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katyboo52's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic book. Well paced and gripping. Even though, because of the way it's written, you know everything will be ok in the end, it's still heart in the mouth stuff at times and is genuinely tense. I have the third book to read as a proof and wanted to make sure I'd read the other books in the series first. Am now really excited to read the next book. This book can be read as a standalone adventure, but the characters recur from the first book and you get a much richer background to the book if you've read Codename Verity first.
lmeshula's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Beautiful writing and a well-told story. Tough to read at times because of the subject matter (this book follows a group of women in a prison camp) but the characters were well developed and was interesting enough to keep me reading.
g00sereads's review against another edition
5.0
will elizabeth wein ever write a book that's not perfect???? i don't think so
once again an incredible book that taught me so much about life, history, and human nature
i cried like 10 times and i'll probably be thinking about it for the next month
can't wait to read the enigma game and give it five stars too
once again an incredible book that taught me so much about life, history, and human nature
i cried like 10 times and i'll probably be thinking about it for the next month
can't wait to read the enigma game and give it five stars too
wanderlustlover's review against another edition
4.0
I am so very torn on what to rate this one. Part One and Part Three are solid 5's, or at least 4.5's. But Part Two has such a glaring formatting problem that it kept distracting me from being able to be immersed in the book at all. Which was sad to see, since Wein did glorious things with formatting in her first book, and even did 75% of glorious formatting in this one. The formatting just slipped way too hard for the convenience of ramming the main story out too fast in the middle, without it's outter box context and situational placement.
I deeply appreciate the topic of her novels, but I'm not move to deep sensationalism of my points to that because I've read a lot of books on these topics all through my life. I even just finished read/re-reading Maus only a month ago. And I had another piece related to it right before I picked up these books, too. They were very well done for the "I" point of view of one young girl, even when I felt certain parts of it were more convient and neater than history shows it might have been.
There were several moments I got misty eyed, but the only place that I lost my one tear to the book was the first time a certain character cried in Part Three. I love the poetry throughout it. I love the raw emotion. I love the continued listing of the named throughout each section until you have every single girl's name who was etched inside of their minds and hearts left with you when you walked away from the book. Also, the afterward was a great addition to it. Saying what was real and what wasn't, and whose names were the absolute to history ones.
I deeply appreciate the topic of her novels, but I'm not move to deep sensationalism of my points to that because I've read a lot of books on these topics all through my life. I even just finished read/re-reading Maus only a month ago. And I had another piece related to it right before I picked up these books, too. They were very well done for the "I" point of view of one young girl, even when I felt certain parts of it were more convient and neater than history shows it might have been.
There were several moments I got misty eyed, but the only place that I lost my one tear to the book was the first time a certain character cried in Part Three. I love the poetry throughout it. I love the raw emotion. I love the continued listing of the named throughout each section until you have every single girl's name who was etched inside of their minds and hearts left with you when you walked away from the book. Also, the afterward was a great addition to it. Saying what was real and what wasn't, and whose names were the absolute to history ones.
knaglieri's review against another edition
2.0
I wish I could properly express how disappointed I was in this book, especially after really liking Code Name Verity. Part of the problem, I know, was the horrible audiobook narrator... I've listened to A LOT of books, and she was one of the worst. Her accents were atrocious, especially for Rosia, and there were so many times I thought, "wait, HOW did she just pronounce that??" As an audiobook narrator, pretty much your WHOLE JOB is correctly pronouncing words. Listening to her say, among others, "macaber" for macabre and "skeLEEtal" for skeletal (more than once!) was just too much. Even Rose's American accent was just wrong at times.
But even without the poor narration, I wouldn't have liked this one. I didn't think the journal format worked this time around and I absolutely HATED the poems, and they were far too numerous. And the girl scout songs were so cringe-inducing. But beyond that, the story just didn't move me. Given the subject, it should have I guess, but I never really FELT it, plus I didn't especially like Rose and had a hard time keeping the other prisoners straight. And I got so angry every time Rose would touch on something difficult, which would pique my interest, only to say "I just can't write about it." It happened several times and just seemed like lazy writing by the author.
2 stars for historical accuracy, but that's it.
But even without the poor narration, I wouldn't have liked this one. I didn't think the journal format worked this time around and I absolutely HATED the poems, and they were far too numerous. And the girl scout songs were so cringe-inducing. But beyond that, the story just didn't move me. Given the subject, it should have I guess, but I never really FELT it, plus I didn't especially like Rose and had a hard time keeping the other prisoners straight. And I got so angry every time Rose would touch on something difficult, which would pique my interest, only to say "I just can't write about it." It happened several times and just seemed like lazy writing by the author.
2 stars for historical accuracy, but that's it.
charlann91's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely love Elizabeth Wein and her fabulous passion for tying in historically correct accounts of some of the hardest things our life time has seen, with seamless fiction and small details that fill in the blanks and capture our hearts and emotions.
I fell in love after reading Code Name Verity and I honestly wasn't sure that a second book could really live up to it. I was wrong. Both books have so much that is unique to them that they stand strong, alone as independent books, not as comparisons or sequels.
I don't want to give away spoilers, although we know many of the atrocities that went on during WW2 already. The way that Wein has spun them into the story of one girl - and also of the few special characters she meets along her journey, is just magical and I highly recommend you read it for yourself. Have tissues to hand though!
I fell in love after reading Code Name Verity and I honestly wasn't sure that a second book could really live up to it. I was wrong. Both books have so much that is unique to them that they stand strong, alone as independent books, not as comparisons or sequels.
I don't want to give away spoilers, although we know many of the atrocities that went on during WW2 already. The way that Wein has spun them into the story of one girl - and also of the few special characters she meets along her journey, is just magical and I highly recommend you read it for yourself. Have tissues to hand though!
telcontar2901's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
orangesprinklegonk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
kitkatsbookden's review against another edition
3.5
I put off reading this sequel for quite some time after really enjoying Code Name Verity a few years ago. I was sad that this was basically a whole other cast of characters and the general vibe of this one was extremely different. I understand that no book where the major setting is a concentration camp is going to be positive but this book was exceedingly bleak and I wasn’t prepared for it.
Something I loved about Code Name Verity was how the ending was weaved through the story with secret messages that were there all along. The author didn’t do that at all in this book and seemed to be plodding along at some points.
I’m not unhappy I read this but happy to move onto something else. 3.5/5 stars
Something I loved about Code Name Verity was how the ending was weaved through the story with secret messages that were there all along. The author didn’t do that at all in this book and seemed to be plodding along at some points.
I’m not unhappy I read this but happy to move onto something else. 3.5/5 stars