Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Pages: 339

Received: Received from Random House Canada in exchange for honest review

Release Date: May 15, 2012
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

Code Name Verity is a compelling, emotionally rich story with universal themes of friendship and loyalty, heroism and bravery.

Two young women from totally different backgrounds are thrown together during World War II: one a working-class girl from Manchester, the other a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a wireless operator. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted friends. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in "Verity's" own words, as she writes her account for her captors.

My Review:

I hadn't heard much talk about this novel but when I read the synopsis I was really intrigued, I love historical fiction novels and this one sounded like it had a great storyline to it. This was a gripping story and I loved the characters. Elizabeth's writing is beautiful and she really captures the emotions of these two girls.

I found the writing of the story very interesting. It was difficult to follow at first because the writing is in letter format, but the way Verity writes is in a story of the past (to how she got where she is) but she includes information about what is happening to her at the moment as well. After I caught on, I really fell in love with Elizabeth's writing, everything felt so real.

This is a story that is emotional and shows off the friendship of these two characters, it didn't seem like it was a fake friendship. Every time these two characters were together in a scene I could picture these girls for real just being together. This story had an amazing backdrop to it as well, I love historical fiction novels (and though this wasn't focused on the historical aspect, it was very interesting). I really enjoyed how there is all this information about piloting and the many different types of planes found throughout the story (Elizabeth is a pilot herself, which influenced her story).

The story is told in two different parts, you get to see each girl's version of events, and what they are going through following the mission gone wrong and how each thinks about the other one. The second part you get a lot more of what is happening in the now, with a few glimpses of how the other character sees the past. Elizabeth has an amazing talent with her storytelling, I loved following the girls on their adventures and watching as they come together time and time again.

I definitely recommend this book, it is an amazing story that will capture your heart from the beginning and keep you guessing about the truth behind everything written.