Others raved about this book. I was disappointed. I can't quite put my finger on why, but it just wasn't for me.

Beautiful writing, genius plot, kick-ass female characters—what more did I need to give this the five-star rating it seems to deserve, given all these unanimous stellar reviews? Was it that I wasn't Amelia Earhart enough to be interested in planes? (Okay, so this reference might not be the best one to use.) Was it that I was too fluffy to endure the torture of painful storytelling in historical fiction? Was it that I found the first half of the book too unreliable to handle? (Ask anyone who has read this and they shall tell you the same.) Was it that I found it too hard to imagine people inflicting that much pain upon others? What was it?

Believe me, I am also desperate to know.

I have a hunch, though: The problem probably started when I couldn't get attached to the narrator/main character, which is always a crucial point for me as I tend to mark down my favorite books based on how much I loved the voices of its characters. And it wasn't for the lack of trying because I was even putting on my trying-hard Scottish accent (ala Merida) so I could get into it! And yet. Even when all the shit went down—as in when the other half of the book "came to rescue" and made sense of everything—I felt unmoved. (Okay, so I may be lying a little because WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY HEAD, ELIZABETH WEIN??) It was almost as if the whole book had already squeezed out all the emotions—confusion, anger, pain—from me and there was nothing left afterwards but the relief of having survived something so draining.

Code Name Verity, Disney-Hyperion by Elizabeth Wein

Although this book is listed as juvenile fiction I found it to be a good read, although I no longer find myself in that age group chronologically. In fact I was born shortly after the time in which this story is set, the European Theater of World War 2.

Though the book is fictional the historical details are well researched and I found myself going to Google to get more information of a story of the war that is not well known, the role of women in the war. Specifically the Air Corps and espionage.

The two lead characters, Maddie a teen age girl with great mechanical skills who becomes a pilot, and Julie, a Scot with an ability to speak several languages and make things up as she goes along, end up in Occupied France. Maddie, the pilot, crash lands her plane in a field used by the French Resistance while Julie has parachuted out with hopes of fulfilling her secret mission.

Much of the story is revealed through the journals of Julie composed as a prisoner of the Gestapo. The friendship of Maddie and Julie and how these two teen age girls ended up in France is written on scraps of paper which seemingly are the confession of a young girl who has succumbed to Nazi torture.

As the story unfolds all the notes scribbled by Julie become a key ingredient of the story but I must admit that page after page of those notes became a bit tedious for me. I pressed on because I wanted to see how it all came together, how Code Name Verity ended. In the process of reading though the picture of two very real young teens was painted and the war had a human face.

All in all it was a good read especially in bringing to light a part of history that many are not aware of: personal aircraft pressed into service by the military, the active involvement of women in the war effort and the invaluable service they rendered.

I received a galley of this book on Kindle with the expectation I would read it and review it but with no expectation of a positive review.

My apologies; if I requested this book, it appears that due to family commitments I was not able to read it before the book was archived. I'm sorry it has lingered this long.