author: Gwen C. Katz
pages: 384
format: Hardcover
buy it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
rating: 4/5
World War Two has shattered Valka’s homeland of Russia, and Valka is determined to help the effort. She knows her skills as a pilot rival the best of the men, so when an all-female aviation group forms, Valka is the first to sign up.
Flying has always meant freedom and exhilaration for Valka, but dropping bombs on German soldiers from a fragile canvas biplane is no joyride. The war is taking its toll on everyone, including the boy Valka grew up with, who is fighting for his life on the front lines.
As the war intensifies and those around her fall, Valka must decide how much she is willing to risk to defend the skies she once called home.
I only really needed two words before I was itching to
get my hands on this book: Night Witches. The story follows the true-to-life
unit of all-female Russian bomber pilots during WWII. According to the author’s
notes, only the POV characters and their immediate family are wholly fictional;
the rest of the characters are based upon historical figures.
With that kind of set up to recommend it, of course I had
to check it out. And on that front, the book did not disappoint. There’s a
wealth of awesome ladies for us to follow, running the gamut from heroic to
villainous (eh, ish), from competent to …okay, well, it’s about girls who only
got into the unit to start with by being elite, everyone’s competent. But
there’s still a glorious variety. (And an on-page f/f romance between secondary
characters, though very minor.)
Though the book is primarily concerned with Russia’s
involvement in WWII, it also touches on a variety of thorny issues, such as one
character’s brush with hyper-suspicious Russian government. It was unflinching
in its depictions of the variety of faults and evils in the Russian government
while balancing that with Valka’s deep love of her homeland and desire to
protect her home. She had a wonderful, strongly distinctive voice to carry the
book and relay the extraordinary events.
The only thing, really, that interrupted my enjoyment was
the surprise epistolary format. The bulk of the pages are given over to Valka
and her childhood friend-turned-crush Pasha writing letters to each other:
Valka from her aviation unit and Pasha from the infantry unit he’s been drafted
into. Now, I don’t like epistolary format anyway, so I’m biased, but I don’t
think the book really used the format to effect. The letters were primarily
used to summarize large swaths of time and huge plot events like entire units
moving or awards being handed out or characters being injured, whereas the
straight-narration portions were used for small, reflective character moments.
That…feels a bit backwards to me. But like I said, I’m biased, maybe others
will like it just fine.
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