A review by hollydyer328
Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

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

4.5

This is a gem of a WWII novel, based off of real-life events of Nancy Wake, Australian female spy that was a military leader for the French resistance against the Germans. Ariel Lawhon does a great job highlighting this lesser-known historical figure and writing her to be a confident, humorous, and overall bada** protagonist. The pacing of events is fairly slow but  that is made up for with the quality of the writing and creating a robust narrator. There is great humor and I LOL'ed, and there is a sweet love story, both of things I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed. My only issue was that there are many characters, plus when some of them have multiple code names, and with the dual timeline, it can be hard to keep track of them. But it doesn't hinder too much with knowing what's going on. 
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