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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein

There are three covers I've seen for this book. Which one do you like best? 




From the publisher: 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?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.


Strengths: Everything. I will be honest and say that after reading Wein's Code Name Verity, I was doubtful this one could hold up.  That book was so amazing.  This book, however, may have been even better than the other. Certainly I think this book is more accessible because it's told in a more straightforward way than CNM, and both are fantastic. The writing in this book is beautiful, and I especially like the inclusion of Rose's poetry in the text. I also like that the poetry plays an important part for the characters in maintaining their sanity and hope and perhaps even gives them the tiniest bit of joy in their horror. I like that this was a different take on the Holocaust than other stories and I am happy to see that there is still room in the genre for more stories. I love Wein's character development perhaps most of all, because you know I am a character junkie. I love that Rose tells her story through writing - perhaps someone else might see how writing can save them through her story. I love that Rose and Roz'a (spelling isn't quite clear to me from the e-ARC) share a name. I love pretty much everything about this book except that I've finished it because now it's over.

Weaknesses: The book doesn't come out until September 10th, so you can't read it until then.

I read an electronic ARC of this book. Formatting of the ARC was sketchy, but I am assuming that will all be fixed in the actual electronic versions of the book.