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nedjemet 's review for:
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
I find myself in the odd position of being both uncertain if I should recommend this book and unable to tell you why that is in anything but the vaguest details. There is a dramatic shift in tone that occurs about two-thirds of the way through the story and that shift makes everything that proceeded it a lot more interesting. If you can make it to this shift, chances are that you will like this book.
However, if you can’t make it that far, I will not blame you.
The first two-thirds of the book are not boring, but I'd be lying if I called them gripping. They’re little more than a collection of tales, almost short-stories, of two girl’s friendship during WWII. There’s also quite a lot about being a female pilot in WWII Britain. It’s interesting stuff, but nothing you’re going to go on about to your friends. It’s the kind of story you read to pass the time and learn a bit more about the world of the past without having to do your own in-depth research.
If that sounds like torture to read, then don’t give this a chance because you will not make it to the shift and the shift is what makes this novel stand out.
Honestly, if the author had shortened the length of the first half by about 100 pages, I wouldn’t even be saying that. I’d tell you to press through it, learn a bit about WWII, and enjoy the ride. But I can’t tell people to spend 200 pages waiting for a second "half" that’s almost too short. I was ready for part-one to end, part-two left me feeling like it’d blown by and I wanted so much more. More details about what happened, more connections to part one, more, more, more!
And I can’t even tell you why because I’d be giving everything away and “careless talk costs lives.”
However, if you can’t make it that far, I will not blame you.
The first two-thirds of the book are not boring, but I'd be lying if I called them gripping. They’re little more than a collection of tales, almost short-stories, of two girl’s friendship during WWII. There’s also quite a lot about being a female pilot in WWII Britain. It’s interesting stuff, but nothing you’re going to go on about to your friends. It’s the kind of story you read to pass the time and learn a bit more about the world of the past without having to do your own in-depth research.
If that sounds like torture to read, then don’t give this a chance because you will not make it to the shift and the shift is what makes this novel stand out.
Honestly, if the author had shortened the length of the first half by about 100 pages, I wouldn’t even be saying that. I’d tell you to press through it, learn a bit about WWII, and enjoy the ride. But I can’t tell people to spend 200 pages waiting for a second "half" that’s almost too short. I was ready for part-one to end, part-two left me feeling like it’d blown by and I wanted so much more. More details about what happened, more connections to part one, more, more, more!
And I can’t even tell you why because I’d be giving everything away and “careless talk costs lives.”