the reader of books

This is sort of a companion book to Code Name Verity. Some of the same characters pop up and, like Code Name Verity, the story is about a young, female pilot who falls into the hands of the evil Nazis. Unlike the crazy neverending plot twists of Code Name Verity, this was pretty straightforward: Rose recounts her time as a prisoner at Ravensbruck concentration camp for women. Honestly, I was scared to read this because I was afraid things were going to get really, REALLY bad. And they did, but not so bad that it was too painful or horrifying or too much to get through. Weirdly enough, that is why I am only giving it three stars instead of four -- it was too neat and too glossy. Rose went through some pretty horrifying stuff and was constantly emotional and crying (as most people would be) but it just seemed...superficial. She is all, "I feel so dehumanized; I am totally indifferent to death. Hey, I should be a doctor! I'll go to medical school! Yeah, I'll do that!" within the space of a paragraph. It was all so strange. Nothing makes me want to sob more than reading a good wartime story, and I think Rose Under Fire had the best intentions -- War is hell! Friendship and Sisterhood in the face of unspeakable Nazi evil! Here are some facts to prove it! -- but it was stated rather than shown. Still! It was engaging and I blazed through it. Plus, there is way less technical flying stuff than there was in Code Name Verity, but I guess this is offset by the bad poetry liberally sprinkled throughout.