Breathtakingly Beautiful

I waited a while before writing this review in hopes I’ll have a better idea of how to express my feelings. As it turns out, I don’t. I was expecting a heart wrenching beautiful and historically accurate story, based on what I experienced with Code Name Verity, but I was still blown away by it. They were as good, I’m even tempted to admit I enjoyed this one better, but it is still so fresh in my heart I feel a bit biased saying that, but they were still so different from each other. They are definitely two different stories, with a common theme and some shared characters.

I was ecstatic to see Maddie and Jamie (I’m sorry if I didn’t get the spelling of their names right, but I listened to the audiobook, so I didn’t get the chance to read it) again and to see they were well and happy. It was just a glimpse because they are not the centre of this story, but I was glad to get it. I wasn’t surprised, though, to learn a bit about them and how they were coping with Julie’s decease, yet I was not expecting to run into Engel again, and trust me, you’ll find her in the most unexpected place. When it finally dawned on me it was her, I was agape! It was awesome that Rose’s path crossed with her’s in such a way. Masterful, even.

Speaking of masterful, this story totally sneaked up on me. I thought it would go straight to the action, like Code Name Verity where we learn straight ahead that Julie had been imprisoned. Not this time around. I didn’t read the synopsis beforehand so I didn’t know what would happen, and I really didn’t know what to expect, but this story was slowly showing its deep layers. Plus, it was great to see how Rose had changed after experiencing the hardships the war brought on her.

I loved the fact that Rose was a poet, and I loved every one of the poems she wrote at camp. I also didn’t miss the subtlety of her last name being Justice. I loved that instead of putting the focus in one friendship, we got the focus on a wonderful group of people. But most of all, even if the author was careful in portraying the horrors that went on in a Concentration Camp, I loved that the main centre of attention was solidarity, love and the strength of human race. I hate what happened during WWII, but it wasn’t only a show of our worst features as humanity, if you look careful enough you’ll also be able to see it was also a demonstration of our best features and strengths.

I also enjoyed very much that the story wasn’t set in a Jewish Concentration Camp, which, as it turned out, were a bit different from the prisoner’s camp as the one Rose was in (I won’t even dare try to spell that). I liked that because they did exist, but we barely know about them, at least me. So many different types of people ended up there and their experiences were somewhat different. They deserved the spotlight.

It turned out I had lots to say about this book, but I would love to end it with a mention to Elodie. I loved that character and I got so little of her. I would love to have her side of the story. She was indeed remarkable, and if I ever end up marrying a French guy and have a daughter, I shall name her Elodie.

To sum up, this author is brilliant and the narrator was marvellous! They brought together a story to life. A beautiful heart warming, heart wrenching story of hope, solidarity, love and bravery in the most unexpected places. This book will live with me forever. It accurately captures the horror and the small rays of beauty within German Concentration Camps.

I don’t want to make this review longer, so I’ll just add a short note on Sasha Pick’s narration. She is unbelievably amazing! She has an excellent pacing, she’s a wonderful singer, I loved listening to her read poetry, and how she made all the voices with their respective accents. She was so good at it too. Brilliant choice. I’ll be looking out for more of her audiobooks.

44 people found this helpful

A Compelling and Disturbing Read

A very powerful book. I stumbled upon the first book in this short series, Code Name Verity. I was terribly impressed. It seemed well researched, extremely detailed and highly engrossing. Even though it was dealing with a time in history and events that are well known, it still managed to surprise me.

Rose Under Fire was a more difficult read and at first I did not think I would like it. The heroine was a little to perfect and perky to be believable. Then it seemed to settle down and I became immersed in the story. The perfection and perkiness soon slipped away. While the first book definitely had dark segments, much of Rose Under Fire was downright bleak. So bleak that it was sometimes difficult to continue. No matter how many times you read of the atrocities of the second World War, they can still hit you hard. Especially when told as compellingly as this book.

I loved the periodic insertion of both Millay's and "Rose's" poetry. If you are not a poetry fan, that might make the book a little more difficult to push through, but I thought it only added to the context of the story and she used the alliterative aspect of poetry to further the plot line.

I thought the narration was extremely well done. The voice of Rosa, a Polish prisoner was a little grating, but I think it fit the characters age, experience, personality and situation.

I heartily recommend this book.

33 people found this helpful

Beware if you get annoyed by cartoon-y narration

Would you try another book from Elizabeth Wein and/or Sasha Pick?

I had listened to Code Name Verity and liked it. Not loved, but it was entertaining. Sasha Pick though is just way too over the top in her narrating style for me to deal with. I had to stop listening at times because her attempts at accents were so grating. I felt like I was watching a bad play with even worse actors. To be honest, I might not even finish the whole book, I have about 2 hours left and I just don't know if I can stick it out.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Sasha Pick?

Someone who can do bearable accents.

29 people found this helpful

Terrific story paired with passible narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The book, yes! I loved Elizabeth Wein's companion to this, "Code Name Verity". Even Maddie makes appearances in both books... But as an audiobook, I don't think I would recommend it. Sasha Pick has a cartoonish voice for Rosia, which made me want to cover my ears in protest. And her German and French pronunciations are also off.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

It did. As an American narrator, I did enjoy Sasha Pick, but for foreign accents (French, Polish) and Rosia's character in particular, I didn't enjoy so much.

Any additional comments?

Read the book, skip the audio, unless you can get this book on sale like I did.

26 people found this helpful

Nachthexen

Elizabeth Wein's books are an engaging listen. I actually skipped my daily Audible edition of the New York Times because I was close to finishing "Code Named Verity" (2012) and really wanted to know how it ended. For a middle aged mom who's pretty set in her morning coffee-and-paper while driving into work routine, that's a major sacrifice.

As entrancing as they are to listen to, Wein's books are difficult to review. Plot spoilers are just too close to the surface. "Rose Under Fire" (2014) is no exception, so I'll try my best. Rose Justice is an 18 year old high school graduate who grew up flying with her father, who'd been a World War I fighter pilot. Rose has English family members who help her find a job with the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) a British civilian pilots' service that ferried aircraft from factories to air bases for installation of armaments, and then took damaged aircraft back for repairs. The real life ATA had volunteers from all over the world - including 168 women pilots.

"Rose Under Fire" started out a bit slow, and I started to wonder if anything interesting was going to happen - and since I hadn't read the synopsis, I didn't know what was coming. Rose made new friends and cheerfully piloted planes with the skill that comes from years of flying. Rose was in England for D-Day (June 6, 1944), but didn't have any role in that.

When something finally did happen, it was about the most terrible thing that could happen to anyone in Europe during World War II. I'd gotten so attached to the clever, confident and optimistic Rose that I really wished she'd spent the rest of the war flying a glorified delivery service. Wein was very careful to make her characters and situations historically accurate, as she points out in endnotes she narrates herself. Rose might be a fiction, but Wein put her among real life women in real places, and those real places were worse than hell. In hell, there are no innocent bystanders.

Sasha Pick gave the voice performance and - well, one of the important characters' voices is narrated in a very high pitched voice that set my teeth on edge. Yes, the character was supposed to be annoying, but I don't think the listen itself should have been turn-the-volume down, fast forward through it shrill. Pick did a great job with "Code Name Verity", so I'm going to guess it was a director issue, but that didn't make it any more listenable.

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

14 people found this helpful

Absolutely fabulous and gut-wrenching!

A great story, great research backing it up. Young American female pilot, Rose Justice, volunteers as a transport pilot to the British war effort and gets captured by the Germans over France. Spends time in Ravensbruck Prison. Lives to tell the tale. The author is a pilot, so her descriptions of flying are based on personal experience; she even explains how planes fly--a little physics lesson. And she spent time at the Ravensbruck Summer Camp in order to write this book. The voice actor for the audiobook was equally good; Sasha Pick must do American, British, Scottish, Polish, French, and German female voices, and most are very believable. This book had me close to tears many days on my way to and from work.

11 people found this helpful

Very fascinating story

I loved how it was told as if she had journaled it. All of characters voices where well narrated I thought.

10 people found this helpful

Sobbing Tell The World

It's hard to imagine that anything like what is described happened yet it did. These despicable crimes committed against these women - my heart breaking and my eyes overflow with tears. Thank you for writing something honourable and respectful to their memories. Never again, we must never ever let this happen again.

10 people found this helpful

Excellent story that needed to be told.

Horrific and inspiring highlighting the unsung crimes and compassion at Ravensbruck. Well told story and good performance except for the voice of one "rabbit", Rosa, which is distractingly high, squeaky and cartoonish. Subtracts from the quiet bravery of that character. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend everyone read this important story.

9 people found this helpful

Awesome

This was an excellent book. Information I knew very little about. A true life changing experience to hear this excellent narrator read this wonderful story.

7 people found this helpful