Rose Under Fire

During my unplanned vacation (thanks a lot, Congress - now all my deadlines are much worse than they were before), I did manage to get a LOT of reading done. I had two favorites, one of which I'm going to talk about this week. And for that, I'm going to need to address my fellow Code Name Verity enthusiasts.

You all know this is out, right? And that it's a companion book to Code Name Verity? (Not a sequel - though a certain someone makes a few appearances). Oh, and there are no spoilers for CNV here, because some of you silly people haven't read it yet.

Anyway! Look what is out!

Description from Amazon.com:

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that's in store for her?

So, here's the thing. I was extremely nervous about reading this book. I loved Code Name Verity more than I have just about any other book in a long, long time. Which is pretty much setting up an unfair disadvantage for this book, but there you go.

Did I love it as much? No, I can't say I did, in part because of a pacing issue. But I still loved it, and if I hadn't just recently read Code Name Verity (and The Fault in Our Stars), THIS would be the best book I've read in a long time. I'm going to take a go at trying to tell you why without any spoilers.

But if you want to go into the book completely cold, I don't entirely blame you. Just go read it. But be prepared, it's not easy.

*

*

*

*

*

I still loved this book because the most important facets of CNV that I loved were still there. For one, the emotional impact is there. It's different, but it's still there. And once again. Elizabeth Wein's skill with characters is the best I've come across in a long time - though it's more the side characters than the main heroine that stuck with me. This is a harder book to read too. It's set in a concentration camp, and it's pretty much as horrific as you think it might be, and then some, because all of these horrors are pulled from historical fact. And yet... it's not hard to read in the sense of it being horror after horror, because the characters are front and center.

But really, the main thing that impressed me was that you learn about 1/4 of the way through the book what will happen to all the characters. And it doesn't matter. It still hurts every bit as much when it actually happens. So much so that I'm trying not to tear up now.

There's so much more I want to say, but the book just came out a few weeks ago, and I doubt many people have read it so far. But this book, like CNV, is something I want to implore people to read, because these women and their struggle gripped me and still hasn't let me go. For the one thing those characters asked for more than anything else:

Tell the world.