Guest Post: Amour et Florand

Grab your dark chocolate and join me at Chachic's Book Nook today! I've donned my smarty pants glasses for the occasion and will be dishing on all things romance and Paris (le sigh) as part of her fantastic Amour et Florand series. à bientôt!

Novel Gossip: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth E. Wein

When Chachic and I first decided to begin the feature Novel Gossip we both knew that one of the books we wanted to read together was Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. We both loved the heck out of Code Name Verity and knew that this was a book we'd need a bit of friendly support for.

The bloggers behind Chachic’s Book Nook and See Michelle Read chatting about books, thousands of miles apart.

While our thoughts were a bit all over the board during Rose Under Fire, we both really enjoyed it. But let me preface this discussion by giving a plug for Code Name Verity (that is, if you're one of the crazy people who haven't read it yet). While it's not exactly a sequel, the beginning of Rose Under Fire focuses a lot on what happens in Code Name Verity, so naturally, it'll make your experience that much better to understand the story. Also beware: this is a concentration camp book. So. You know...feelings...and all that ahead. Our conversations took place over several days and has been edited to remove spoiler-y bits. Here's the description for Rose Under Fire via 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 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. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

And here we go...

Michelle: I'm curious about this book because honestly it's starting just a wee bit slow. I'm not connecting with Rose yet. What do you think of her as a narrator so far? I know she is a naive, young American but lots of the observations she makes seem a little too daft - maybe they weren't for the time period, but since we have so much information now, it seems a bit like overkill. I don't know, maybe she'll grow on me, I sure am hoping so.

Chachic: Rose sounds really young, I was a bit surprised that she's only 18. I don't think the observations that she makes are unnecessary because I don't know a lot of these details so it's all interesting for me. We didn't really study the war that much back in school and the focus was on how it affected the Philippines, not on what happened in other parts of the world. It's either that or I've forgotten most of it.

Michelle: This is probably a prime example of my egocentric American up-bringing showing, but I suppose I just assumed everyone who reads this book would have a pretty good knowledge of WWII history. WWII is pretty much THE CONFLICT that historians talk about. People actually refer to it as 'The War' and there are hundreds of books and documentaries that come out constantly -- it's a huge fascination over here. I'm curious if that kind of mindset is present in the Philippines or just in America.

Chachic: I think that kind of mindset over WWII is only present in America. I don't see that kind of fascination in the Philippines. If anything, it's been said that Filipinos have short memories and we tend to forget things.

Michelle: I am wondering if all these little things that keep popping up are foreshadowing of what is going to happen to Rose: the concentration camps, having the disable a bomb fuse, etc.

Chachic: I know what you mean about foreshadowing! So we already know that Rose will end up in a concentration camp, I'm a little scared for her as she hears details on how horrible they are.

Michelle: I know! I'm worried for Rose too, I CRY like a little girl during any story about concentration camps so I'm not sure how this is gonna go.

Chachic: I usually try to stay away from books about concentration camps or about WWII but since Elizabeth Wein wrote this, it's a must read for me.

[about half-way thorough]

Michelle: Oh my. Poor Rose. This scared little Rose is sorta freaking me out. These descriptions of her first few days in the camp, her 'controlled flight into terrain' -- how terrible! I can't imagine how sick that would make you.

Chachic: We're only just at the start of Rose's experience and I already feel so bad for her. It's a terrible experience and I can't imagine how she must have felt while going through it.

Michelle: Also reading about how cruel the women guards are at Ravensbruck is terrible. The part that really stuck out to me was was "The randomness has left it's mark. I am scared of anything arbitrary now - of anything that happens suddenly." Because what a perfect way to describe how horribly the guards behave. How depressing and sad. While they are busy dehumanizing the inmates, the guards are also dehumanizing themselves. What amazes me, like Rose, is that these guards are scaring them, and hurting them on their own. No one is telling them how far or what to do to the people. The Nazis let the guards have free reign to cause as much pain as they felt like.

Chachic: I know, I was a little surprised when she said that the guards were women, it's not men who were mistreating the prisoners but fellow women. And on such a massive scale - there were thousands of prisoners in that concentration camp. You're absolutely right, while the guards are dehumanizing the inmates, they're also dehumanizing themselves. It probably became transactional for them to be mean, they were probably not even thinking about their actions anymore.

Michelle: I think I misunderstood Elizabeth Wein's initial reason in making Rosie a bit naive -- where I didn't like it at first, now, I need no convincing she was spot on. She has built this perfect setup for Rose's inability to fully comprehend what has happened to her once she's in Ravensbruck. Rosie can't conceive that's she in a real concentration camp because she has no idea WHAT THEY ARE. It's genius.

Chachic: I think you have a point about why Rose was so naive at the start of the book, she has no idea what she will undergo because she doesn't really know what concentration camps are. Also the naivety provides a contrast to how different she is after her ordeal.

Michelle: Yes. Also I am incredibly thankful that Elizabeth Wein is using flashbacks to tell Rose's story. "I am writing at a rate of 170 miles an hour and going nowhere." If Rose had been telling all these awful things in the moment, I think it would have been just too painful to read. Creating these flashbacks gives the reader a safe place to land in between bouts of insanity and breaks up the madness. I am infinitely glad she wound up free and that she was only in a camp from September to April. One day was probably enough for anyone.

Chachic: Me too. We get pauses to let the horrors sink in before moving forward. Also, it's a practical way of storytelling because like Rose said, she would never have been allowed the luxury of having writing materials while she was in prison. Sigh, poor Rose. She will probably endure so much before we get back to the present. I am so glad she's alive though.

Can I just say that I loved that bit when Rose first gets out of the plane after she lands in Germany and the guys there give her an applause of her perfect landing? From fellow pilots to another pilot, reminding her that they're just human beings too.

Michelle: Agreed. That was a pretty perfect moment for Rose. I hope it helps sustain her in the months to come.

Michelle: So this is probably obvious to everyone but I figured from the beginning that once in the camp Rose would memorize names of the people she meets there. Especially after Felicyta talks early on in the story about how people just don't even know what happens to their families.

Chachic: It wasn't certainly wasn't obvious to me that Rose would have to memorize names when she got to the camp! It didn't really occur to me. But she only had to memorize the Rabbits' names, right? I was wondering why it was just the Rabbits that she had to remember. Was it because what they experienced was one of the most cruel things in that camp?

[after finishing the book]

Michelle: Yeah, I think because the Rabbits were subjected to some of the most horrible medical ‘experiments’ imaginable. They effectively carried physical proof on their bodies of what happened to people in Ravensbruck.

Michelle: Maybe I'm coming into this book all wrong but my gut reaction to Rose Under Fire is this: while good and with lots of interesting tidbits, I did in no way like it half as much as I liked Code Name Verity. I mean I didn't even CRY when reading it and I cried buckets during Code Name Verity. Buckets. Maybe it’s because what I like so much about Code Name Verity was this great relationship between two young women and then what happens to them during the war. I didn't feel like Rose had a similar connection to anyone in Rose Under Fire.

Chachic: I do agree that Rose Under Fire didn't blow me away like Code Name Verity did. I remember I sobbed towards the last few chapters of Code Name Verity and I couldn't stop until I reached the end. And even after I finished reading it, I would become teary-eyed if I come across anything that reminded of the book. I agree with you that what I loved about Code Name Verity was that it was about this beautiful friendship between two girls who wouldn't have met if not for the war.

Michelle: I just didn't feel the same way about the friends Rose makes in the camp.

Chachic: While Rose did meet friends in the camp, to the point where she considered them her family (how could she not when they went through so much together? She had to cling on to something), it really isn't the same as the friendship in Code Name Verity.

Michelle: However I did like the fact that Rose is an American. I don't think I've ever read one about an American in a camp before.

Chachic: Yeah, I think it was a unique angle making Rose American. She was the only American in her block, right? Probably in the whole camp.

Michelle: One aspect that really stuck out to me was how the prisoners fought back. Most of the other books I've read have been of the "make the best of a bad situation' type. So I really like the subversive nature of the Rabbits and Rose and Irina -- they were always trying to find ways to 'fight' the system. Even as if how Rose said it was all pretty passive resistance when you looked at it from the outside, but to them it felt like a big deal. Which it was -- especially when you go back to how paralyzed with fear Rose was even after she was safe in the Ritz hotel in Paris.

Chachic: Like you, I thought it was brave of the girls to try and fight back whenever they could. It was good that they has small victories to keep them going. I'm amazed at how they manage to stay alive and stray true to who they are when they could have easily just given up and became emotionally dead zombie-like creatures. Yes, they were always filthy and hungry but their personalities still defined them. How Lysette was still a mother, Rose was still a poet and Irina was still a pilot. In spite of everything, they retained pieces of their lives within them. I ached for them because they all had these lives that were suddenly taken away from them.

Michelle: Speaking of secondary characters, I think one of my favorite people in the entire novel was Anna Engel -- the Kolonka in Ravensbruck. I was utterly fascinated by her evolution from prison hospital tech to prisoner herself. Plus it didn't hurt that she was a tough, sarcastic lady. I liked her lots.

Chachic: I really liked Anna Engel as well, how she represented the idea that even Germans suffered under their countrymen if they went against the system. I like how she tried to be a good person in small ways - she wasn't horribly cruel to Rose and the other girls. But I absolutely had no idea Anna was the same Anna Engel in Code Name Verity! She is, isn't she? I was so surprised at how Elizabeth Wein connected her characters like that. How Anna was a big part of Verity's story and then Rose's as well.

Michelle : ANNA ENGEL IS THE ANNA FROM CODE NAME VERITY?!?! My use of caps is indicative of my level of genuine surprise! I did not catch that one AT ALL! I knew I should have reread it before I read Rose Under Fire!! Now I need to go back and reread that section in Code Name Verity! Awesome. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I would have felt like a dork for not figuring it out.

Chachic: She's the Engel in Code Name Verity, right? I'm not too sure because I don't have my copy of Code Name Verity here with me so I can't check. Maybe I should have reread Code Name Verity before Rose Under Fire too, I think I would have liked the latter more if I did.

Michelle: Yeah, I think it all comes down to the fact that I don't really love Rose as a person herself. Still. I did like some of her poems and how she told the story (with flashbacks through writing) but I never really felt like she was real. Especially in contrast to how I felt about the characters in Code Name Verity.

Chachic: I felt the same way, I wasn't as invested in Rose as I was with the characters from Code Name Verity. Maybe that's why I felt like I was distanced from her story.

Michelle: And I felt like it was a total cop-out that we never see Rose reconcile with her family (besides that initial phone call) back in America. I'm guessing she does eventually, but that very human, painful moment would have done a lot for me to connect with Rose. It's a completely unique experience! Although to be fair, I do understand why Rose stays in Scotland. It was a whole country torn apart by war, not just from afar, but right there with all the bombings, etc. so I can see how she'd like to be there with people who KNEW. But I just can't see her family not swooping down on her en masse once she turned up again. Even if the reunion had to be in Scotland, I think it would have been worth it as far as Rose's character is concerned to have included it in the story.

Chachic: I know, I was so surprised that we didn't get a scene of Rose reuniting with her family. Like you said, I would have thought that her family would fly to Scotland to see her. Of course, they would want to see with their own eyes how she's doing. Speaking of her family, I kind of expected her more to think about them while she was at the camp? I mean it was mostly Nick that she thought of and talked about while she was there, and she didn't even really love him. I get that it's the idea of Nick as a hero and not the actual person himself but I would have thought that it would be normal to miss her family.

Michelle: Yeah that was pretty odd too. Maybe she needed to distance herself so she wouldn't become utterly depressed? I'm not sure. I hope it doesn't come across like I didn't like the book, because I really did. But I was expecting so much MORE from Elizabeth Wein after Code Name Verity. I wanted to be wowed and it sorta felt like a lot of other concentration camp books I've read before. Like she spent so much time on imparting a message that she forgot about building awesome characters. Sadness.

Chachic: I really liked reading the book as well but yeah, I don't love it as much as Code Name Verity. I think I liked it more than you did? Because I can't compare it with other concentration camp novels. I did like the idea of "tell the world" and how Elizabeth Wein said that's what she tried to do with Rose Under Fire. It's an emotionally heavy read and now I need a happy book!

Michelle: Yes! A change of pace after the heartbreak of this one very much in order.

This Just In: Novel Gossip

I have met some truly amazing bookish people since I first started this blog. One of those lovely bibliophiles happens to be Chachic -- who I first started chatting with several years ago. She now lives in Singapore although I actually got to meet her for the first time a few months ago when she visited Los Angeles. Which was just so much fun. Awhile back Chachic and I did a readalong of Northlander and The King Commands by Meg Burden and since we enjoyed ourselves silly we decided to make it a regular thing...and thus the feature Novel Gossip was born!

The bloggers behind Chachic’s Book Nook and See Michelle Read chatting about books, thousands of miles apart.

For our inaugural post we chose to read The Chocolate Rose by Laura Florand, an outstanding contemporary chick lit author who writes about France and delicious chocolate and all sorts of other good things (but really, those first two items were enough of a draw for me). 

Head on over to Chachic's place to check out our full reactions to The Chocolate Rose.

Read-Along Review: Northlander by Meg Burden

This past week has been filled with all sorts of fun as I did my first read-a-long with my good blogging friend Chachic. We selected Meg Burden's Tales of the Borderlands duology for our first read-along and I for one could not have been more pleased with the series. Or the constant comments flying back and forth between Chachic and I. Since we basically wound up saying most everything we'd want to get across in a review in our emails back and forth, we decided to simply post our exchanges (minus spoilers!) for your enjoyment. 

Having traveled with her father, a master healer, hastily and in secret from the Southlands, Ellin Fisher quickly learns she is neither liked nor wanted in the cold Northlands. Both of which are made perfectly clear one night when she is locked outside the city gates -- during a blizzard -- simply for having the red hair of a Southling. Fuming and in danger of freezing to death, Ellin takes refuge in a guard cottage only to be intruded upon by the same guard who earlier denied her entrance. Only this guard is now crying his heart out over the impending death of his father. The King of the Northlands. Whose father Ellin came to heal (I'm sure you can imagine his change of heart). Not willing to stand by when perhaps she can help, Ellin convinces the young Prince Garreth to taking her to the King's bedside where she attempts an illegal healing using abilities she has is still only learning herself. Of course, by taking that first step into the King's presence, Ellin is brought into the inner circle of the five young Northern princes whose world she is about to turn upside down. That is, if they don't manage to muck hers up first.


Chachic: I started on Northlander and I'm really liking it so far. I'm at page 50 but I stopped because I want to pace myself to read with you so let me know when you've started and we can go from there. But please, don't feel pressured to read if you don't find time for it.

Michelle: No worries! So I'm up to chapter 6. So far I really, really like it. You have to love that brilliant first paragraph!

Chachic: I'm really liking it too! The first few chapters really draw you in and I had to stop myself from reading more. 

Michelle: So who do you think Ellin is going to fall for? Because you know she IS going to fall for one of those brothers! I'm intrigued with Finn and the whole silent communication thing but of course Garreth insulted her first and so he's going to have to go to all sorts of lengths to make it up to her, right? So I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Chachic: LOL I'm Team Finn! Yeah, I have a feeling she's going to end up with one of the brothers eventually - although maybe not until the second book? I'm not sure how old Ellin or the boys are but I think they're a bit young, maybe early teens? Because Ellin said that Alaric and Coll are men compared to the boys.

Michelle:  By the way, I love the dichotomy of the Northland and Southland, so far the premise is awesome. Your thoughts?

Chachic: I'm looking forward to reading more about the history of the world - why Northlanders hate Southlings and vice versa. It's a really promising book and I hope I keep liking it until the end.

(spoilery conversation removed, moving on to thoughts after finishing the novel)

Chachic: So I did finish reading Northlander and I really like it! I'm going to wait for you to finish it before we discuss so I won't mention any spoilers here. Really looking forward to reading the sequel. :)

Michelle: HA! I literally just finished reading it about 10 minutes ago! Honestly, this has been so fun -- I totally kept thinking "I wonder what part Chachic is to now?" So glad we did this together.

Chachic: LOL so funny that we finished reading it at the same time! It was so much fun, wasn't it? I mean I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you but I also liked that we picked a good book to read.

Michelle: Overall I especially like the pacing of this book, so much happens in such a short span that I feel like you barely catch your breath when the next unthinkable thing happens. I'm all wore out now. :) But very, very good reading. I'm so glad we went with this one! 

Chachic:  I know what you mean about the pace of the book - going in, I thought it was going to be a quiet fantasy novel but I was pleasantly surprised that so much happens. And it never felt forced, you know? I was with Ellin all throughout all of those events.

Michelle: Although, I'm not sure I loved whole reason for the King hating Southlings. I don't know, it just seemed kind of rushed and thin. I wish it had been something a bit more substantial -- and explained more, but there you go. A minor quibble.

Chachic: Yeah, the part with the King hating the Southlings felt a bit rushed, it would have been better if there was more of an explanation for the situation. But yes, it's a minor quibble because I still liked the book overall.

I'm excited to review this one because I feel like it's such an under-the-radar title. I bought it because of recommendations from Angie and Charlotte and I see that Laura (from Jane of All Reads) also liked it but aside from that, no one else has read it. And I saw that it's marked as "hard to find title" in the Book Depository.

Michelle: Agreed! Excellent choice in book(s). I'm glad you seem to have similar reactions that I did, that just made this whole experience so much more fun.

****
Obviously if you couldn't already tell, Northlander stole my heart. I found it extremely refreshing to see such a character like Ellin who is constantly out of her element but who is still willing to learn and admit to her mistakes. And constant is the key here. It seemed as if Ellin flew head-first from one dangerous adventure to another, yet I never once felt that her story was forced or implausible. Unexpected, yes -- but still utterly believable in context. The five Northern Princes were also a complete breath of fresh air! Alaric, Coll, Finn, Erik, and Garreth all stole my heart in their own way (probably around the time they each wormed their way into Ellin's heart too). Meg Burden did an excellent job of creating believable and unique relationships between Ellin and each of the Princes. Seldom do you find YA books that manage to include well-drawn friendships between males and females. Northlander is one of those rare books that will continually surprise you with it's endearing characters over and over again. So very glad I decided to read it along with my good friend Chachic!

Want more? Be sure to hop on over to Chachic's Book Nook for the second part of our tremendous read-along and our thoughts on the fabulous sequel to The King Commands (even if the cover is properly cringe-worthy).

series reading order:
~ Northlander
~ The King Commands

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
A Jane of All Reads review
Angieville review
Bookshelves of Doom review
las risas review
Wands and Worlds review

book source: purchased