Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Title: Code Name Verity [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Elizabeth Wein [Website|Twitter]
Standing: Stand alone novel.
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Published: May 15th, 2012 by Hyperion Books for Children (first published in the UK February 6th, 2012 by Egmont Press)
Format: Kindle edition; 327 pages.
Source: ARC from publisher via NetGalley.

Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.

I don’t know how to write this review.  It seems to be a lot like Fight Club.  The first rule of Code Name Verity is you don’t talk about Code Name Verity.  But I shall try.

My feelings toward Code Name Verity are somewhat of a Catch 22.  I would have never heard of this book if I hadn’t seen some amazing reviews, but if I hadn’t read such amazing reviews, I would have approached with an even greater air of mystery and no expectations.  It’s not that I didn’t greatly enjoy Code Name Verity, I did very much and I so hope you read it, it’s that I didn’t fall in love quite as I expected to.  I fell in love a whole other way. When everyone tells you as you start a book to store up on tissues, it kind of make you feel like you missed something when you only tear up briefly in two parts, and shed nary a tear.  I just want to get that confession out of the way.  I found Code Name Verity to be incredibly beautiful and powerful, and yet I feel like it affected me differently than I expected.  I expected tragedy, and yet what I found was daring and hopeful, a fierce friendship to adore.  I just couldn’t find myself distraught over Code Name Verity, because to me it was too inspiring and steadfast to blubber.  In no way am I saying those who have been wrecks upon finishing this book are in any way weak or wrong, I just had a different reaction.  I was pretty happy, and that was why I teared up. 

I first heard of Code Name Verity shortly after devouring Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis.  I loved that duology very much, and was positively salivating for more historical fiction set in WWII, but not the mainland Europe WWII, WWII as it was experienced in Great Britain.  Needless to say, I pounced on the opportunity to read this book.  And, despite physically taking place in France, Verity’s confessions of operations in Great Britain were exactly what I was looking for. 

I think I’ve grasped on to WWII Great Britain, because for me it is a fear I can understand.  Growing up, we are taught about the horrors of the Holocaust, given amazing books like Number the Stars and The Diary of Anne Frank that are so heartbreaking and frightening, it’s quite frankly beyond my mental capacity to feel like I can truly understand the terror.  It’s just too terrible.  I know it happened, and I feel so strongly about it, and yet, I know I can never really understand.  Reading about the war effort in Great Britain, however, is something I can wrap my head around.  I’m not saying I can fully grasp it in the sense that I’ve ever experienced anything even approaching the blackouts, the Blitz, or attempting to navigate with no street signs, but it’s certainly an easier circumstance to picture yourself in.  It kind of makes you think that most American’s sense of danger during the war effort was laughable in comparison to Great Britain in the same way that most of Great Britain’s sense of danger was laughable in comparison to those living in mainland Europe.  This reality was emphasized through the events of Code Name Verity, and I appreciate so much that this book was able to help me understand the stepping stones of fear that existed in WWII.

But then, the reality is, Code Name Verity isn’t really about WWII.  It’s about women who do what they love and what they are good at, not for the war effort, but because they can and they want to.  It’s about friendship, comradery, and true bravery.  Not the kind of bravery where you think ‘I’m going to do this because it’s the right thing do do’ or ‘it will save so many people’ or ‘I will sacrifice myself’, but the kind of bravery where you don’t even think because in your mind there is no other option.

I came to feel so strongly for both Maddie and Verity through Verity’s writings.  There’s nothing quite like an indignant Scot (do not call one English…I get the same way when people say I’m from the Mid-West), and a girl who loves flying so much that she will risk her life to do it often.  The equation drawn between love and friendship is beautiful and real in a way that makes Code Name Verity one of the most powerful stories of friendship I have ever read.  The entire book you are questioning Verity’s story, wondering how much is real, but you never question her relationship with Maddie.

Code Name Verity was a magnificently written story that managed to exceed my expectations, while simultaneously not meeting them whatsoever.  It wasn’t quite the story I expected, but I think for that I loved it more.

I have told the truth.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Obvs I really want to read the Lion Hunters series since there’ve been quite a few comparisons drawn between the main character and Eugenides of The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner.

Recommended for:
Anyone and everyone who enjoys epistolary novels, historical fiction, or unreliable narrators.  Particularly those who enjoy stories of friendship, true bravery, and Peter Pan.

Please do check out the trailer for Code Name Verity!

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  Before you read this book, I challenge you to make a list of your 10 greatest fears.  Then, once you have read it, do it again and see—what 10 things are you afraid of now?

Get a second opinion:
Janicu’s Book Blog
The Book Smugglers
Chachic’s Book Nook

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Stephanie Perkins [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Stand alone novel, but there are/will be two companions!
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Published: December 2nd, 2010 by Listening Library/Dutton
Format: Audiobook/Kindle edition.
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Challenge: Completely Contemp Challenge.

Anna's father, who seems to basically be Nickolas Sparks, decides to ship her off to boarding school in Paris for her senior year to get herself some culture.  She doesn't want to go, and is bitter at her lack of choice, but she finds herself not entirely hating the place once she makes some new friends--particularly Etienne St. Claire.  St. Claire is American born, English raised, and French sired.  And if you don't find that hot, well I don't know what's wrong with you.  Too bad he's taken; not only does he have a girlfriend, but her new friend Meredith's totally in love with him.  Besides, Anna still has feelings about Toph from back home, right?  Ha!  Prepare for a year of awkward.

Let’s take a moment to discuss the importance of choosing the right format.  I initially picked up Anna and the French Kiss as an audiobook, and after suffering through 5 chapters I was ready to give up.  I couldn’t stand the narrator, Kim Mai Guest.  To me, the narration came across as very whiney, snobby, made the whole story seem very vapid, and I did not want to hear it.  Needless to say, I won’t be listening to other works like How I Live Now or Wildwood Dancing that are also narrated by Kim Mai Guest.  Now, I do want to emphasize that this audiobook was recommended by multiple people, so don’t let my bad experience make up your mind--just know that if you don’t like it, you can always change formats!  Since pretty much everyone loves this book, I decided I’d switch over to the Kindle edition and push through to see if I could like it better.  This made all the difference!

My judgements and emotions went back and forth a lot throughout this book.  I love boarding school (living vicariously), but I hate Paris (maybe hate is extreme, but I don't like it).  I loved St. Clair (awesome friend), but he was kind of a douche (crappy boyfriend).  Anna was annoyingly naive (come on, no one watches that much film and doesn’t know ‘pissed’ means drunk in Britain), but totally identifiable (more on this later).  There were some teeth grinding cliches (like bending down to pick things up and bumping heads), but the story was very true to life and the crappy decisions many people make in relationships.  In the end, I decided I really liked it, and appreciate Perkins’s honesty and ability to wrangle uncomfortable situations into text in a way that made me scream “WHY AM I SO AWKWARD?”

So...since this is a romance, let’s discuss the leads!  I identified with Anna a lot, in ways that actually made me uncomfortable to remember some of the past decisions I made that hurt my personal relationships.  She’s a film buff, and wants to be a critic, which is awesome.  She’s totally awkward about her Americaness upon moving to Paris, which I can 100% identify with.  I spent my junior year in Europe, and had similar feelings upon moving to New York.  Being from Wyoming, my impression of NYC was largely formed watching episodes of Sex and the City.  I was so nervous to even set foot in the city at first, as Anna was in Paris--filled with complete misconceptions and self-consciousness.  Anna was also awesome in that she didn't turn into a bumbling idiot around the guys she liked. She was still her intelligent, funny, silly self. Finally, I completely loved Anna’s outlook on sex.  She basically states that she wouldn’t have sex with anyone unless, if she were to get knocked up, she wouldn’t be embarrassed to tell said kid who her father was.  YES!  I will totally preach this to my daughters someday.  

And then there’s Etienne St. Claire.  First the good: he’s shorter than Anna (as a 6’ tall woman, I love seeing this sort of thing), he’s totally sweet, funny, and thoughtful, he goes out of his way to make sure Anna feels comfortable and explores Paris.  Then...the bad: he’s so needy that he continues to date his gf, even after he obviously has feelings for Anna because he’s not 100% sure of her feelings, while at the same time actively working to keep any other guy from getting near Anna.  He crosses all the lines.  But then he totally calls Anna on her shit, and there’s totally (at least) two people in this boat, so I guess I can’t funnel all my angsty glares toward him.  Also, yeah, he's going through some crap, and I guess that can make people make stupid decisions. So I forgive the guy.

In the end, I appreciated that this wasn’t a fluffy happy love story, even though it was full of some great humor.  There were a lot of very realistic bumps in the road, and I found myself thinking ‘oh thank goodness I’m not the only one who’s been this stupid’.  

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  I may have been waffling for the first portion of this book, but by the end I was sold, and will be reading both Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After.  Does anyone know if Isla will feature the Isla that appeared as a minor character in Anna?  I hope so!

Recommended for:  Girls who need to grow a spine already, Paris lovers, pretty much anyone who likes YA romance. OH WAIT I'M THE LAST PERSON TO READ THIS BOOK.

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  Your vocab word of the day is callipygian.  Meaning having well shaped buttocks.  

Review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Brian Selznick [Website] 
Standing: Stand alone novel
Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction
Published: March 1st, 2007 by Scholastic, Inc.
Format: Hardcover; 533 pages.  
Source: Borrowed from my local library.

The scene opens in 1931, Paris, the moon shining down over the city.  Hugo Cabret leads a reclusive life of thieving and clockwork, keeping the clocks of the train station where he lives operating as normal.  He’s alone, living in an apartment in the walls of the station after his uncle has disappeared.  Hugo was working as his apprentice after becoming orphaned, now he continues to make his uncle’s rounds, collecting paychecks he cannot cash and hoping no one notices anything amiss.  He knows if he’s caught, he’ll be sent to an orphanage, and Hugo cannot let that happen because he has a secret.  Hidden away, Hugo has salvaged an automaton and is attempting to fix it using sketches and notations left in his father’s notebook.  The automaton sits at a desk, pen in hand, and Hugo is certain that if he can get it to work the automaton will have a message for him.  In order to fix it, Hugo needs parts, and his resource for them is the mechanical toy shop run by an old man in the station.  Unfortunately for Hugo, the old man catches him stealing, and takes from Hugo his father’s notebook.  Hugo must employ the mercies of the man’s young ward, Isabelle, to help him recover his possession and finish his work on the automaton.  What will the message from his father be, and why does the old man in the toy shop seem so haunted by Hugo’s notebook?

I’ll admit that, as often happens, this book more-or-less flew below my radar until I saw that Martin Scorcese was adapting it to film.  My interest was perked, and when I finally saw the trailer for Hugo, I knew I had to read it before I saw the film:

Now, I’m one of those people who only goes to see a movie in the theater a couple of times a year, and waits for the majority of films on DVD before I watch.  Also...I hate 3D.  Seriously people, can we get over this trend?  It’s terrible.  Very rarely do I feel that 3D enhances a film (as in the case of Avatar that would have been unwatchable without it), and most often it just annoys me to see shots that are intentionally constructed for that 3D wow moment with no regard to the story, and less for the non-3D viewer.  I find it hard to believe that 3D television sets will ever become the household norm, and quite frankly for those of us who wear glasses, it is annoying and uncomfortable to be expected to put 3D glasses over our own and enjoy something in total discomfort /end rant.  What I am saying here is, I know this movie came out in November, but I still haven’t seen it, and am quite looking forward to it (without 3D glasses that is).  I cannot help but question how my knowledge that the book would be made into a movie affected my enjoyment level of a book about movies.   

The Invention of Hugo Cabret was a novel in a format I have not previously read, where the bulk of the book is told in pictures, and the words are relatively few (so much so, that I was shocked to see that this is even available as an audiobook...how does that work?).  This makes The Invention of Hugo Cabret an incredibly fast read, despite its bulk, and I sincerely hope its girth does not frighten away potential readers.  It is a touching story based in part on the life and work of early silent filmmaker, Georges Méliès.  It is the marriage of story and format that make this book work, the pictures moving the story along the same as a silent film, giving readers a touch of the wonder and experience that was felt by early viewers--a wonder that is nearly impossible to capture in an age where we have all grown up seeing images on screen.  As Georges Méliès was able to look at the format of film and see a world of opportunity to enchant and make dreams come to life, Brian Selznick was able to replicate imagination in a format of his own.  

The format does have its drawbacks, however, namely its ability to develop the characters.  Hugo appears to be a character that is easy to care about, as many others in the story seem to take to him immediately, but I found it hard to get invested myself.  He, Isabelle, and the others seemed to lack a certain depth that is needed to build attachment.  I am not saying that characters always need to be likable from the reader’s perspective, but they should be able to arouse some emotions so that we are more drawn into the story.  The Invention of Hugo Cabret lacked this, but I cannot help but remain hopeful that this is remedied in the film version.  The trailer for Scorcese’s film makes the story look magical.  It appears to be a story about adventure, friendship, and love.  While this was a decent read, certainly worth the short time it takes, I find myself shocked to say that I expect to like the movie better.

Likelihood that I’ll be back for more:  100% that I’ll be watching Hugo once it releases on DVD, but a significantly lower chance that I’ll be reading Wonderstruck, Selznick’s latest book written in the same format. It would probably be worth the time, but I'm not rushing out to get it.

Recommended for: Steampunkers (this isn’t really a steampunk book, but with all the tinkering it’s very reminiscent of one), fans of old films, and people who enjoy illustrations that tell a story.

Real life repercussions of reading this book: You may convert your garage/attack/living room into a workshop for automaton building. Your significant other/parent/roommate may not appreciate this.