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sephiefoxx's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“I am the code you never broke, and I don’t play by the rules”
For fans of:
- Historical Fiction
- Strong female characters
- Sapphic romance
Did I call the killer from the first couple of chapters? Maybe so. Was this still an enjoyable book? Yeah.
I have always held a personal interest and fascination with the female codebreakers in WWII - so this book sat in a particular niche that was built perfect for me.
Even though I had the killer in my sights early - I really enjoyed the experience and process of the characters solving the mystery at the core of this story. This is a quick murder mystery with a fascinating backdrop and loveable characters. And while I didn’t go into this book expecting a romance (or for it to be sapphic! This is what I get for not reading blurbs), I found myself really enjoying the budding relationship between Kit and Moya.
I don’t think the mystery is the core of this book. Because, at least to me, it’s a bit predictable. No, the core of this book is the way it’s solved. It is the story of a group of women seeing patterns and finding clues where others have missed them. And that element was a very enjoyable ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
paladinpals's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
i actually felt really drawn into the history of it all, like the setting was phenomenal. did you know that during war shortages girls used to draw stocking lines with eyeliner on their legs so they didnt waste actual stocking material? neither did I!
but yeah the historical aspect is really present and well researched and adds soooo much to the story itself i feel like its a great blend of setting and characters - which are always bangers when ellie marney is involved
i am so mad at myself because i guessed the killer right off AND THEN TALKED MYSELF OUT OF IT!!!!! OOOUGH
but yeah the historical aspect is really present and well researched and adds soooo much to the story itself i feel like its a great blend of setting and characters - which are always bangers when ellie marney is involved
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence, Antisemitism, and War
savreads28's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
aseel_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed the premise of this one and all the cute gal pal moments but I think the ending was a bit rushed and I wished there were a few more Easter eggs that implicate the killer more, to make it more engaging
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Hate crime, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Antisemitism and War
novelswithnora's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ellie Marney’s writing will always be one of my favorites. This story was fun, twisty and engaging (so much so that I read it all in one sitting!!) and the characters all have so much depth and personality.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Murder, and War
jj_whatsherface's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Murder, and War
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
little_cat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Antisemitism, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Alcohol, and War
wynnie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, and War
Moderate: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Terminal illness
sunspinner730's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Antisemitism and War
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
4.0
My first Ellie Marney and I have to say, I rather enjoyed this! I thought this was an excellently plotted, very well-paced, SAPPHIC, YA historical thriller about a group of female code-breakers during WW2. It was a lot more gory and bloody than I expected! I love when a book turns out to be a bit darker than anticipated, and this was one of those.
There’s a series of murders at Arlington Hall, and a group of code-breakers decide to investigate the murders themselves as they don’t trust the police who are ignoring evidence and other murders. There’s twists and turns with a main character’s hidden identity, a sapphic romance, and of course, a lot of code-breaking! The code breaking setting is fabulous, I absolutely loved it, my favourite part of this book. It’s also probably one of my favourite settings to read about in war books? It’s just such an interesting piece of war history and you can see the amount of research Marney has put in to write this book. I want to go out and find out so much more about code-breaking now. And the romance is brilliant, Moya is *chefs kiss* I would like her entire wardrobe please.
My one complaint is that it does get quite didactic at times around the issues of racism. I can see Marney was trying to explore the issues of race and segregation that were typical of the time period, and I appreciate the attempts at this, but it got quite didactic at times as it felt like she had to keep reminding the reader that all these things that were happening were bad actually, very much jolting you out of the narrative. It was all very 'in your face 101 racism is bad for white people' style, and just lacked the real depth of research you saw with the code-breaking and other elements of history. (In saying this: it almost feels like this was done intentionally? There were moments it felt like it was going somewhere and then in would pop a "racism is bad, white person shocked it exists!" moment, as if an editor had asked for it to be made more obvious this was in fact bad or something. It was rather odd.)
But overall, I enjoyed this, it was a pacy and twisty and bloody historical YA thriller!
Content warnings: racism, sexism, war, nazism, anti-semitism, death of loved one (friend), rape, murder, blood and gore, non-consensual drug use (drink spiking), gun violence, fire, violence
There’s a series of murders at Arlington Hall, and a group of code-breakers decide to investigate the murders themselves as they don’t trust the police who are ignoring evidence and other murders. There’s twists and turns with a main character’s hidden identity, a sapphic romance, and of course, a lot of code-breaking! The code breaking setting is fabulous, I absolutely loved it, my favourite part of this book. It’s also probably one of my favourite settings to read about in war books? It’s just such an interesting piece of war history and you can see the amount of research Marney has put in to write this book. I want to go out and find out so much more about code-breaking now. And the romance is brilliant, Moya is *chefs kiss* I would like her entire wardrobe please.
My one complaint is that it does get quite didactic at times around the issues of racism. I can see Marney was trying to explore the issues of race and segregation that were typical of the time period, and I appreciate the attempts at this, but it got quite didactic at times as it felt like she had to keep reminding the reader that all these things that were happening were bad actually, very much jolting you out of the narrative. It was all very 'in your face 101 racism is bad for white people' style, and just lacked the real depth of research you saw with the code-breaking and other elements of history. (In saying this: it almost feels like this was done intentionally? There were moments it felt like it was going somewhere and then in would pop a "racism is bad, white person shocked it exists!" moment, as if an editor had asked for it to be made more obvious this was in fact bad or something. It was rather odd.)
But overall, I enjoyed this, it was a pacy and twisty and bloody historical YA thriller!
Content warnings: racism, sexism, war, nazism, anti-semitism, death of loved one (friend), rape, murder, blood and gore, non-consensual drug use (drink spiking), gun violence, fire, violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War