Reviews

This was a tough one to rate, because as a YA murder mystery, it was a pretty fun read, but as historical fiction, it had some questionable representation, the biggest of which being the redemption arc of the literal Nazi who goes from being a proud Nazi to beloved by all because he helped save his look-alike from another Nazi... Like it's great that he saved someone who didn't deserve to be killed, but it seemed like that somehow made everyone forgive and trust him, even his Jewish competitor, despite the fact that he, again, was a proud Nazi, and did not ever indicate that he felt anything but supportive of the Nazi regimes antisemitism or that he was even starting to question Nazi politics. It really just seemed like he wanted to help protect someone from an unhinged and murderous man who also happened to be a Nazi, even if that meant giving up his own position in the Nazi military, which, sure I suppose that was a good thing of him to do, but I don't see how that serves as an at all complete redemption arc for a Nazi, and I don't see how that magically made his Jewish competitor decide he was suddenly cool giving interviews with him.

vel629vet's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Stella North is a teenage pilot representing Britain in a race across Europe in the late 1930s. Quickly after the race begins, she witnesses what appears to be a murder in the sky…
I love Wein’s other historical fiction novels and this was no exception. The story was gripping and thrilling and kept you guessing. I wish the tension and excitement in the last quarter of the book existed earlier on, because I felt like it took a while for the story to take off (see what I did there).
Highly recommend!

library_kb's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This is my favorite recently published Elizabeth Wein book. Several of her recent ones have been just meh for me, especially those that tried to do more of the mystery aspects than historical fiction aspects. However, I think this is the one where she got her mystery pacing down--I was very intrigued in finding out what was going on and who the murderer was throughout the book. If anything, a little more development of Sebastian's character would not have disappointed me, but I was on the edge of my seat reading this book.