Review Detail

I couldn't wait for Code Name Verity to end, and I mean that in the best way. There is so much slow building tension in the novel that I was dying to find out what would happen to our heroines, Maddie and Queenie.

This book has gotten lots of buzz, all positive and deserved. I avoided most reviews because this is a book that should not be spoiled. The barest plot summary: two best friends serve as a pilot and wireless operator in WWII and the novel is an epistolary account of their experiences during the war. I really don't want to say any more of the actual details because my experience reading the novel was so much richer from being unspoiled.

Apart from the intrigue and war, this is a story of friendship. Author Elizabeth Wein explains it, "It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." It's even more simple than falling in love, since there is less risk involved. I love the relationship between Maddie and Queenie and the tribute that each pays to the other. Maddie describes Queenie as, "Gloriously daft, drop-dead charming, full of bookish nonsense and foul language, brave and generous." Nobody knows us like our best friends.

Code Name Verity is nearly perfect; yes, it starts a bit slow, but otherwise it is clever, sad, beautiful, and a book that I wanted to read again immediately after finishing. A must-read.