Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" in The New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.

Paperback, 447 pages

Published February 6th 2012 by Egmont Press

my copy provided by netgalley for a honest review

**** 

There was so much hype about this book before it was even released, so much so that I was a little hesitant to read it.  Would my expectations be too high? Would I lose the enjoyment of reading this?  I am happy to report that this book is just as wonderful as it's ratings show.

“Don't know how I kept going. You just do. You have to, so you do.”

 

Verity is a young English pilot that has been captured by the Nazis.  Forced to write out her secrets she  writes out something that is poetic at times.  It is imaginative, at times comical and it had me totally mesmerized.  She has been tortured by the Nazi, but she isn't stupid and fears what the outcome most likely will be.  Through her writings it wasn't hard for that bond to form and to really get to know her.

Then it switches to Maddie's point of view and the friendship continues. Again  the connection is stronger now, with serious fears of the outcome.  Elizabeth Wein's writing style was real and felt genuine. Her knowledge of events and the time period were spot on.

This book was so well written, it wasn't hard to sit, with plans on reading just one chapter only to discover I had read way more. Definitely recommend this book to those that like World War II stories, YA and anyone who genuinely just wants to read a good book.

“It's like being in love, discovering your best friend.”