A review by aravenclawlibraryx
Code Name Hélène, by Ariel Lawhon

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

Title: Code Name Helen 

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction

Format: paperback book from the library

Series: NA

Star Rating: 2 stars

tw: antisemitism, torture, destruction of businesses, sexism, public execution, war, gun violence, talks of raping women

This book had the potential to be so good. I Was Anastasia was absolutely amazing so I was hoping this would be just as good. But it wasn’t. It was so slow. Like absolutely so ridiculously slow. Things didn’t happen until the last 30 percent or so. I’m all for slow plots but this one took the cake for being so slow. It took me over a month to finish this book. I haven’t done that since I read Roots in high school. I just couldn’t bring myself to pick it up and read it. 

Nancy was a pretty cool person. I think, that if she was written in a different way, I would have liked her more and I think I would have liked the book better. Sure, she was a badass. She didn’t take any crap from anyone, no matter the gender. But man, everything was written in a way that was so boring. 

It seems to me that I have a problem with reading about covert operations during World War II. the idea has the potential to be so good but it just keeps falling flat. It’s just so upsetting because this particular genre has the potential to be super cool but it ends up just falling flat. 

I think that, overall, this just wasn’t the book for me. I think that there are others that would like this book, especially if they are into women in espionage. But honestly, this was just not the book for me. However, I am going to look more into Nancy, since she is a real person and her life seems very cool.