There’s anger and despair and the need to just give up, but never self-pity. There’s never an ounce of self-pity amongst any of these women. I came to respect Rose so much because she experiences some truly awful things and is scared all of the time but is still fighting the war and never thinks that she has it the worst. Though it is so horrific that I can understand why people wouldn’t believe it.Īnd then we get to see the camp, see the women in the camp and what it does to them. It’s such a big part of the history now that I couldn’t wrap my head around people not knowing or not believing. There’s a part near the beginning where someone believes that Concentration Camps are made up as propaganda against the Germans. It’s so hard for me in this age of cell phones and social media, to understand that this hugely wrong thing was going on and no one knew about it. I have definitely learned a lot about Concentration Camps while in school, or at least I thought I had, but this book while being gripping and exciting, was also hugely educational about this most horrific part about World War II. Mostly while standing in line for things, surrounded by people. Rose Under Fire is more of a look into the human spirit and the power of friendship among women under the most horrible of circumstances.Īnd instead of having one big cry at the end, I basically cried slowly all throughout. Very near to the beginning you know exactly how it ends. In Code Name Verity I didn’t cry until the end, where I became a sobbing mess of disgustingness because it’s more of a mystery novel that ends in horribleness. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her? Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. 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.

I finished the light, fun, happy book I was reading and thought…Rose Under Fire.

Until I was on a plane, heading to San Diego for Comic Con. Despite the fact that a friend who had already read both said it wasn’t as bad as Code Name Verity 1 and instead of sobbing and wanting to give up on life, Rose Under Fire only made her stress eat an entire bag of Doritos.īut still.

So for months I didn’t read Rose Under Fire because I didn’t know how to emotionally prepare myself for it. I’d cried and sobbed and cursed at the world for being unfair and awful. Code Name Verity had basically ruined my life for a couple of days. This was one of those books that I had as an egalley for awhile and even though I was excited to read it I was also really, really nervous.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein