Title: Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Genre: Historical fiction

Publisher: Egmont (U.K.)/Disney-Hyperion (U.S.)

Length: 452 pages

Stand alone or Series: Stand alone

Blurb:

I have two weeks. You'll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That's what you do to enemy agents. It's what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine - and I will do anything, anything to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I'm going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France - an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

Review:

(Warning: Possible GIF abuse ahead.)

How does one review an all-time favourite book?  

Because no words can describe Code Name Verity. No matter how I try to, I can never do it justice. I can shove this in your face and use #ReadtheBook or #Shutupandtakemymoney GIFs, but that still won't do.

I'll try my best.

Where do I begin? Code Name Verity takes place in World War II. A British—correction, Scottish spy is captured in German-occupied France. Verity has two choices: confess enemy secrets, and die quickly; or don't, and die slowly and painfully.

She takes the first choice.

In fact, her very first sentence in her confession is "I AM A COWARD". And in a way, she is a coward. She can't tolerate the idea of torture. She's not like the French girl next to her cell, who fights and spits every day when the Nazis interrogate her. She trades radio codes for her clothes. She is a collaborater, the most-hated kind of person.

So she collaborates. At the same time, she weaves a story of friendship between her and Maddie, an ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary, for those of you who don't know) pilot. They're so different: Verity is a Scottish aristocrat; Maddie comes from a middle-class, Southern England family. Verity swears like a sailor; Maddie's most serious oath is 'double drat'. Verity is afraid of heights; Maddie practically revels in the air.

But they make a sensational team.

In Truthwitch, I highlighted the remarkable friendship between Safi and Iseult. Here, I'll safely say that these two beat them by a long mile. Verity and Maddie are two remarkable young women who would never meet in normal circumstances. They're brought together by war, and I reckon that the bond between them can withstand any antiaircraft guns.

I seriously appreciate the fact that Wein did her research. Just look at the list of references at the end and you'll get cross-eyed. It pays off beautifully though. Details, from the world's first ballpoint pen to the passenger capacity of a Puss Moth make the world come alive. They transport you back into World War II, and you are standing beside Verity, watching the events of the book unfold.

Code Name Verity also stands out because of its characters. Actually, by the end of the book, you'll no longer think of them as characters, but as real people. Real, living, breathing people. Whether it be our practical pilot, Maddie, or the slick and methodical SS von Linden, our oh-so-likeable villain; whether you love them or hate them, they will feel real. They'll burrow deep into your heart and insist on staying there forever.

And don't get me started on the plot. Absolutely amazing. Wein weaves her foreshadowing so subtly into the narrative that by the end, I felt like a pile of bricks had been dropped on my head. She reduced me into a sobbing heap of uselessness when I finished it, and I remained in this state for the next three days.

No, you did not read that wrong. I sobbed. I CRIED. Badly.

I seriously BAWLED like a baby. This is one of the two books that managed to squeeze the tears out of my eyes (the other being The Book Thief). See? Another reason why you should get this book.

So after that rather rambling review, I'm still convinced that I'm not doing this book justice. So I'll try to sum it up in GIFs.

It starts like this:

(That confession tho. I instantly loved Verity.)

And evolves into this:

(Because of Verity and Maddie's friendship.)

Before it turns into this:

And this:

(This is where everything goes to hell.)

You'll be doing this:

And occasionally this:

(How does Verity even manage to make me laugh in the middle of an interrogation?!)

But mostly this:

(I love and hate you, Elizabeth Wein. You monster.)

Then at a certain scene, you'll be this:

When you finish, you'll be this:

There. That's basically Code Name Verity. That, and a whole lot more crying. Prepare your Kleenex tissues while you read, guys.

Why do I say that? Because you're reading it, of course. I don't care if you don't have enough money. Borrow, beg, steal. Sell your cat, sell your house, sell your mom. Just get enough cash to buy it.

(Okay, maybe you shouldn't sell your mom. Forget I said that.)

BECAUSE ALL OF YOU MUST. READ. IT.

Oh, whaddya know? This GIF has appeared. So why not the other one?

Rating: 10 - JUST. READ. THE. BOOK.