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Emily May's Reviews > Code Name Verity
Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)
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I have a feeling I'm not going to be very popular by posting this review, everyone seems to love this book so far and I feel more disappointed in myself and my tastes than the novel or the author. Code Name Verity is one of those books that are the reason why I created the shelf its-me-not-you. I mentioned this very recently in my review of The Book Of Blood And Shadow and it is also similar to the experience I had trying to read The Book Thief and Feed. I just found 90% of the book long-winded and unnecessary.
The novel opens where the narrator has been captured by the Nazi opposition during WWII. She is given paper to tell her story and she does so through the eyes of her friend Maddie. Different, definitely. Maddie's story is told in various anecdotes, a technique I've already failed to appreciate in The Book Thief but I suppose the intention was to subtly build up a picture of both girls' pasts and their friendship. This book is not very plot-focused or fast-paced, it's about conversations and people and female pilots during the second world war, which would all have been great if it had been balanced out with a touch of drama.
I cannot tell you just how much I wanted to like this. It's about women's involvement in the war and us Northern girls - two topics that don't get nearly enough press. But, for me, there was just too big a focus on piloting and aircraft and I'm sorry but I struggled to care. If you read the author's note at the end she will tell you that this book is actually meant to be about pilots:
"This book started off rather simply as a portrait of an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot. Being a woman and a pilot myself, I wanted to explore the possibilities that would have been open to me during the second world war."
And not enough else was brought in. There's only so many descriptions of a pilot's job I can sit through before I start to snooze, each to their own but flying planes has never been an interest of mine. The best parts of this book were the touching ending and the fact that the narrator is delightfully unreliable (I love them, I do! Eugenides, I miss you...) but I needed more. All I really want is for a book to rouse some passion in me, whether it be excitement, sadness, anger even... I felt nothing.
by
I have a feeling I'm not going to be very popular by posting this review, everyone seems to love this book so far and I feel more disappointed in myself and my tastes than the novel or the author. Code Name Verity is one of those books that are the reason why I created the shelf its-me-not-you. I mentioned this very recently in my review of The Book Of Blood And Shadow and it is also similar to the experience I had trying to read The Book Thief and Feed. I just found 90% of the book long-winded and unnecessary.
The novel opens where the narrator has been captured by the Nazi opposition during WWII. She is given paper to tell her story and she does so through the eyes of her friend Maddie. Different, definitely. Maddie's story is told in various anecdotes, a technique I've already failed to appreciate in The Book Thief but I suppose the intention was to subtly build up a picture of both girls' pasts and their friendship. This book is not very plot-focused or fast-paced, it's about conversations and people and female pilots during the second world war, which would all have been great if it had been balanced out with a touch of drama.
I cannot tell you just how much I wanted to like this. It's about women's involvement in the war and us Northern girls - two topics that don't get nearly enough press. But, for me, there was just too big a focus on piloting and aircraft and I'm sorry but I struggled to care. If you read the author's note at the end she will tell you that this book is actually meant to be about pilots:
"This book started off rather simply as a portrait of an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot. Being a woman and a pilot myself, I wanted to explore the possibilities that would have been open to me during the second world war."
And not enough else was brought in. There's only so many descriptions of a pilot's job I can sit through before I start to snooze, each to their own but flying planes has never been an interest of mine. The best parts of this book were the touching ending and the fact that the narrator is delightfully unreliable (I love them, I do! Eugenides, I miss you...) but I needed more. All I really want is for a book to rouse some passion in me, whether it be excitement, sadness, anger even... I felt nothing.
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Reading Progress
February 14, 2012
– Shelved
February 20, 2012
–
Started Reading
February 22, 2012
–
26.77%
"I was really looking forward to this but I feel like it's another The Book of Blood and Shadow situation. It's so slow and focuses on the technicalities of piloting, I just don't care :("
page
121
February 22, 2012
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 176 (176 new)
message 1:
by
Estara
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 24, 2012 04:57AM
Fair enough - you explained why it didn't work for you very well, so if you're missing Eugenides can I recommend the author's Telemakos? He's protagonist for the first time in The Sunbird, but shows up in the previous book in the series A Coalition of Lions. He's much younger than Gen, though, but has a similar role of creative helper to rulers. The whole thing is set in 6th century Ethiopia.
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Sounds interesting, thank you, I will check it out :)
Aww sorry to hear this one didn't work for you! I second Estara's recommendation of EWein's Arthurian novels. I actually call Telemakos "Gen-in-Africa" because he reminds me of Eugenides.
Okay, that's it, two recs for the same book and both mentioning Gen? It's on my TBR! Thanks for accepting my friend request, by the way :)
SO if I liked (LOVED) Book of Blood and Shadow do you think I'd like this?
I'm afraid I can't say that Giselle, the stories are not alike at all... but I found Blood & Shadow to be really slow, as I did this one, so I think readers with more patience for this kind of pacing will like it. Plus, I am in a tiny minority on this one so it's definitely worth a try :)
Emily wrote: "I'm afraid I can't say that Giselle, the stories are not alike at all... but I found Blood & Shadow to be really slow, as I did this one, so I think readers with more patience for this kind of ..."Oh ok. I got it for review and it seems really different from anything else I've ever read so I've no idea how I'll like it. We'll see.
I agree, Jillian. I just felt that by the time I got to the good stuff I no longer had much interest in the plot/characters :/
I felt much the same way you did while reading. I knew I should be loving it, but I just couldn't get there emotionally. Glad I'm not the only one.
Me too, it seems that everyone loves this, glad to know I'm not alone.
I see what you mean now, Emily. I am about 40 pages in and getting quite bored with all the piloting. The part with Nazis is interesting, but everything about Maddie is just isn't for me. Another 10 pages, and most likely I am out.
okay, so I loved this book -- totally worked for me -- but I just have to say THANK HEAVENS for saying you struggled with The Book Thief -- I thought I was the only one! (though I did adore Feed *s*) And your honest review of CNV is marvelous. thanks for posting it!
Thanks Jennifer :) Just to let you know, I received your email and I can't promise I will have time to review the anthology, but I will definitely check it out.
Your honesty is highly commendable. I struggle with books sometimes, as I think, we all do. There is often general consensus on many books, especially mainstream fiction, but it is always great to here that others are open about their not particularly getting on with a book! I will read this one, see how it goes. I did enjoy The Book Thief though...! Lol
P.S - I love the 'its me not you' shelf idea. Awesome.
Thanks Donna. Sometimes it's really difficult to post a negative review when everyone else seems to love a book. I hope Code Name Verity works for you more than it did for me :)
I'm going to add that shelf, too. I struggled through the first 100 pages of this book and then I gave up. I had no idea what was going on other than she was being forced to write this story b/c she had been captured. The plane/pilot stuff was like a foreign language to me. I can't see most teens/ya's persevering through the text. I am glad to see I wasn't the only one who didn't "get" it.
SO glad to see your review. I felt similarly and thought something might be wrong with me! Your review reassured me :-)
Thanks Mirele! I've found that a lot of people who didn't enjoy it abandoned the book early on so didn't leave a rating or review, that's why it looks like everyone loved it - but you're not alone :)
I read about 3 chapters of Code Name Verity, then retread and still there seemed to be no story for me, anyway.
I know, it's a very slow kind of book.
I am having to force myself to finish it. It has some good points but overall, I'm getting restless and would like to move on to another book.
I'm at 30% and still not captivated. Will read on and hope it gets better...
So agree! I felt the exact same way the entire time I was reading it.
Don't apologize for your review. I can tell this book is terrible just from reading the sample provided on the website.
I agree, Anne. I still find myself surprised that quite so many people were able to look past those parts.
Thanks, Izzy! You're definitely not alone.
I picked up this book BECAUSE it was about aeroplanes and fell in love with it because it actually wasn't about planes, but people who fly planes.
Your review is spot on, completely what I ended the book feeling--a lack of emotion. Wish I could have been more into it (there are some rave reviews on here), but it just wasn't there for me.
Thanks Haley, I'm sorry it was disappointing for you too :/
Some of these books might be great on audible. I listened to The Book Thief and never wanted to leave my car!
Interesting. I admit that I tend to forget about audio books but I'm definitely hoping to listen to more in the near future - any others you would recommend?
Emily May wrote: "Interesting. I admit that I tend to forget about audio books but I'm definitely hoping to listen to more in the near future - any others you would recommend?"I loved listening to The Art of Racing in the Rain. I read Defending Jacob but mt son lived listening. What type of books do you enjoy? The narrator for the book thief was just great.
Thanks! There's no particular genre I prefer, I like anything with a good story and characters that interest me, I'll definitely check both of those out :)
Take Defending Jacob on vacation. You won't be able to put it down. If you like dogs (even a little bit) The Art of Racing in the Rain is a must. The audio (from audible.com) is amazing.
This is a fantastic audio book. Good choice of readers.
I was just in the process of cleaning up my bookshelf, removing this one, and moving on, when I decided to peruse the reviews one more time and stumbled upon yours. Thank you soooo much. I thought there was something wrong with me that I really was not into Code Name Verity. I practically dreaded picking it up at night, allowed it to sit on my nightstand so long that I incurred late fees at the library, and ultimately returned it having read maybe 50 pages. It's reassuring to learn from your review and so many readers who have commented on your post that I'm not alone in having experienced this book as dull and uninteresting. On to the next one!
No problem, Kimberly :) You always start to question yourself when you don't love a book that's been really popular, so it's great to hear from others in this thread who were disappointed with Code Name Verity too. I wish you better luck with your next read!
No need to apologize for you review! Hey some people LOVE books I hate and HATE books I love - that's why we review, there's something here for ev1. Happy reading!
Although I ultimately gave it 4 stars, I'm so glad to see this review. It was just before the halfway point that I began to suspect what was happening in the book which propelled me forward. Once I hit the halfway point, it became much easier to read. By the end, I was in love, but it IS draggy at the beginning and too repetitively descriptive. You are NOT alone! :)
I didn't care for this book. It wasn't a page turner, and I had to push myself through to the end. Came highly recommended, but it wasn't what I expected. You are not alone in your review.
I haven't quite finished the book yet, but I think your review summed it up well for me. The first 40ish pages were VERY hard for me to read, but about halfway through I started enjoying it again. I'm just about 75% of the way through and I'm struggling through a Maddie POV. Hoping to finish soon, and that the end does something to justify my struggle.
I don't feel alone! I couldn't get into this book at all. I really wanted to like it too. My undergrad is in WWII history European theater and both my father and grandfather were there! Add in the women in a pilot and espionage role and I really should have loved it. Nope. Same for the Book Thief. Didn't like either one. I just felt like so much of her narration was unnecessary and her captors would have cared less about motorbikes. By the time Eva Seiler was revealed, the good part was over! Glad others could enjoy it!
I agree! Your review explains why I couldn't get through The Book Thief either!
Yes, also bored by this book. A very unconvincing character with an annoying voice.
And I just thought it was me! I didn't like Book Thief or Feed either. That's why there are so many books to read!
Didn't enjoy the Book Thief either. On the other hand I loved War and Peace, Middlemarch, and Banana Yoshimoto's books. What does this say?
I love your idea of a it's-not-you-its-me shelf
I agree with you. I wanted to love it more, and I did like it, but I wasn't crazy about it. It wasn't until the very end of the book that I actually felt something.
