boxofdelights

I've noticed that people recommending Code Name Verity are hesitating to tell you why they think you'll like it, because they don't want to spoil anything. When

some_stars asked for recs for YA, not necessarily genre, I came up with:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Not SFF. WWII British spy and her best friend and pilot are shot down in France. The spy is captured and tortured. You are reading her narrative of how she got there. She's writing it for her interrogator. You can try to figure out where and why she's lying, or just let the narrative pull you headlong. It's brilliant, and absolutely wonderful either way.

I think I should also mention that it's going to hurt. I knew going in that it wasn't going to have a happy ending, and I still sobbed at that point -- you know where, if you've read it -- big stupid out-loud sobs.

Elizabeth Wein felt the need to say:

Disclaimer

IT’S A BOOK ABOUT A PILOT. IT HAS PLANES IN IT. For some reason, this seems to take some people by surprise.

My husband did not care much for Verity after the first chapter, because she's a coward. "No, she's British," I said. "She's gallant. Stiff-upper-lipped and self-deprecating."

If you've read it, what would you say? If you haven't, does this make you want to?

I'm still not managing life very well, but my self-esteem got an immense boost from your responses to my last post. Thank you.