I received the copy in exchange for an honest review.

The main character of the book is Nadezdah “Little Boar” Buzina, a Cossack female pilot defending Russia, who dreams about shooting down as many German planes as possible. These dreams become more difficult to achieve when she suffers severe burns and becomes the sole survivor of a flight.

She and her friends from the all-female regiment are trying to be as much of a nuisance to German pilots as possible, especially when they progress too close to Stalingrad.

The aerial battles were very well depicted and enjoyable to read. The relationships of the pilots and their commanding officers were believable, as well as the commissar who has a personal vendetta against the Cossack pilot. I liked Nadya’s character, as well as some others.

There is also an addition of LGBT ‘sprinkle’ which I thought was dealt a bit too easily. As far as I know about Stalin’s Russia (and indeed, Russian politics towards it today), I think the responses of people were not severe enough, but I may be wrong.

It is an enjoyable book, especially if anyone is interested in a different perspective of the Second World War, as it is told from the perspective of a woman and describes the fight of Russians against Nazi Germany.

I had a hard time getting into this book. Since I did not finish it, I do not intend to publish a review.

(I received an advanced copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.) How much I liked Nadya's War ebbed and flowed, much like Nadya's fortunes, throughout the read. At first the book felt like a YA novel, something like Code Name: Verity, though less sophisticated. Then it meandered a bit here, into morphine addiction (the depiction of which I felt was the least convincing aspect of the book), into philosophizing about religion, into a subplot about a commander's possible incompetence. By the latter portion of the book, though, we seemed to be flying toward one target, so to speak... until we reached what felt like a copout of an ending. Yet the writing was taut overall and definitely kept me eagerly reading, and the relationships among the main characters were beautifully drawn.