A review by littlelarks
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein

4.0

This book wrecked me. Full on just sobbing and wailing into my pillow.
It loses a star because to me, while the plot was fantastic, the execution was a little messy. Julie nor Maddie had a very unique voice - constant ALL-CAPS and narrative flourishes aside - and the tone felt a little too distinctly 'modern YA novel' for the historical setting. But that is truly just a minor quip, as the content of the story is able to overcome the short-comings of the writing. And again, it just tore me apart. I'm going to put the rest under a spoiler cut, because okay,

Spoiler

I spent the 3/4 of the novel that is from Julie's POV fully convinced that her and Maddie were in a relationship. A romance. Their 'friendship' was described as such because of the context under which she was writing... but then when Maddie's POV began she was still just referring to their friendship which... is fine. WW2 female pilots and spies is still as engrossing as WW2 lesbian pilots and spies. And not everything needs to have romance, so the friendship angle is somewhat refreshing. But still. I was so hoping. The subtext is there so it lends the entire books a 'gal pals' vibe that I... don't think was the author's intent??? IDK if anyone on my friends list has read this please discuss.