Title: Code Name Verity
Series: Code Name Verity #1
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Genre: Historical Fiction (WWII)
Pages: 441
Reading Level: YA
Content: PG-13 (war action and violence, intense emotion, mature themes)
This book was part of a new audio promotion, so I received it free from the distributor. I had no idea what it was about and was thoroughly pleased with what I discovered.
The story is about two female friends trying to make a place for themselves in a world dominated by men during WWII. Maddie is a pilot and the other girl has too many names for me to stick with just one, so we’ll call her Verity. Most of the story is told from Verity’s perspective as she writes to save, or at least prolong, her life once captured by the enemy. I want to say more, but I don’t want to give too much away. I’ve read a lot of books, and watched even more movies; this book, with all its twists and turns, caught me off guard and totally surprised me.
Not to give the wrong impression about this book, but it almost made me cry and not because the two main characters are female. This story feels so real that the sense of loss, which multiple characters experience throughout the story, feels all too real. To be a prisoner of war and have the choice of standing strong and die or give in and live one more day isn’t as easy as you might hope, but Verity is tougher than you ever imagine she’ll be at the beginning. In the end, though, it’s Maddie you’ll feel for the most.
Anyone, even men, who appreciate gritty stories of WWII will appreciate this book, but I think it’ll also be a crowd pleaser with women’s groups and historical clubs. I don’t know if it was written for adults, but I don’t think it really matters. These characters are so young, as are many who go off to fight wars. I would totally recommend this to my teenage nieces and nephews. After all the flying, fighting, lying, and surviving there is a strong gut-wrenching message about true friendship which should appeal to anyone.
I give this book a 5.
This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link: Amazon
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
3 replies on “#Review : Code Name Verity #YA #spy #book”
Being a prisoner of war is something most of us will thankfully never know.
I know. For that, I am grateful.
For some reason I never read that many spy books even though I like espionage and intrigue. I do tend to stay away from books centered around war though because after suffering great tragedy in my life it is hard for me to stomach death as entertainment it triggers me too much but you gave this such a high rating and a rave review I’m tempted to push myself out of my comfort zone.