Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Rose Under Fire

Rose Under Fire
Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  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 Ravensbruck, 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.


Review: I didn't like this book quite as much as Code Name Verity, and I fear that its rating may have suffered because of my high expectations based on that book. The story focused on the medical experiments performed by the Nazis on Polish women at the Ravensbruck concentration camp, a subject which I had little prior knowledge of.  While I know that the Nazis imprisoned groups of people in addition to Jews, it was strange that this book dealt entirely with those groups, and didn't mention Jews at all.  Rose was a plucky teenage girl who managed to survive the concentration camps, and I thought her behavior during the Nuremburg trials was not in fitting with her character at all.  So the ending was a little soured for me because of that.  I am not a big fan of poetry in general, and I'm not sure I understood all the poems that Rose wrote in the camp.

Rating: 4 stars (or maybe 3.5 after further reflection)

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