Rose Under Fire

"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: a once glamorous French novelist whose Jewish husband and three young sons have been killed, a resilient young Polish girl who has been used as a human guinea pig by Nazi doctors, and a female fighter pilot and military ace for the Soviet air force. But will that be enough to endure the fate that's in store for her?" I've been waiting so long and have been so excited for Rose Under Fire, the companion to the brilliant Code Name Verity. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my hands on an ARC, but the book finally came out September 10th. Like Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire takes a little while to actually get into, before it becomes the amazing, touching, heartbreaking book I knew it would be. As other reviewers have said, Rose Under Fire is less emotionally intense and less intense in general than Code Name Verity, but it's still a great book, and might be a better one depending on what your preferences are. Oddly enough, I didn't cry during Code Name Verity, or Rose Under Fire for that matter, but to me, Rose Under Fire felt much more close, more real, perhaps because before Rose is captured there are lots of descriptions of daily life and that makes her experiences in the concentration camp all the more awful in comparison. Still, I felt very emotionally wrought and rung out after reading both of these books. They're the kind of books where you need to read something light right afterwards to recover. Rose Justice is an interesting and good new character. I'm glad that we got to meet an amazing new narrator, who I really fell in love with. That said, I didn't love most of the poems that were in the book, though a few of them were pretty good. It was a nice idea, but it didn't work very well for me; I'm not exactly sure why. There were lots of excellent anecdotes in Rose Under Fire; maybe it was less sensational, but in some ways that made it a better read. I really enjoyed a lot of the descriptions, and it was a lot of the small things that Rose writes about that really got me, that hit me, and made me feel like crying or laughing or both. The very first one was Rose's description of the barrage balloons: "I can't get over how beautiful the barrage balloons are. I can't even talk about it to anyone - they all think I am crazy. But when you're in the air, and the sky above you is a sea of gray mist and the land below you is all green, the silver balloons float in between like a school of shining silver whales, bobbing a little in the wind. They are as big as buses, and I and every other pilot have a healthy fear of them because their tethering cables are loaded with explosives to try to snarl up enemy aircraft. But they are just magical from above, great big silver bubbles filling the sky. Incredible. It is just incredible that you can notice something like that when your face is so cold you can't feel it anymore, and you know perfectly well you are surrounded by death, and the only way to stay alive is to endure the howling wind and hold your course. And still the sky is beautiful." I loved those two paragraphs. I also loved the scene where Maddie and Rose confront the boys who are trying to take apart the bomb. I mentioned the little things that hit me really hard. One of those was just a candlewick bedspread. Here's part of the passage: "It was the stupid candlewick bedspread's fault! Mrs. Hatch's bedspreads feel the same as the ones Mother has out on the sleeping porch. Anyway, I had the candlewick on my bed pulled up to my chin last night, and after I thought about the house party, I started thinking about the sleeping porch...I got so homesick I began to cry. I just couldn't stop thinking about the sleeping porch. It's funny what sets you off. You miss people the most - really it is Polly and Alice and Sandy and Fran whom I am lonely for - but it is the candlewick bedspread that makes me ache with longing to be home." There was also another really poignant small moment, when Rose is first captured by the Germans: "Someone came in and gave me a cup of fake coffee and something a lot like a bologna sandwich, which I would have eaten if I had realized it was the last bologna sandwich I was ever going to see. But I just couldn't eat. I have dreams about that sandwich." That was so awful, as well as being a great piece of foreshadowing. Wein also includes some good descriptions of the war itself. "They've [the Germans] lost. They must know they've lost - that they're on the run. It's all so pointless. It shouldn't take another year. But I bet it will. It's not desperation - there is something inhuman in it. That is what I find so creepy. Five years of destruction and mayhem, lives lost everywhere, shortages of food and fuel and clothing -- and the insane mind behind it just urges us all on and on to more destruction. And we all keep playing." It was very chilling. I had tons of passages marked in the book, but I can't spout all the of the amazing quotes in Rose Under Fire; it would just take too long. It was somehow more emotional to me, not necessarily better, but more relatable. Both of these books are definitely among my favorites. Just like Code Name Verity, there are great female friendships in Rose Under Fire: between Maddie and Rose before Rose is captured, and between the woman suffering in the concentration camp. Really, just as many awful things happen in Rose Under Fire as in Code Name Verity: torture and worse. It's just, I suppose, a more quiet book. And the ending is happier, at least in some ways. I loved that Rose was an American; it was a different take and one that makes sense. I enjoyed reading from her perspective a lot; she can kind of look at England and Germany with an impartial eye, but she cares just as deeply about the war and about flying. She narrates the story of her experiences in the camp from after she's rescued, so we know she doesn't die. But she's been deeply scarred, inwardly and outwardly. Elizabeth Wein's writing style is so distinctive and easily recognizable, and yet I can't quite put my finger down on what it is that makes her writing her's and makes it so deeply moving. Any ideas? Like in Code Name Verity, the book is narrated through personal writings and some letters, although the set-up is different, and it's not as ingeniously plotted or thriller-like. Because, you know, Code Name Verity had that whole mystery which took your breath away, which is a whole level of complexity that Rose Under Fire didn't really have. Still, I just freaking loved it. The book has some great similes and metaphors, such as in the passage about the barrage balloons. The writing is just beautiful, and it captured this amazing story. I would highly, highly recommend Rose Under Fire, whether or not you've read Code Name Verity (although it will spoil the ending of CNV).

I very much liked Code Name Verity- and so began this book. This happens after the events in Code Name Verity. It goes into detail about what went on in Ravensbruck- and it is eye opening and sobering. My one complaint is the language used by 2 characters- Anna and Roza- lots of F words- and I understand it was part of their character- but personally, it wasn't necessary and if this is targeted towards YA- that's a no. So if you're a parent looking at this for your teen- be aware of that-- otherwise the story was very good.

Absolutely fabulous book! It is one of four that go together—Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire, The Pearl Thief and The Enigma Game. I suggest reading all four of them and in the order that the author suggests. That’s not exactly a difficult thing to do since after you finish one, you’ll be very happy to have more to read! These can easily be stand alones but the characters all cross over into each of the books. Elizabeth Wein is an incredible author and these are books that keep popping into your mind long after you’ve finished reading them. I will be rereading all of them again very soon.

This book is just beautiful in its emotional wallop and engrossing story telling. And when I say beautiful, I definitely don't mean the world our characters are in. The author does not pull the punches in dropping her readers into the harsh and gritty world of the concentration camp our characters are in. Within that horrific world, though, she's able to shine a light on the camaraderie between these women as they struggle for survival and the light of hope they refuse to let extinguish. Our main character, Rose Justice, at first made me raise an eyebrow. I had a hard time believing that the British government would hire an 18 year old girl to do any kind of flying for them, no matter what training she had. But overall, whether that point is true or not, Rose won me over with her pluck, her determination, her strength of character, and her courage. Despite the truly horrid circumstances she finds herself in, she won't give up the struggle to survive. The other women in the camp were extremely three-dimensional to me. They were all unique individuals caught up in this atrocious place and struggling to survive it in their own unique ways. Some used sarcasm, some used sheer grit, some used emotions, and some used intelligence. I liked that variety as it gave the everyone their own personality and made it so that no one was a background character. The horrors of the setting and the emotions they evoked were definitely not glossed over. Whether it was bombed-out London, the interior of the camp, or the Nuremburg trials, everything was vivid and stark in its reality. I felt the emotions inspired by the setting that the characters experienced. I experienced the settings with the characters: the horror of the camp, the freedom of flying for Rose, the tenseness in the courtroom, and the moments of readjusting and panic in the Hotel Ritz. Everything was vivid and stark in its realism and emotional wallop. This book was an incredible look at WWII, the Holocaust, and its effects on the individuals that experienced both. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who isn't afraid to read this subject matter and be emotionally moved. It's a book to savor and contemplate long after reading.

Okay. This book was so close to my heart. I cried so often because of the way this author written she's a brilliant author god. This story obviously was mounted with grief but I like how it was handled and ohgod the concentration camp. I never knew it was that bad. I was like so scared and sad. But I loved this book from the very beginning. I love both code name Verity and this with all my heart. If you don't read this, you're life is incomplete. Trust me

Frankreich, 1944: Die junge Amerikanerin Rose Justice ist als Pilotin für die RAF tätig, als sie den Deutschen in die Hände fällt. Rose landet im KZ Ravensbrück, wo sie die Grausamkeiten der Nazis am eigenen Leib erfährt. Die Freundschaft mit einer kleinen Gruppe Frauen in ihrer Baracke und ihre Lyrik halten Rose halbwegs auf den Beinen und sie hofft, bis zur Befreiung durch die Alliierten durchzuhalten. ROSE UNDER FIRE ist nach CODE NAME VERITY der zweite Roman von Elizabeth Wein, der sich mit den Frauen in der RAF und deren Schicksal während des Zweiten Weltkriegs beschäftigt. Beide Bücher stehen für sich alleine, es gibt allerdings ein paar lose Verbindungen. Wer alle zwei Romane lesen möchte, sollte unbedingt mit CODE NAME VERITY beginnen, da es ansonsten zu großen Spoilern kommt. In ROSE UNDER FIRE erzählt Rose in Form von Tagebucheinträgen von ihren Erlebnissen. Sie ist mit ihren 18 Jahren noch recht naiv und als Amerikanerin vom Krieg in Europa natürlich unberührt, erst nach und nach wächst sie an ihren Erlebnissen. Rose ist nicht nur Pilotin aus Leidenschaft, sie ist auch eine angehende Dichterin, die ihre Erfahrungen in zahlreichen Gedichten verarbeitet. Rose findet in Ravensbrück schnell Anschluss an eine Gruppe Frauen, die sehr unter den Nazis gelitten haben. Sie wurden von den Lagerärzten als Versuchskaninchen missbraucht und schrecklichen medizinischen Tests unterzogen. Die Figuren in ROSE UNDER FIRE haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Die Gruppe rund um Rose ist eine verschworene kleine Familie, die gemeinsam durch dick und dünn geht. Roza, Irina, Lisette und all die anderen waren mir sehr sympathisch und über ihre Freundschaft zu lesen, ist sehr bewegend. Die Handlung von ROSE UNDER FIRE hat mich ebenfalls völlig überzeugt. Der Überlebenskampf der Frauen ist packend und ergreifend geschildert. Die Spannung kommt auf keinen Fall zu kurz im Roman. Alles in allem ist ROSE UNDER FIRE ein großartiger historischer Roman, den ich uneingeschränkt empfehlen kann.

When I finished Code Name Verity I knew I'd fallen in love with Elizabeth Wein's style, characterisation and sense of history. Although I had some small issues with Code Name Verity, I loved the strength of the characters and the depths of their relationships so I was very excited to see how Wein could take another aspect of World War II and turn it into a story of friendship, bravery and strength, and I can say right now that Rose Under Fire didn't disappoint. Unlike Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire begins at the beginning of Rose's story. There are also some connections to characters and situations in Code Name Verity, however Rose Under Fire is definitely a traditional companion novel in that it can be read as a standalone. It could definitely be read and enjoyed without reading Code Name Verity first, but I'm glad I did as it does give extra meaning to some of the secondary characters' stories. As in Verity, there are quite a lot of references to airplanes and flying in the first part of the book but they disappear once Rose is captured by the Nazis and it's only at the end that it comes back into play, so if you don't enjoy those aspects it's not as full-on as Code Name Verity in that respect. I also read Rose Under Fire much faster than I read Code Name Verity because I found it a little less heavy, although not any less intense or emotional. I'm going to stop comparing the two books for now, but I wanted to talk about some of the aspects that I can imagine some people may have found frustrating in Code Name Verity and hopefully convince people that Rose Under Fire is quite different from Code Name Verity in some ways. It did take me a while to fully connect with Rose - at first I found her quite aloof and a little lacking in personality, but once she is in Ravensbrück her actions really brought her character alive and by the end I was once again completely blown away by Wein's characterisation. Rose dreams of being a poet, and there is quite a bit of poetry throughout the story - it's not something I normally enjoy (read - I normally skim poetry) but I found it quite interesting in Rose and actually appreciated the way it made Rose seem even more realistic. The secondary characters that Rose meets whilst a prisoner of the Nazi's were simultaneously heart breaking and uplifting - they are all unique, strong and passionate, and although it would be impossible to NOT feel sympathic towards them, I was completely sucked into their story. Wein does a good job of bringing a feeling of fear and authenticity to Rose's experiences, and the ending brings the story full circle and left me feeling hopeful and uplifted despite the terrible things that Rose and her companions endured. One final comparison to Code Name Verity - both books focus strongly on friendship, particularly the friendships between women, and in the case of Rose Under Fire, the way that friendships work under huge amounts of pressure and stress. And this is the main reason that I enjoyed both books so very much, particularly Rose Under Fire - I loved that these books could evoke so much emotion without having romance as the catalyst. Rose Under Fire is a novel with strong female characters, an atmospheric historical perspective and it was everything I'd hoped for - sad, shocking and ultimately uplifting.

What a book it was both heartbreaking and uplifting. I have read many books on this subject and this is one of the best. The characters really drew u in and felt like u were their. How anyone could survive and thrive something like that is a testament to their strength. And the perpetrators who committed the crimes may they rot in hell. And may we never forget.

It is such a good book