*DNF at 50%*

I gave it a fair shot, I think. Half of the book to realize that it's just not working for me. The subject matter, the Soviet women fighter pilots of World War II, sounds promising, but something in the writing was extremely boring. I had a hard time following along with all the girls, as most of them are called by two names and I was constantly trying to figure out which one was which. Aelita herself doesn't seem to stand out among the cast of characters either.

Found this difficult to follow. Not bad necessarily but I also have figured out that tokenistic feminist novels written by men just aren't as good. Not a criticism, just an observation. I did only read the first half - the writing style didn't stick with me unfortunately. Not going lower than 3 stars however as I have no way of knowing if it may have gotten better later on, and it was purely personal preference that made me put the book down.

An interesting book but WWI and WWII retellings aren't my favourite but Sparrow Squadron is still worth the read.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 2.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I got about a chapter or so in and I could just tell that this book isn't for me. I hate the writing style, I'm so unbelievably bored, and I'm not really a big fan of fictionalized characters in historical events unless done by certain authors, I suppose I was just hoping that this would end up being one of those books that I'd enjoy. I'm sad that I had to give up without finishing, since it may very well get more enjoyable later on, but I've just got so much less time on my hands than before where I could afford to spend it reading a book I didn't even enjoy, now I don't have the luxury. I'm grateful, however, to have been given the opportunity to read this book.

I've always been interested in women's wartime efforts regardless of what side they're on. I'm particularly partial to female pilots in WWII whether they are WASP or Night Witches which is the case here. While this isn't directly based on real people, the author does a good job of bringing the world and characters to life. I'm definitely need to read more about the Night Witches whether it's fiction or nonfiction in the future.

Aelya was a great main character and I enjoyed this first book of her story. I am low-key obsessed with female pilots, so this book had many characters that I was fascinated by. Aelya's experiences in the Air Force were interesting and she grew a lot over the course of the novel.

It took SO long to get to what felt like the point of the book, as the beginning was really slow and drawn out. Once the action picked up and the plot felt more structured, I had a really good time reading the rest of the book.

I would have liked to get to know the minor characters a bit more. It seemed that they each had one or two defining traits and that was as deep as the character exploration went. The camaraderie among these ladies, and some of the guys too, was awesome - even with all the little fights and disagreements. It felt like a really true look at what this unit must have been like during the war. All of the flight and airplane stuff was super cool!

DNF at 42%. I tried, I really tried to get into this story because the synopsis intrigued me so much, but arriving at Part IV I just couldn't. We got a lot of chapters of only a few pages and every new chapter starts something new, it was like "that happened, that happened, then that and that and now moving on" I didn't have time to really care about what was happening, or about the characters. There were too many of them at first and I was so confused and even when we got to the few girls who will form the squadron I couldn't really tell them apart. I couldn't even connect to Aelya, our main character, and grew bored the more I read, so I decided to stop there.

Aelya is a 16 year old female pilot in the Soviet Union during WWII. Separated from her family at the beginning of the war and unable to fly in the army due to her gender, Aelya is stuck digging trenches. After awhile she breaks off in search of finding a place for herself in the Air Force. She started out having a one track mind for flying but overtime learned that there was so much more to life than flying. Aelya’s story is told as she battles both physical enemies and herself.

Here’s the thing— neither Aelya nor any of the other characters were particularly likeable. They didn’t act as a group and form a camaraderie. I have brief moments where I like one of them, but then something happens and they’re just annoying and unremarkable (or too showy). They may call each other friends, but never act like it. The book was too full of hatred to find anything redeemable.

The author did an excellent job of imagery and I was easily able to picture everything that was occurring. Aelya was a strong protagonist and displayed strong emotions. I was able to not only picture her, but also started to feel much as she does about different events and people. However, the book was really slow. It was long and hard to remember names as there were many characters. When someone died, it was unremarkable because the characters were all strangers to the reader.

3.5

This was yet another book about a part of WWII that I didn’t know a lot about. Most books focus on Germany, America, and France, but this one took place in Russia and dealt with female fighter pilots during the war. I was intrigues to read something new and get new insight on the war.

While the story itself was interesting, I felt rather disconnected from it. There was a lot of stuff that was talked about but never really explained. I knew Russia was involved in the war, but their part isn’t discussed as much. The book, however, feels like it’s written as if the reader knows what Russia’s part in everything was. There were also several terms talked about that I didn’t really understand, such as Roza talking about hiding her last name and a family member being an unperson. It’s never explained completely and may leave readers feeling confuse.

Aelya was a decent main character. She had a clear voice talking about her frustrations and excitement with flying. However, I don’t feel like she had much growth throughout the novel. At the beginning she was trying to fit in and fly well and had frustrations, but by the end she was angry and still had frustrations and was picking fights with the other pilots. Part of that can be explained by the war setting, but I still felt like by the end of the novel she should have gotten over petty difference with the other pilots.

There were also a LOT of characters. Not only that, many of the characters also had nicknames, so it was really hard at times to keep track of who was who. And then there were names getting thrown around of people who hadn’t been in the book at all, but were written as if you should have a connection to them. At one point Aelya mentions two pilots by name who were missing that hadn’t been mentioned before. And while she’s upset over the incident, it’s hard for the reader to make an emotional connection. There’s simply too many people to keep track of, and throwing out random names of more people that haven’t been introduced makes it confusing and cluttered.

The petty fights between the pilots also detracted from the story. Yes, there will be issues between people, but it seemed like there were so many. Characters were constantly fighting and bullying each other. The female pilots fought with each other and played cruel jokes. The men picked on the female pilots and harassed them. The men also fought with each other, trying to see who was king of the hill. It got to be a little much, especially because the book itself is about a war. But instead of talking about the war, it focused instead on fighting within ranks.

The book did have a lot of positives though. I did enjoy reading about a book set in Russia and dealing with Russia’s part in the war. I also enjoyed the fact that it was about female fighter pilots, which is a subject that hasn’t been covered much. The air battles were well written, as were the parts talking about base and the planes.

This is a good debut, and I’m interested to see where the story goes in the sequel, and also how the author will improve and grow.

Thank you net galley for the advance read copy of this novel. I was very excited to read this book about Soviet women pilots in WWII. This book did a good job highlighting the inner struggles of Aelyas pilot group...and in fact I was skipping over some places to move on. I enjoy historical fiction and this book was on a topic I hadn't read a ton on.

SPARROW SQUADRON follows Aelya who joins the Soviet Air Force during WWII spurred by a desire to do more to help the war effort than dig trenches with her Komsomol club. The story is told more in snapshots of Aelya's life during the war than an over-arching story. We see Aelya's squabbles with the other women in her regiment, her struggle to figure out what kind of pilot she is, and the endless bureaucracy of a country at war. The amount of rich details in SPARROW SQUADRON makes it clear that the author really did his research. There's even a helpful historical background at the back of the book for those that may be a little unfamiliar with the history of the Soviet Union and its role in WWII.

I enjoyed this book and its look at an often-neglected area of WWII. Aelya's regiment is full of interesting people, from the brash Tonya who always has illegal goods to "Auntie" Lara who does her best to keep the regiment safe and constantly goes to the mat for the women's right to fly planes. The biggest thing I felt was missing from <i>Sparrow Squadron</i> was an emotional connection to the characters. I found them interesting to read about but wish I had felt more concerned with their fates. Aelya was just a bit too perfect to really root for -- since it seemed like she was always going to come through okay no matter what happened around her.

Overall, this was a solid debut that tells an important story. There's lots of good characters and snapshots of life behind the Soviet front to keep things interesting. Plus, who doesn't love women flying planes?

Following along with young soviet pilot, Aelya, allows you to travel back in time and experience what it was like to fight the nazi's in the soviet union. Historical fiction that is great for anyone who loves a war story, esp. one that follows a young woman trying to join the fight. The highs and lows keep you wondering what's next for the hero. Comradery and Rivalry play out against the backdrop of war. A squadron of women pilots fighting to prove themselves to each other and to their male counterparts and to a nation at war. Great for anyone who likes a strong war story.

This book is so LONG and SLOW that I seriously doubt many readers will be able to finish it. I've been reading it for DAYS now and I'm still only 38% of the way through it. It's just the same stuff over and over again. Girl wants to be a pilot. Girl gets to be a pilot. Girl doesn't get to see combat while less trained boys do. And the drama. Seriously. I DON'T CARE THAT EVERYONE IN HER GROUP DOES NOT GET ALONG! If I wanted a story featuring cliguey girls I would have read a book by Lisi Harrison. Aelya's fellow pilots just won't stop fighting each other and I honestly could care less about it just MOVE ON ALREADY. It really isn't a bad story, it's just a really long and slow one. Good luck.

I love the premise of this title. I love that it is set in Russia and that there is a foreword explaining names and what they mean. Such a point of difference in todays flooded market.

The writing may have been a little young for me, that being said, this book is perfect for the high-school aged student (13-16).
The writing style made sure that each event flowed and that there were no choppy changeovers.