“The Rose Code” is a historical fiction tale involving three women: Debutant Osla Kendall, East End Londoner Mab Churt, and the shy spinster, Beth Finch. The three come together in the early 1940s to work at Bletchley Park -- the top-secret home of the WWII codebreakers. But someone betrays them and the three are torn apart. Then in 1947, after the war, the women-turned-enemies reunite to break one last code regarding a mysterious traitor.

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld did a lovely job portraying the three characters, and their love interests as well as the third-person narrator. For me, it was the content that just didn’t hold my interest. This is a very long, drawn out mystery that went back and forth between the war and post-war storyline. It absolutely did not keep me “on the edge of my seat”— despite the promises from early reviews and the publisher.

Special thanks to Harper Audio for an advanced copy of the 15-hour audiobook, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

In 2019 I read The Alice Network and it still stands out to me as one of the best historical books I've ever read and once again Kate Quinn does not disappoint. Set in 1940 England, Osla, Mab, and Beth are German code breakers; doing what they can for their country during the war. 

This book is over 600 pages/ nearly 16 hours but I flew through it. Quinn is such an amazing storyteller- this is historical fiction, with a little bit of mystery added in. 

Quinn also has a knack for creating characters you can't help but love. The beautiful character development of these three women brings upon a kinship with them. My heart ached for them. The storyline was split evenly between the three women so we get to know each character so well. All these women are so different but their loyalty to their country is never broken. 

The audio for the book was perfect. With one narrator voicing three women, things can sometimes become hard to follow but the narrator did an amazing job of distinguishing the three women. 

I have a soft spot for historical fiction, it is my preferred genre so I read a lot of books set during war time but Quinn is one of the best!

Kate Quinn is a genius.
What sets The Rose Code apart from other books is that there are no lulls throughout, Quinn masterfully builds each character while also moving the book's storyline along, and I learned a lot about the 1940s and what all was happening around England. I also very much appreciate how each of the main characters had their own important stories. Quinn masterfully intertwined their stories into this beautiful mystery book.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read this book as I loved The Alice Network, and it did not disappoint. Kate Quinn has a way of drawing the reader into the story and making you feel like you are a part of it. If you like historical WWII fiction and mystery then this is a book for you!

The story revolves around 3 very different women working undercover breaking codes at Bletchley Park during WWII. You will instantly fall in love with each of them and get caught up in the drama. It is a long book, but definitely worth the read!

I said it last week here, I've said it many times in this blog and Ill say it again, I love female historical fiction war stories. I also loved the movie the Imitation Game so this book seemed right up my alley. I was right. It is such a good story! I "read" this one in audiobook and although i usually keep my audiobooks for driving and walking and do regular book readings at home, I was so hooked to how this ended that i ended up sitting at home in the weekend hearing the end of this book, that says a lot. I enjoyed the double chronology of the story, mixing the current 1947 story with a chronological story line starting at the end of the 30s. There were plenty of well placed nuggets of info in the future that made you think you had things figured out and then reality wasn't what you thought it was going to be. The three main women are totally different but all very real and well developed characters. Relatable and engaging without loosing their human quirks and flaws. I love a good written female character and here are three of them. As for the mystery, i really had no idea until the end. Usually I'm pretty good at knowing how things will work out but this one was played nicely close to the chest. I also appreciated the historical characters sprinkled throughout the story. You don't miss anything if you don't, but if you do, its a nice little Easter Egg. I went down a rabbit hole of google after reading, like i usually do with historical fiction that i like, and i found that my favorite character, Osla, is actually very similar (I'm sure she is based on it, can we get a book club discussion guide over here) to a real like character, Osla Benning who also dated Prince Philip! This made me like the book even more. Kickass female stories for the win.

4 1/2 stars

The Rose Code takes a look at WWII from an angle that we don't often hear about - female code breakers. The story starts a bit slowly, but quickly gains momentum and sucks you into the world that Quinn creates. The story jumps around a bit in terms of time, but it still works. The focus is on three main characters - Osla, Mab, and Beth. They are as different as different can be, but wind up becoming the best of friends. That said, you also know from the very beginning that Beth winds up in an asylum and none of the women are on speaking terms with each other. Osla and Mab have been recruited to work at Bletchley Park, where, they are soon to find out, the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. They meet Beth, who believes herself to be a worthless spinster, but they soon discover that she might be the most intelligent of all of them. The story weaves in some events of WWII while fleshing out their lives and making them real. Each woman deals with love, loss, the question of home, and secrecy. An excellent read.

This is my second book by Kate Quinn and this book will not disappoint! I listened to the audio version of this book provided by #NetGalley.. The narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, for this book was a good voice for this book. This is another World War Two book which has been overplayed in the past few years. This book has strong ladies as the lead characters. The female code breakers go to a country estate called Bletchley Park. At the end of the book, the author tells us a little about the real life history of Bletchley Park and a connection with Kate Middleton. You may want to read a little more about Bletchley Park as you are reading the book.

The story of Osla, Mab and Beth is pulled together nicely in this book. The three ladies have very different backgrounds but end up meeting and becoming friend during their time working as cryptanalysts, translators, and working codebreaking machines. The secrecy surrounding the work causes life-long difficulties for the ladies. It also causes stress on the friendships during and after the war.

I don't want to give away any of the story in this review. If you are up for another WWII book, this will be a hit in 2021. It does not focus on Hitler or the camps so the book is not depressing. It is a story of working for the war efforts, a mystery, and the bond that grew between the people working at Bletchley Park.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #HarperAudio, #KateQuinn for an advanced audio book. This book is a pleasure to listen to!

Thank you Netgalley for this audiobook of The Rose Code by Kate Quinn.

Kate Quinn comes in strong again! I really liked The Alice Network, and I LOVED the Huntress. But this one might be her strongest yet. If you loved The Lilac Girls, pick this up immediately.

I adore stories about female friendships. They are their own kind of love story, full of just as many layers, complexities, and joys. Add in WWII, jobs that require the utmost secrecy, romance, heartache, betrayal, code breaking, and family drama, and baby, you got yourself an amazing read ahead of you. Don't let the length discourage you, you'll be sad when it's over, I already miss those girls.

I'm always respectfully baffled at how such an intricate and rich story can come out of a person's brain. But I also appreciated how Quinn pulled a story from a historical event such as the female code breakers in WWII. I'm also so glad that we are finally talking about the brave women that also suffered and sacrificed for their country.

The audiobook was narrated very well, I would have loved three different voices, but in hindsight, I don't know that the book was designed for that.

I have been trying to write this review for forever. Or, more specifically, the last week since I finished it. This is still not perfect, but here we go.

I absolutely loved Kate Quinn's The Alice Network, and I also happen to be really interested in code breaking and Bletchley. So to say I was excited for this book was an understatement. Of course, the issues with getting so excited for a book is that it's nearly impossible to have your expectations met. So ultimately, I couldn't quite give it 5 stars. I have a hypothesis as to why, but I'll get to that later.

The Rose Code follows three young women, two timelines, and one deadly mystery. During World War II, Osla, Mab, and Beth work at the mysterious Bletchley Park, the code-breaking center of Britain. They are working with highly classified information, and have to learn to keep the secret of what they really do. After the war, right on the eve of Princess Elizabeth's wedding, the three women must attempt to discover if there was a traitor among them at Bletchley, and crack the codes the find who.

I honestly did really enjoy this book. Quinn masterfully weaves the two different timelines together, always keeping the reader on their toes. I was convinced for most of the book that I knew exactly who the traitor was, until I realized that couldn't be it, and had to completely re-asses. Given that we all know how the war turned out, some of the really large events in the characters' lives are things we already know happen, so I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of the book. It still allowed for some suspense.

I also have to give the book immense credit for making me feel emotions so strongly. There were times where I was truly proud, angry, jubilant, and sad. Like, I had visceral emotional reactions, which is always amazing. What else do we read books for?

The Rose Code really does have a lot of amazing themes. It's about friendship, and love, and family, and found family, and heartbreak, and starting over, and self love. So much of this book was just so beautiful. Mab has a speech about love that definitely made me cry. That's what this book is ultimately about. All types of love. And as someone who enjoys my literature with optimism and love, I definitely appreciated it.

Representation was generally kind of lacking. All of the characters are white, and I definitely had the thought, "you know what would make this even better? lesbians." However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Beth was coded as autistic! Obviously they did not have the same language for things that we do now, but she didn't like people touching her and didn't enjoy crowds. She generally had a difficult time reading people. Other people often saw her as dumb, even though she was clearly very intelligent in certain ways (she is a brilliant code breaker!). And she gets intensely focused on the work she is doing, so much so that she really doesn't notice the things happening around her. It was pretty clear to me that she was autistic.

As I am not an autistic person, I cannot say how well done it is. And I can note that it really walks the difficult line between showing other characters' negative depictions of her, and how the book itself is actually depicting her. For example, even though she clearly is very smart, others often call her "stupid" or "dumb." In the 1947 portion of the book, Beth is in an asylum. Not because of her autism, and Beth herself states many times that she shouldn't be there. However, I do wonder how this will come off to readers, and how others will interpret it. I think Quinn could have been better of pushing back against other people's perceptions of Beth within the narrative. Although they come around at the end, her friends often have difficultly and get extremely upset with her for things such as her black and white thinking, or for not paying attention to things besides work. The narrative could perhaps have supported Beth more by explicitly pushing back against some of this.

Finally, we get to why I feel like I can't give it five stars. Really, it just comes down to 5 star books need the "it" factor for me. I didn't connect to this book as much as I could have, and I think the reason why was the audiobook format I was using. Quite frankly, this book is too long to be an audiobook for me. I would have done better if I had just read the text. I chose to listen to it at normal speed, and it was like, 16 hours. It took me a week to finish it, and I was listening to it constantly. It meant it took me longer to finish, and I couldn't remember things as well as if I had read them. Sometimes I don't have any issues with audiobooks, and sometimes they lead to a disconnect for me. This was a time where the audiobook format disconnected me from the text too much.

And just to tie this off with another small complaint about the audiobook, the narrator was pretty good, except for her "male" voice was exactly the same. All of the young males all sounded the same. So sometimes it took me a bit to figure out who was supposed to be talking.

No, the order of this did not have any rhyme or reason. Quite frankly, I just could not think of a good way to organize this because so many of my thoughts were so all over the place. So the end of this is that yes, I would recommend this if you're looking for a historical fiction book. It is a very character driven book that focuses a lot on human connection and different types of love. It also has a thread of mystery to keep it intriguing and suspenseful. However, if I were you, I might pick up the print version instead of the audiobook.

This book BLEW. MY. MIND!

This book was pure brilliance! Quinn has penned another gripping historical fiction to sit along side The Alice Network and The Huntress. Saskia Maarleveld brought the story to life with her outstanding narration. If you love historical fiction in audio form then Rose Code is a MUST for your 2021 reading list. Three complex women brought together by World War ll must decide who to trust and where to draw lines as they join the ranks of Bletchley Park.

Important note: Start this book on a Friday because once you get into it you will have no choice but to sit and devour every last page! Kate Quinn’s 2021 release, Rose Code, is sure to be a triumph.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars for this beautiful written, intricate tale of love and loyalties. PG rating for mature subjects.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Kate Quinn for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know where to begin with my review of The Rose Code by Kate Quinn but, fair warning, I'm obsessed! Love, loss, and betrayal make this an un-put-downable read/listen. The audiobook narration was wonderful and I found myself looking for things to clean, wash, or fold so I had an excuse to pop my earbuds in and listen

The Rose Code is a story about 3 women, from fairly different walks of life, who become fast friends during their time working at Bletchley Park in WWII England. Osla, the "silly deb", Mab, who's main goal is to find a husband and settle down, and Beth, the daughter of a terribly overbearing mother, all find themselves working together as codebreakers at Bletchley Park during the height of WWII. They become the best of friends until the terrors of war, and the secrets they're each forced to keep, drives them apart. It's only years later, when one of them realizes there was a trader among their fellow codebreakers, that they are able to put the past behind them.

Kate Quinn does such an amazing job creating these characters and relationships. I found myself caring so deeply for all of them! It was nice to read about the amazing women who made these incredible contributions to the war effort, especially considering almost 75% of the people who worked at Bletchley Park were women! I loved the bits of true story mixed in to the fiction. My one issue was the Prince Phillip storyline and that is only because I, personally, find him to be terribly unattractive, even as a young man (to each her own though!). I did have a pretty early idea of who the traitor was and the secret Mab was keeping but it did not take away from the story, at all. I could go on forever about how much I loved The Rose Code, but I won't! I'll just end by saying thank you too Netgalley for the ARC of this amazing audiobook.

Kate Quinn is an author that I anticipate each new release greatly, and this book reached all my expectations. Through NetGalley, I was able to listen to the audio book before release. Her story following three women code breakers from very different backgrounds in the Bletchley Park facility during WWII, drew me in as if I were there. So much detail about their lives and feelings, it was easy to get caught up in their characters. The romantic involvements of each of them was described in ways that each was so relatable and I felt so many emotions: from joy to rage. This story is not the usual WWII genre fiction that I have been so interested in lately. Highly recommend this audiobook! The narrator was easy to understand and read at a good pace to follow.

Kate Quinn has done it again with this WW2 Historical Fiction mystery. Once again her book features some very strong women playing important roles to support the war effort.

The story is told during two time periods. Much of the book is set during the war, starting in 1940 focusing on three women coming together as two of them are billeted in the home of the third while working at a top secret (real-life) code breaking job at Bletchley Park. Osla and Mab see that meek Beth has potential and secure her a job at Bletchley Park as well. The three come from very different backgrounds, but quickly bond over the secrecy of their job. They are bound by the Official Secret Acts and cannot discuss what they spend their days and nights doing with anyone, including each other. They build their social network through a book club they start to relieve a bit of the stress of their duties.

The second part of the story takes place starting at the end of 1947 with one character "behind the clock" at a sanitarium, while the rest of the country is preparing for the impending Royal Wedding. She is adamant she doesn't belong and wants desperately to clear her name and find answers to the secret she swears she discovered at Bletchley Park that put her in the asylum.

If you are a fan of audiobooks, this one was narrated by Saskia Maarleveld who also brought The Alice Network and The Huntress to life. She delivered another amazing performance on The Rose Code and is becoming one of my go-to narrators.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Kate Quinn's latest book involves three women codebreakers during their time at Bletchley Place and six years later as they race against the clock to discover the identity of a spy in the days leading up to the Royal Wedding.  

The writing was excellent.  I enjoyed learning more about Bletchley Park - the people, the layout and the work that was carried out by each of the groups.  The inclusion of real people (Dilly Knox, Alan Turing, Prince Philip, Osla Benning and a Bletchley Park spy) straddled the line between history and historical fiction.  I'm not sure how I feel about her choice to add a fictional spy when there really was a spy at Bletchley Park.  Other that this, the book was excellent.  It was well written and meticulously researched.  The narration was fantastic. Anyone who liked The Alice Network is going to love The Rose Code.

The Rose Code audiobook exceeded all expectations and was impossible to stop listening! Kate Quinn is a master storyteller of novels about women spies. I first discovered her when I listened to The Alice Network, and then again in The Huntress. This historical suspense is just as exciting and heart pounding as its predecessors!

The Rose Code alternates between two time periods, the first starting in 1940 and the second taking place in November 1947. It revolves around three very different women who worked as codebreakers of Bletchley Park during World War II: (1) wealthy heiress and debutante Osla Kendall who is fluent in German and a translator of decoded enemy secrets, and who falls head over heels in love with Prince Philip of Greece - yes, the future Queen Elizabeth’s husband; (2) tall and impoverished East End Londoner, Mab Churt, aka Queen Mab, who reads the top 100 literary works to help her catch a wealthy husband and who can easily work the machines that help break the codes; and (3) shy and timid Beth Finch whose mother is emotionally abusive who can quickly solve puzzles and who becomes one of the top cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park. These three women become the closest of friends because of their work and because they live in the same house. After a tragic loss to one of the three (which was expected due to the war), their friendship is strained, to say the least.

In 1947 Osla struggles with the impending royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip. Out of the blue, she gets an encrypted message from Beth, who is incarcerated at an asylum and scheduled for a lobotomy the day after the royal wedding. Osla and Mab drop everything to assist Beth and soon the trio set out to identify the traitor from Bletchley Park who was responsible for Beth’s imprisonment. They enlist the help of other Bletchley Park code breakers, including Alan Turing. Such name dropping was most satisfying, as was the conclusion, where all three women find justice, gratification, and contentment.

I listened to the audio version of the Rose Code narrated by the extremely talented Saskia Maarleveld. She is an amazing voice actor, using dozens of different voices for all of the characters. I could easily imagine myself transported back to 1940s England. Despite the audio lasting 15 1/2 hours, I never felt like the story dragged on, rather, it was like listening to a well-written miniseries. Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Audio, for providing me with a week of thoroughly enjoyable entertainment. In summary, I highly recommend this audio to anyone who enjoys thrilling WWII stories, especially those involving extraordinary women.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Narrated by Saskatoon Maarleveld
Format - Audiobook
Book rating 4 out of 5 stars
Narration rating 5 out of 5 stars
CONTENT WARING: Very vivid descriptions of bombing scenes and gore!

All in all I really loved this book but felt it was not what the description said it was going to be about. Thus the 4 star rating. In the description they talk about the Enigma Code a lot but this book was not at all about that but about another code they had to break to find a traitor. The book does talk about the Enigma Code but just in passing and about how long it took to break it.

This book did take a good look at our code breakers during World War 2. The unsung heroes who helped win the war and broke the Germans codes sometimes with in minutes of them coming into their facility. Most of these code breakers were women and the work they did for the war effort was amazing.

This book showed a glimpse into three women’s work on the front lines breaking these codes. There is some romance and action in this book. Which makes it great for both men and women. It also shows some of the terrible sacrifices people had to go through during the war.

The narration was great with the narrator doing an excellent job of keeping the voices different and keeping you wanting to listen to more. She was perfect for the book with her soft voice and British accent.

I would recommend this book to people who like Historical Fiction. It also includes some insight into the life of Prince Phillip before he was married to the currently reigning Queen. Who knows what is fact or fiction but it adds a little interesting tidbits that might have been true.

Fun Fact - I actually knew a woman that worked on the Egnima code before she immigrated. She kept the secrets they talk about in this book until she passed.

Simply wonderful. This is a third novel by Kate Quinn that I devoured. I have been waiting for her new book since I read “The Alice Network” and “The Huntress”; two wonderful novels focusing on women spies. “The Rose Code” is a bit different from Quinn’s previous works, it’s a mix of historical fiction and mystery. There are three women who come together as British code breakers. Even though they are completely different from each other, they learn to work together and save one another in the process. I highly recommend for those who enjoy historical fiction.

The Rose Code- a Novel by Kate Quinn (Author), Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator)
Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

Let me just say that I absolutely loved this book. The audio version did take me a bit longer to get into because I had to focus quite intently on what they were saying she to the heavy british accent..Great story!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for providing the ARC of this audiobook.

I dnf’d this book at 19%. I really was looking forward to this but I it was just too slow paced for me and didn’t hold my attention. The premise of this book sounded very interesting. Women decoders in war time....

Wow! Really, really good. This one will be on the GoodReads final selection list for best Historical Fiction.

History with intrigue with a bit of romance. Really great characters.

I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this book!

This book is very difficult to describe without giving away the plot. I love how this book was written; how the dates and plot all intertwined. Just read this book, you won't be disappointed!

The audio is very, very good; I really can't believe that it was narrated by only one person, Saskia Maarleveld. She really does an awesome job!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author/Kate Quinn for the opportunity to review the advance copy of The Rose Code in exchange for an honest review. Publisher is Harper Audio and the release date is 09 March 2021.

The epilogue indicates that the Duchess of Cambridge reopens Bletchley Park in June 2014. The Duchess has a personal link in that Kate Middleton's grandmother Valerie Middleton was employed in Hut 16. Very cool that Bletchley Park has been restored to their wartime appearance after falling into quite disrepair.