It took me almost a month to listen to this book! Not because it wasn't interesting but because I cannot listen to it when I am doing anything else. My brain cannot focus on an English accent while trying to complete housework or while I am at work. So I would turn it on and listen any chance I got but it was never for long.

The narrator was great, she did a great job with changing her voice slightly when she was speaking as one of the other female code breakers. I would listen to another audiobook with Saskia Maarleveld as the narrator.

The story was fantastic! I loved learning more about the code breakers at Bletchley Park and the important work they completed during the war. This book had romance, intrigue, royalty, and heart break. Everything you want from a historical fiction novel.

This would make a great audiobook for a long commute.

I love to make the joke that like, there are two types of historical fiction books — ones about WWII and ones that are not and that all the historical fiction books are pretty equally distributed between those categories 😂

Yes, The Rose Code by Kate Quinn is yet another WWII novel but….. I kinda loved it. It was so well done and I was absolutely in love with all three of the female characters the book was based on. Osla — the beautiful, witty socialite who’s caught Prince Phillip’s attention (yes! That prince Phillip!!!); Beth — the secret brainiac who’s itching to break out of her spinsterhood and out from under her psycho mom’s thumb; and Mab — the self-made, resourceful young woman who’ll sacrifice true love if it means security and a family with a respectable man (but fate has other plans).

This 600-page tome really needed to do a lot for me to deem it worth that sort of investment and honestly it did. It had everything — I laughed out loud and Mab and Osla’s quips and absolutely sobbed at parts (we know I love a book when I cry). The only thing I couldn’t completely connect with is the actual code breaking the girls were working on… I couldn’t really picture the work they were doing BUT I hear this is getting picked up for a show and I think it will be completely fab on screen!

I recieved an ARC of this audiobook, and I was glued to it from start to finish. I enjoyed the historical setting as well as the juicy thriller aspect of the plot. The narrator was also especially talented. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery/spy thriller/historical fiction story set at Bletchley Park during World War II. I was completely engrossed and it was the kind of book that made me want to look up lots of history to see what was true and what was fiction. I definitely want to read all of Kate Quinn's books now.

I absolutely loved this audiobook! The narrator did such a good job of bringing all of the characters to life! When I wasn't able to listen I was thinking about the characters and their lives. I cannot recommend this audiobook enough - I'm headed to buy the book ASAP!

I’m engaged in anything read by Saskia Maarleveld, but listening to her narrate a Kate Quinn novel? My rainy holiday weekend was made.

I will confess that this did take me a little while to get into when I first picked it up— but when I finally dedicated some time to listen, I was swept away. Quinn gives each of the novel’s heroines engaging stories set around codebreaking at BP during WWII. Smart, emotional, empathetic, thrilling. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the listen.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Brief Summary: This story is told in alternating timelines. Osla, Mab, and Beth work as code-breakers at Blechtly Park during WWII until pressure and secrecy blows their ties apart. Then seven years later, Beth is confined to a psychiatric institute because of a mental breakdown. The women come back together to figure out the identity of the traitor who worked along side them and sold the information to the Germans.

Highlights: Some aspects of this novel sucked me in more than others but overall this is a fascinating read. It inspired me to visit Bletchley Psrk one day. I absolutely loved the three main characters and loved that Kate Quinn once again draws attention to the women’s reproductive rights and issues of the time. As a clinical psychologist, I also found Beth’s time in the sanitorium fascinating and I’m really glad we have moved beyond treating patients like that.

This was my first time listening to a Kate Quinn book in audiobook format. I thought the narrators did a great job portraying accents and adding to the suspense of the novel.

Explanation of Rating: 4/5; interesting and engaging

I already bought a copy of this book for my own library to support the author.


Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Note to Publisher: I’m sorry this review is late. I was recently hospitalized for a GI Bleed.

Kate Quinn is a master of historical fiction. She brings stories to the less known moments of our history. I prefer to listen to her books in audio format and this one did not disappoint.

“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓.”

This was my first book by Kate Quinn and it will not be my last. I loved every second of The Rose Code, a fast-paced tale of Bletchley Park and the people inside it who cracked codes during World War II.

In 1940, Osla, Beth and Mab are three women who answer the call to Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain Tain to break German military code. Working together, their friendship grows but war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy tears them apart; in 1947, the three are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter, that holds a key to finding a traitor - will they be able to crack the Rose Code?

There are so many things to love about this book. Not only are Beth, Mab and Osla fascinating and full of life, but supporting characters are well-fleshed out. I loved their friendship and watching it develop. The Bletchley Bletherings, pieces of “news” that appeared at the beginnings of different chapters, reminded me a lot of Lady Whistledown from Bridgerton, and loved that the identity of the writer was kept a mystery. In fact, Quinn kept a lot of the action moving quickly by changing timelines and keeping certain elements a secret, exposing them one by one; no wonder there were quite a number of Agatha Christie references throughout (which as an Agatha Christie fan delighted me). Finally, the history of Bletchley Park is fascinating. Quinn includes many real life people as characters, and true events, which are well-researched and explained.

Although a longer read at 624 pages, The Rose Code had me captured in its story and left me wanting to learn more about Bletchley Park; a fantastic book of mystery, intrigue, codebreaking and World War II.

I admit to not being a huge fan of some of Kate Quinn’s previous books, but I liked this one more than others. A fine entry into the WWII women-character genre.

This was excellent! I thought The Alice Network was amazing, and The Huntress was a little less so for me, but this one worked well for me. I liked getting Mab, Osla, and Beth's stories, as well as flipping back and forth between the war and post-war. That was a lot to balance, and she managed it! Interesting to dive into the world of the history of Bletchley Park and that time period for women on the British home front. The hints of romance were organic and compelling, too. I listed to this on audio, and that narrator nailed it again!

I have enjoyed other Kate Quinn books but this one fell short for me. The story of three women brought together at Hut 4 at Bletchley Park which became the main center for Allied code-breaking during World War II. The war, personal loss and the pressure of keeping secrets breaks the women apart, landing one in a mental institution. The women come together to break one last code and expose a traitor.
The Rose Code, in my opinion, is unnecessarily long and takes too many divergent roads and character experiences to get to the heart of the story. The novel was slow and I did not understand the Prince Philip love story sprinkled throughout other than to expose the reader to a piece of history. The ending moves rapidly; dissimilar to the pace of the rest of the novel.
I received an advance copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book and audio book were both amazing! Bought both so I can read and listen too anytime I want. I did not zone out once listening to this audiobook.

I read this book first with my eyes. Saskia Maarleveld's narration captured the voices of the characters in ways my head couldn't do justice to.

Beautifully written, great story, each character more compelling than the next. Moved a bit slow in a few placese story alternates back and forth between the war years 1940 to 1945 - when England was imperiled, and the postwar year 1947 - when Britain was agog over the upcoming marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
I read it late into the night. Way to Go Kate Quinn!

I loved this book just as much as I loved the huntress and Alice network. Kate Quinn has such a way with words and I would love to read anything by her moving forward. I liked everything about this book especially the attention to detail and all the descriptions.

I've other books by Kate Quinn and liked them but this book, I loved! I knew about the men who had worked at Bletchley Park during WWII but I had no idea about the women who were also there acting as support staff and even code breakers. Ms. Quinn brought the stories of the women and men who worked at Bletchley's Park during WWII alive in this novel. I particularly found the story line of Osla and Prince Phillip fascinating and fell down the wikipedia rabbit hole of learning about the "real" Osla Benning and the other women of Bletchley Park as soon I finished The Rose Code. It's an amazing piece of history and I hope the increased awareness that this book will bring will result in more stories and documentaries about these women.

(* I received an audiobook copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion and review.)

posted on Amazon and Goodreads

Kate Quinn is an amazing storyteller! I love historical fiction, especially when the narrator is so well chosen. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves the era and enjoys listening to a historical fiction audiobook.

Kate Quinn certainly has come into her own. Her last three books have been massive bestsellers and just keep getting better. Although I gave The Huntress and The Alice Network each four stars, The Rose Code was my favorite. It’s thrilling historical fiction jam-packed with intrigue, treachery, romance, and the beauty of female friendship. You can’t go wrong with spies and codebreakers, especially when they are strong, intelligent women. I was surprised to learn Quinn is a native Californian; the nuances of her writing, her use of WWII-era slang and fashion made her sound like a Brit. My thanks to Netgalley for the ebook and audio ARCs. Excellent narration by Saskia Maarleveld. 5 stars.

Set in WWII England, The Rose Code is a thrilling work of historical fiction. Three women from very different backgrounds become unlikely friends when they are thrown together after being hired to work on a secretive project. The women learn that they are working on breaking codes in order to help defeat enemy forces. Their individual work must be kept secret from each other. But ultimately they must put their pieces together to solve a puzzle that will save lives. The Rose Code is filled with suspense, mystery, and excitement. I highly recommend this book.
#katequinn#therosecode#historicalfiction#WWII#codebreaking