstrate her knowledge and understanding of planes - and if that was the purpose of the novel it would be fantastic.
I do love novels set during WWII, and this may be my first young adult WWII story. It begins as a written confession from Queenie, who has been captured in France, and she tells the story of how she and her best friend Maddie, a pilot, ended up there. There's a lot about being a pilot, some of what it was to be a woman in the air force, and about the French resistance. Though torture is involved, there is little gory detail, and the book is gently amusing at times, and is a great story of friendship and loyalty.
This book came highly recommended by a colleague of mine who is very supportive of books featuring female relationships. On that front, the novel doesn't disappoint. It's a rare (at least to me) specimen of WWII historical fiction that focuses on female friendships as opposed to a romanticized love story in the time of war or a look at the horrors of war. However, I did find myself held back by the lack of a driving narrative and excessive details on pilot life, which, for me, really prevented me from fully appreciating the things that went well in this novel.
Things I Liked
1. Female Relationships: A large focus of this novel is women’s stories and female relationships, and some of the strongest moments are when Julie and Maddie are interacting or talking about one another. Readers can interpret it as very close friendship or as a romantic relationship, but either way, it was wonderful to have a story where the primary focus was on women.
2. Characters: Weir clearly acknowledges the limited opportunities for women and the struggles they faced during WWII, but that doesn’t stop her from crafting a novel where the characters are determined to be what they want to be. The female characters are allowed to be afraid, fragile, strong, brave, whatever. They’re allowed to be girly sometimes and boyish at others. They’re also allowed to look at the limitations around them and work harder until they get where they want to be. I can’t think of anything more inspiring than that.
3. Humor: Even though Julie is locked up in a Nazi prison, she never loses her sense of humor. I found myself laughing when she pokes fun at her captors and flies into a rage when she’s called English rather than Scottish. It keeps the tone light despite the horrific situation she’s found herself in.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Narrative: There were times where this novel seemed to drag a bit following lengthy descriptions of planes or flights that seemed to have little purpose than to show the ins and outs of life as a pilot. At some level, I get that part of this book is supposed to resemble a prisoner writing a narrative to buy time or look back fondly on better days, but for me, I was not enthused about multiple descriptions of air bases, protocols, etc. It doesn’t exactly make for a “plot” - just long-winded descriptions. You’ll probably have to already have an interest in piloting and pilots’ lives to really appreciate this novel on the first go - it’s not one for engaging readers of various interests or even casual interest in WWII.
2. References to Sexual Assault: Every time I read a historical fiction/fantasy novel and there’s an instance of sexual assault or threatened sexual assault, I think about why it might be in there. Sometimes, it can be dealt with well. In this case, I felt like Weir was including it to make the setting seem grim.
Recommendations: You may like this novel if you’re interested in World War II historical fiction, planes and flying, and female friendships/women’s history.
Things I Liked
1. Female Relationships: A large focus of this novel is women’s stories and female relationships, and some of the strongest moments are when Julie and Maddie are interacting or talking about one another. Readers can interpret it as very close friendship or as a romantic relationship, but either way, it was wonderful to have a story where the primary focus was on women.
2. Characters: Weir clearly acknowledges the limited opportunities for women and the struggles they faced during WWII, but that doesn’t stop her from crafting a novel where the characters are determined to be what they want to be. The female characters are allowed to be afraid, fragile, strong, brave, whatever. They’re allowed to be girly sometimes and boyish at others. They’re also allowed to look at the limitations around them and work harder until they get where they want to be. I can’t think of anything more inspiring than that.
3. Humor: Even though Julie is locked up in a Nazi prison, she never loses her sense of humor. I found myself laughing when she pokes fun at her captors and flies into a rage when she’s called English rather than Scottish. It keeps the tone light despite the horrific situation she’s found herself in.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Narrative: There were times where this novel seemed to drag a bit following lengthy descriptions of planes or flights that seemed to have little purpose than to show the ins and outs of life as a pilot. At some level, I get that part of this book is supposed to resemble a prisoner writing a narrative to buy time or look back fondly on better days, but for me, I was not enthused about multiple descriptions of air bases, protocols, etc. It doesn’t exactly make for a “plot” - just long-winded descriptions. You’ll probably have to already have an interest in piloting and pilots’ lives to really appreciate this novel on the first go - it’s not one for engaging readers of various interests or even casual interest in WWII.
2. References to Sexual Assault: Every time I read a historical fiction/fantasy novel and there’s an instance of sexual assault or threatened sexual assault, I think about why it might be in there. Sometimes, it can be dealt with well. In this case, I felt like Weir was including it to make the setting seem grim.
Recommendations: You may like this novel if you’re interested in World War II historical fiction, planes and flying, and female friendships/women’s history.