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What Members Thought
Guys, this book was SO GOOD. It's about a young Scottish woman in WWII who's been captured by the Gestapo as a spy, and is being forced to write her confession. But what she writes is primarily the story of two best friends, herself and an amazing lady pilot, and how they met in the war, and the eve ...more
Beautiful! I was on the subway for the last bit and nearly blubbed as they say.
Another nominated for the Scottish Children's Book Awards. I LOVED it. I don't want to give too much away because the narrative relies on twists and turns and pulling the carpet out from under your feet. Let's just say it is a proper, ripping yarn of a spy story with two narrators you can't help but fall in love with. And they are both young women - a pilot and a spy! It's wonderful! And their joint account of their friendship is so loving and moving amongst the horrors of the second world war.
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So freakin' good, and it's really nice to see Elizabeth Wein getting some recognition at last. I was a little sceptical going in to this one, mainly because I didn't love her Firebird short story about the girl pilot, and because I was sad that it wasn't The Sword Dance. But it only took a few pages to allay my fears: this book is brilliant. (I am still sad that The Sword Dance has yet to see the light of day, but at least now I can drown my sorrows in Wein's newer novels.) Full of espionage, to
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I absolutely loved this book - an epistolary novel, written in diary entries (some of these written by an English woman for her German captors, so you read it wondering how much of it you can trust), it is narrated by two women, an intelligence agent and a pilot in WW2. It is a wonderful story about friendships between women, and courage and integrity and the different forms they can take. Not a terribly long book, but one with a great deal of emotional weight which has stayed with me.
I went into this thinking it was a YA book (it is) and really getting confused by that - there are definitely some elements of war, POW, torture that are not particularly vivid, but enough of a thing for me that I found myself thinking "this is a young adult read?" Definitely on the older end of the spectrum.
Anyway, good story where details are revealed slowly, and things are learned after the fact, or where the importance of things aren't known until after the fact. Also a good bit of girl powe ...more
Anyway, good story where details are revealed slowly, and things are learned after the fact, or where the importance of things aren't known until after the fact. Also a good bit of girl powe ...more
A YA novel receiving rave reviews from almost everyone. A spy story featuring two teenage girl aviators in World War II, one of whom has been captured and is telling her story. I wouldn't call this a thriller, since it delves more deeply into character development. An intricate plotted novel and the story of a friendship at the same time, I can clearly see why this is beloved but it didn't quite get there for me.
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When I began this I didn't think it would make me cry. The narrative voice was too casual and it was jarring with the historical setting. But of course I cried. Eventually the style won me over and did what it was meant to do: bring a sense of immediacy and life to the story, imbue it with humor and fierceness so that the danger was even more affecting. And now I actually care about planes.
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I reread this gorgeous book this week because - well, because I could. Because it's gorgeous. Because sometimes I have to sit on the sofa, crying. (Also because I'm going to listen to Wein's next book soon, and wanted this one fresh in my head.) It's just as lovely when I know what's coming, and just as hard to brace myself against.
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I have to say that this started off slowly for me; the subject matter & plot should've been fascinating but somehow felt flat and just didn't move me too much. That totally changed in the last half, though. Glad I stuck with it!
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Why did I wait so long to read this book, WHYYYYY? THIS WAS/IS AMAZING, GO READ IT RIGHT NOW, RUN DON'T WALK, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. This book is everything, EVERYTHING!!, we want books to be.
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May 12, 2012
keri.
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
youngadult,
fiction,
bestbeloved,
insanebutawesome,
heartbreaking,
amazinglyamazing,
historicalfiction,
bookclub,
2013,
ebook
Jul 23, 2013
G
marked it as to-read
Sep 19, 2013
Caitlin H
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
2013-favorites
Nov 05, 2013
Caitlin
marked it as to-read
