Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

7 reviews

thealmightykatt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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hannaws's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 Love is a choice. It is the active choosing of good for another person. But like? It is a gift and it cannot be forced.

As a very first thing I would like to establish the fact that I did not know anything about Nancy Wake before reading this book. I will say that it is a huge hole in my knowledge about history and I will go on and study about her as much as I can because this is a woman with capital W.

I never really know how to review historical fiction. It is about someone's life in the end. And it always feels like I am kind of judging how someone lead their life back in the days. YES, I am very well aware that this is historical fiction but there is always the seed of truth there, you know.

Anyway, back to the actual book at hand here. I really liked this one! Not much of a surprise since I did like Lawhon's other historical fiction as well. But what made me lower the rating with half a star was the way this book is written. I am really not a fan of a book that keeps on jumping back and forth in time. I just can't keep up with the dates and times in these cases and sometimes it causes a confusion. It was no different with this one. I could not keep up with the constant change of timelines. Especially when you throw in Nancy's different aliases. So you're trying to keep track of the months and years and also about the personalities.
As the story went on, it did become a little easier when you have actually got to know all the different personalities. So it was a lot easier to know when and where you were. But I will not lie, I did sometimes have to go back and check where and who we were at the time.

But I did like the writing otherwise. And the book in general. I loved all the characters (well duh, those all are real people, well most of them) as well and this does get very emotional at times! With this book it did get even more emotional, knowing that these horrors really were their reality for a long time. These things really happened.
All the back and forth jumping does keep you on your toes though. You never know how one storyline continues before you have finished reading the other one.

I feel like this whole review is one back and forth mindless jumping. I'm tired and it is hard to keep a hold on my thoughts.

But all in all I really enjoyed this book! The characters and story itself is well written and it does hit you in the feels. It is horrible, sad but also sometimes quite happy and funny. As is life, right? 
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tessduets's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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pugreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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luosymekawa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

Jumping back and forth within a timeline can be really hard to pull off. Ariel Lawhon executed this literary device perfectly. Each scene build upon the next and ramped up the anticipation to the climax, despite the change in year. The story could have been told linearly, but I think the time jumping made the story much more compelling. I liked that it ended at the beginning.

Nancy Wake is an inspiration. Learning about her story was an incredible journey. I hope to one day possess the confidence, ingenuity, and courage that she did.
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curatoriallyyours's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Well-written and fascinating historical fiction about Nancy Wake, also known as The White Mouse, an Australian living in France at the time of Hitler’s rise to power who became a spy and military leader in the French resistance. I listened to this as an audiobook and remained gripped by the story throughout.
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daralexandria's review

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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