A quick read about an intriguing real life person lost to history.

I was a fan of the writing which was hurried and simplistic. But there is definate promise to this.

It felt like a proposal for story or film. Little glimpses into the large construct, a pitch so to speak. Worth the read, but I wish it had more character, setting and place development.

I was not familiar with The Legend of Lilia. It is probably the worst timing for the author to come out with this well researched book about this Russian pilot; Lilia, probably the world's first ace fighter pilot.

In order to sign up to be a fighter pilot, she needed to forge her flying records to document 1,000 hours and she was in combat with some of Germany's top fighter pilots.

Wow this woman had spunk!

A very good book; so glad that I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Christopher P. Redwine and BookBaby the publisher for the opportunity to review the Advance Read Copy of The Legend of Lilia in exchange for an honest review.

Lilia Litvyak was one of Russia’s most decorated fighter aces in WWII. Learning to fly at the age of 15 and at the age of 21 she becomes a fighter pilot for Russia. Wanting to clear her family name after “the Purge” that occurred when Stalin took over and her father was arrested and executed by the NKVD.

Christopher P. Redwine tells a compelling story of the women fighter pilots of Russia during WWII. His extensive research is evident through out and helps the reader appreciate the bravery and determination of these women and the stereotypes they had to deal with.

This is a definite must read for those that love WWII stories and the women that contributed. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to #netgalley and #bookbaby for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Lilia Vladimirovna Litvyak, an ace fighter pilot for Soviet Russia, was the most dangerous woman in the sky over the Eastern Front in WW2.

Author Christopher P. Redwine has done extensive interviews with veteran female pilots and mechanics, Colonels of Lilia’s regiment and scoured declassified records from Soviet archives to bring readers this amazing true story about the world’s first female ace fighter pilot and shed light on the decades-old mystery surrounding her fate.

By the age of 15, Lilia had earned her pilot’s license and by the age of 20, she had joined one of the three all-female regiments. She was involved in most missions from the Battle of Stalingrad until her mysterious disappearance on August 1, 1943. One of her more memorable aerial battles was with the Red Baron and I giggled at the exchange when she had a chance to meet him afterwards! Go, Lilia!

I learned about The Great Terror and the Black Ravens who prowled the streets at night in their black sedans, I learned about the difficulty in air fighting in such cold temperatures, about the thrill of adding a star to their plane as they neared ‘ace’ status, about the moral dipping as their comrades were downed, and about the night witches. But I was most horrified to learn about the disparity between the training hours for men and women. Male pilots were allowed to take to the air after 20 hours of training. Meanwhile, women had to log 500 hours for night bombing, 800 hours for day bombing and 1000 hours if they wanted to become fighter pilots! That’s not all - they had to shave their heads like the male pilots and had to wear men’s uniforms. I giggled at Lilia’s feminine touches to her uniform and her resourcefulness!

I did note that at times the conversation in the narrative felt forced and didn’t progress the plot. It seemed as though mindless exchanges were plopped into the narrative to serve as a break between paragraphs of historical facts. At times, the narrative transitioned into a biography, a history textbook and back to historical fiction. I also would have liked to have experienced more of a connection to the characters and more emotion in the narrative. Regardless, it did NOT take away from my enjoyment nor from learning about something I knew nothing about - the Soviet fighter pilots in WW2. It was good to have different points of view and to realize that Lilia’s biggest battle was not in the air but on the tarmac when Colonel Zuchenko came asking for a signature! Redwine has meticulously researched and it shows. This book about the hero of the Soviet Union is a worthy read.

I was gifted this advance copy by Christopher P. Redwine, BookBaby, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.