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Review: The Killing Code by Ellie Marney

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The Killing Code by Ellie Marney

The Killing Code
Ellie Marney
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 20, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Killing Code

A historical mystery about a girl who risks everything to track down a vicious serial killer, for fans of THE ENIGMA GAME and A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER.

Virginia, 1943: World War II is raging in Europe and on the Pacific front when Kit Sutherland is recruited to help the war effort as a codebreaker at Arlington Hall, a former girls’ college now serving as the site of a secret US Signals Intelligence facility in Virginia. But Kit is soon involved in another kind of fight: Government girls are being brutally murdered in Washington DC, and when Kit stumbles onto a bloody homicide scene, she is drawn into the hunt for the killer.

To find the man responsible for the gruesome murders and bring him to justice, Kit joins forces with other female codebreakers at Arlington Hall—gossip queen Dottie Crockford, sharp-tongued intelligence maven Moya Kershaw, and cleverly resourceful Violet DuLac from the segregated codebreaking unit. But as the girls begin to work together and develop friendships—and romance—that they never expected, two things begin to come clear: the murderer they’re hunting is closing in on them…and Kit is hiding a dangerous secret.

My Review

Every time I read a great historical novel, I feel like I end up saying I need to read more historical books. I loved that THE KILLING CODE explores another part of World War II and specifically what was happening in the United States during the war. I also loved that it focuses on the relationships between women.

Moya and Kit alternate telling us the story. A few scenes kind of zoom out and give us a more omniscient view, setting up the scene before returning to that close third-person viewpoint. I really liked both Kit and Moya, so I loved getting to see both their perspectives. The transitions heightened tension and some romantic suspense, too.

THE KILLING CODE is the first book I’ve ever read by Ellie Marney, and after reading it, I definitely want to read more. The historical setting felt immersive without being distracting, and the murder mystery had me hooked from that early chapter where Kit finds the girl’s body.

I loved that the girls use their codebreaking strategies as their approach to solving the murder. That connected both their identities as codebreakers as well as the historical and murder mystery story elements.

Also, each chapter of THE KILLING CODE begins with a quote about solving puzzles or codebreaking. Some of the quotes are from real codebreakers like Elizebeth Friedman. I thought the author cleverly used those quotes both in connecting the story to history and giving some teasing hints about the upcoming chapter.

All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. I definitely got caught up in the mystery and the high stakes race to find the serial killer before he strikes again.

Content Notes

Content warning for mentions of rape and attempted assault. Characters smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Point-of-view characters are white. Both are women who’ve had romantic relationships with women.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mentions of rape. When Kit sees the body of a murdered girl, she realizes the girl has also been raped. No details. Some scenes show kissing between two girls. In one scene, a murdered threatens women, clearly intending to rape and kill them.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A man attacks women, using a knife to threaten and harm them. A serial killer has been murdering women in the DC area. One murder scene is described.

Drug Content
Moya smokes cigarettes. The girls drink alcohol together in Moya’s room and at a club and hotel party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE KILLING CODE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2)
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press
Published September 17, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About DREAM THIEVES

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.

One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.

And sometimes he’s not the only one who wants those things.

Ronan is one of the raven boys – a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan’s secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface – changing everything in its wake.

Of THE RAVEN BOYS, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY wrote, “Maggie Stiefvater’s can’t-put-it-down paranormal adventure will leave you clamoring for book two.” Now the second book is here, with the same wild imagination, dark romance, and heart-stopping twists that only Maggie Stiefvater can conjure.

My Review

This series is one I return to again and again to listen to the audiobooks, because I LOVE listening to Will Patton read the story. So I’ve probably listened to DREAM THIEVES at least three times, but somehow I hadn’t reviewed it until now. I think I kept getting lost in the story and forgetting to make notes on the content for the review.

At any rate, it’s probably obvious that I enjoy the story, since I keep reading it. I love the tension between Blue and Gansey. And I love going with Ronan into his dreams. I’m always fascinated with him as a character because he’s so angry but somehow so loveable? Maybe because he’s so loyal underneath his grouchy exterior. He’s trying to figure things out, to fix things that have been broken either by him or someone else, and I love those things about him.

Gansey’s sister Helen is also one of my favorites. I think I would totally read a spin-off series or fan fiction where she’s the main character. She’s efficient and brilliant, all sharp observations and quick problem-solving. I love it.

On the whole, I think DREAM THIEVES might be my favorite book in the series. I haven’t read CALL DOWN THE HAWK yet, but I love Ronan’s character, and I got a copy of the book recently, so I suspect I’ll be checking it out soon.

Check out my reviews of other RAVEN CYCLE books.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
There are hints that one character is gay, but nothing overtly confirmed in this book.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to kissing between boy and girl. One embrace which is full of tension. Some intense kissing between man and woman and references to going to bed together.

Spiritual Content
Blue’s mother and her housemates are all psychics with varying areas of specialty. They do tarot card readings. They read objects and can tell things about them.

Ronan is Catholic and attends church with his brothers. Ronan can also take objects from his dreams.

Gansey is searching for a fabled king who, legend says, will grant a wish to whoever finds him. Adam has agreed to serve as the hands and eyes of a magical forest. (No one is exactly sure what this truly means, but it’s obvious that he’s changed by this promise.)

Violent Content
Fighting between boys. Monsters follow Ronan from his dream into reality and attack him and his friend. A hired assassin beats up Ronan’s brother (not shown) and later attacks other men. A boy sets cars on fire.

Drug Content
Ronan and another boy drink alcohol and take pills. The other boy seems to do other drugs, too. Adam drinks at a party– at first he thinks it’s ginger ale, and then later things he’s been given champagne.

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Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic, Inc.
Published October 21, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Blue and her Raven Boys (Adam, Gansey and Ronan) continue their quest to find Glendower, the Welsh King who will grant them a wish for waking him. Leaving behind only a cryptic note, Blue’s mother Maura disappears on a quest of her own. Blue worries and grieves, turning to Gansey for solace. This is forbidden.

They just talk. But it’s clear both want more, a more she can’t allow herself to give. She’s seen his death, seen his departed soul marching along the ley line. She knows if she kisses her true love, he will die, and she can’t bear to be the cause of Gansey’s death.

Adam learns more about serving as the hands of Cabeswater. It’s not always easy for him to understand what it wants, but Persephone, one of the psychics at Blue’s home teaches him. She warns Adam that there are three sleepers. One is not to be awakened.

Told in sharp prose worthy of mythic tales, this third book in Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle is a commendable addition to the series. The characters are well-developed and the dialogue tight and emotive. This book definitely weaves together some of the loose threads from its predecessors but raises some new questions left for the next tale.

The whole psychic theme really doesn’t appeal to me personally, and I would be willing to guess that a lot of Christian readers would object to the content. I’ve read the first two books in addition to Blue Lily, Lily Blue and really enjoyed Stiefvater’s style of storytelling.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme word choice, moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Blue believes if she kisses her true love, he will die. So she doesn’t kiss anyone, though she wants to…

Spiritual Content
Blue lives in a home with several women who work as psychics. They perform tarot card readings, use mirrors or bowls for scrying, communicate with dead spirits, etc.

The main characters are on a quest to wake a king from sleep. In return he is supposed to grant them a wish.

Ronan has the ability to remove objects from his dreams and bring them into existence in the real world.

In an earlier book Adam agreed to serve as hands for Cabeswater, a ley line or part of one with a lot of energy or power. (This power fuels Ronan’s ability.)

Blue, while not psychic herself is like a power boost to anyone psychic near her.

Noah is the ghost of a boy murdered in a scheme related to the quest in the first book. He comes and goes throughout the story.

Violence
Adam encounters a mortally wounded boy. It’s pretty quick, but pretty grim. A few scuffles between Greenmantle and Mr. Grey et al. Not too much as far as details and gore there.

Drug Content
None.

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