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Wolf by Wolf #1

by Ryan Graudin

1956 год. Победу во Второй мировой войне одержали страны «оси», и миром управляют правительства Третьего рейха и Императорской Японии. Ежегодно они устраивают соревнование: гонку на мотоциклах от Берлина до Токио. Победитель получает приглашение на бал, на котором неизменно присутствует Адольф Гитлер.

Именно возможность встретиться с фюрером и убить его интересует еврейку Яэль, бывшую узницу концлагеря, а ныне - участницу Сопротивления. Благодаря приобретенной в ходе фашистских экспериментов способности принимать облик любой девушки Яэль выдает себя за Адель Вольф - победительницу прошлогодней гонки. И лишь на старте оказалось, что в гонке решил принять участие и брат-близнец Адель Феликс Вольф, а одним из главных конкурентов стал Лука Леве, с которых Адель в прошлом явно сто-то связывало. Задача Яэль усложнилась: важно не только победить в гонке, но и сохранить свою тайну.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical, Fiction, Alternate History, Science Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2015

About the author

Ryan Graudin was born in Charleston, South Carolina, with a severe case of wanderlust. When she’s not traveling, she’s busy writing and spending time with her husband and wolf dog. She is the author of Invictus, the Wolf By Wolf duology, The Walled City, and the All That Glows Series.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

There would be no dressing up as a maid. No cyanide slipped into his crystal glass of mineral water. The Fuhrer’s death was to be a loud, screaming thing. A broadcast of blood over the Reichssender.

This book is an action-packed adventure, but it cannot be denied that a lot of its strength comes from one of the most fascinating premises I've ever read. Two, really. Though this may have been done by other authors, it was the first time I'd read anything like it. Wolf By Wolf imagines a reality based on two horrific "what ifs". And it is damn compelling.

Almost everyone knows about the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II, and most people will know of some book or movie that explores the possibility of a world where Hitler won the war. What fewer people know is that medical experiments were conducted on concentration camp prisoners - painful, genetic alterations, attempts to cure homosexuality, injections of dyes to create blue eyes, etc.

Graudin takes the "what if" of Hitler winning the war and pairs it with the "what if" of an experiment that resulted in something else. What if the Nazi's attempt to play with genetics created a new type of creature - a "human" with the ability to shift their physical appearance, to take on the face of someone else? Meet Yael.

This book offers an exploration of identity and the ultimate result of the Nazi crimes - a loss of identity, a loss of a sense of self. Yael can be anyone, have any face, and by doing so, she never really has an identity of her own. This inner struggle is paired with a fast-paced, heart-pounding plot.

Yael is part of a resistance with the ultimate goal - to kill Hitler. However, the Fuhrer rarely appears in public these days, so Yael must go to extremes to get close to him: join and win the Axis Tour (disguised as Adele Wolfe) and then put a bullet through Hitler's heart at the Victor's Ball in Tokyo.

But Yael makes the mistake of thinking her biggest challenge is becoming an expert biker. She gets way more than she bargained for when faced with the intricate web of jealousies, love and backstabbing from the other riders. The author reminds us that humans are complex and layered, and Yael is unable to view the other riders as empty followers of Nazi ideology because, of course, underneath everyone is so much more.

I will issue one warning - not criticism, exactly, because I quite enjoyed it - Graudin's prose gets a little purple at times. I found it more polished and less jarring than in her previous book (The Walled City) but I know flowery metaphors are a deal-breaker for some readers. Otherwise, I thought it was excellent.

Even knowing that the ending couldn't possibly be as neat as planned, I did not see it coming. It opens up possibilities for an exciting sequel, while still drawing a line under this chapter of the story. I cannot wait to read more about this world and its characters - their trials, troubles, struggles and hope.

He hadn’t stood a chance really, but that was the power of hope, the utter cruelty of it.

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[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, really enjoyed it

[Sasha Alsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, even though at times difficult to read due to the subject matter of the holocaust (and it continuing), was an exceptional read! Highly recommend, truly unique!!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She-wolf. An interesting choice."
"I didn't choose it," she told him. "It chose me."

In the 1940's Yael was living in a Nazi death camp where she was selected for an experiment. She starts receiving injections that are supposed to help erase her Jewish traits. They wanted to turn her into the perfect Aryan specimen. What they didn't expect was that it would turn her into something more.

Yael is now someone she doesn't even recognize. A girl who can't even remember her own face. She goes from living in the camp to living on the streets. Pick pocketing to survive, until she is rescued by the resistance. Once she's with them she is 100% committed to the cause. She starts studying, training, and preparing. All of this so she can join a motorcycle race, in hopes that she'll win, so she can get in the presence of Hitler, and kill him.

Yael is one of the most unique females I've ever read. She is the perfect balance of all things. She is vulnerable but strong. She is smart but has moments of doubt. She is wild but knows when to be tamed. You'll feel like you know her without ever really knowing her at all. It's wonderful. She is as unique as the storyline. She is a character that has known true torture, has been willing to be patience, and is now ready to seek revenge. We get to go on the journey with her from start to finish. The side characters in this book do a good job of adding angst without overshadowing the true message of this story. Felix is the kind of brother most wish for and Luka is the mysterious hooded bad boy that we all love to read about.

This is what leads me to what was truly amazing about this book... A plot that is unlike any other. It was so unique. I usually hate stories that bounce back and forth from the past to the present. I always feel like they never flow well. This wasn't a problem for Wolf by Wolf. It flows back and forth seamlessly and always transitions at the right time. I also thought that I was going to love the action packed race moments (I really enjoyed those moments), but I found myself looking forward to reading about Yael's youth. Those moments were so heart-wrecking and real. Truly heart-punching. We get a look into how it could have continued and would be if Hitler would have stayed in power.

"Not everything was gray ashfall, yellowing weeds, withered blue hands, crimson rivers of blood....There was still beauty in this world. And it was worth fighting for."

Wolf by Wolf surprised me. This was a slow burn of a book with so many twists and turns. With the ultimate betrayal that will come out of nowhere. It was suspenseful, gritty, and intriguing. All these things combined together bring on a powerhouse jaw dropping ending that I didn't see coming!



Wolf by Wolf has a writing style all its own. Soul gripping metaphors. A tale like nothing I've read before. And brings something new and original with its characters. I don't know where this story is headed, but I'm very excited to find out.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to the stories, when the führer first announced his vision of an occupied Africa and Europe to his generals, some of them had laughed. “Impossible,” they’d said. “It can’t be done.” But the word impossible held no sway over a man like Hitler.

What if World War II had gone differently? What if the Axis powers had actually won? And what if that awful human experimentation done at concentration camps had actually amounted to the creation of something?

Set in an alternate history our story is with Yael, a seventeen year old with the remarkable ability to change her appearance. As a child at Auschwitz she was experimented on in an attempt to alter her genes transforming her into the ideal Aryan race. It doesn't exactly go as planned instead leaving Yael with the capability of changing her appearance at will. She can now skinshift; the only things she cannot alter are gender, wounds, and tattoo ink leaving everything from weight, hair color, race, sound of voice, height, etc. all up to Yael.

Yael had many faces. Many names. Many sets of papers. Because the chemicals the Angel of Death had crammed into Yael’s veins had changed her.

Ten years after her great escape Yael is planning to use her ability to end Hitler’s reign of terror. He rarely makes appearances in public anymore after so many assassination attempts. Teamed up with the resistance, a plan has been concocted.

Every year since the end of the war, there has been a motorcycle race across continents through the land both Hitler and Hirohito claim called the Axis Tour. Twenty contestants race to win glory for their country’s leader. The riders are a mix of German and Japanese. Yael’s mission? To become Adele Wolfe in order to ride. Win the Axis Tour in order to earn invitation to Victor’s Ball. While there..kill Hitler.

The premise is so fantastic, I cannot rave enough. And THIS BOOK does the deed. I could not get enough of the pages I was reading. Yael is such a strong character with determination and intelligence. I respected her. And enjoyed seeing her transform from that frightened young girl into the young woman she was becoming. I really love how the past was told through Yael’s wolves. It helped us to understand who she is and where that desire to avenge comes from. Her heartbreaking backstory is mixed well with the present day keeping up with the book’s fast-pace.

There are so many excellent, well-developed, complex characters within this story. I look forward to seeing several of them again. There is a small bit of romance that doesn’t overwhelm. The writing style manages to be poetic without overdoing it in the way that The Star-Touched Queen did. The plot remains exciting the entire book leaving us with a cliffhanger that shocks. Overall, I’d say this is one of those books everyone will end up loving whether you’re interested in historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, or just plain young adult. Ryan Graudin manages to blend some of these genres within this alternate history world.

To take it home, the author provides an author’s note clarifying the book’s theme of identity and just what makes us who we are. And that we should never forget the history our world once faced. Scary to think about, yet beyond true.

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

there is a book called ‘if the allies had fallen: sixty alternate scenarios of world war II.’ thats sixty different ways hitler could have won, sixty different ways life would have been different. i couldnt tell you how someone had enough time to come up with sixty various scenarios, but i can definitely tell you this story is not one of them. this book is in a league all on its own.

yes, some aspects are a little cheesy and worth a good eye-roll. and yes, the sci-fi element is really out of place. but man, i would be lying if i said i wasnt entertained from page one. i think the concept is sooo interesting and the writing is a definite asset to the way it is told. the pacing is great and i enjoyed pretty much all of the characters.

my main complaint is the story references events that happen in a prior race, but never explain what actually occurred. so the reader is left with a massive gap where some important stuff happened. it doesnt necessarily affect the readers comprehension of this race/story, but it would have been nice to have, rather than being teased about being left in the dark.

but overall, this is a wildly imaginative and exciting story. it does end on a cliffhanger, so i guess that just means i have to pick up the next book!

↠ 3.5 stars

[Victoria Schwab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary. Prepare to hear me gushing about this book closer to release. But if it's not on your radar GET IT THERE.

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

curse the young adult romance industrial complex because why am i reading a nazi love story when i was promised a shapeshifting hitler assassin?

this disappointment was brought to you by PROJECT 5 STAR, an ongoing act of cynicism in which i put books i used to love to the test of my current cold and unfeeling heart.

this is a book i didn't remember which i read as an entirely different reader, when i was a teenager and hope sprang eternal. or something.

in other words, revisiting it was a recipe for disaster. or for masochism.

i see why teenage me liked this book, but it has all of the things that drive current me (the more important one) crazy: strange pacing, repetitive writing tics (she didn't have the heart. or maybe she had too much), a compulsory and annoying romance, an unearned plot twist, inauthentic-feeling historical fiction.

there was a time when i could look past all of that, somehow. but not now.

my heart is too wizened and my brain too critical to accept this sort of thing at my big age.

bottom line: i recommend this book to all teenagers with hearts of gold, and no one else.

[Chantal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them-made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.

This book is fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

It’s one of those rare occasions where I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing about it. For me, this book was perfect. I loved every second of it.

For once, I picked up a book not because of a review by one of my GR friends, but because of three other things.
1) The premise
2) Victoria Schwab gushed about it
3) It was blurbed by Laini Taylor
Really, that’s all I need to know about a book. Sometimes you just have a gut instinct: you see a book and you know you’re going to like it. Sometimes, I admit, that feeling is wrong. But other times, gloriously, it is right, which was the case with this book.

As stated above, what initially attracted me to Wolf By Wolf was the premise. It is based on two major questions, two “what ifs”. What if the Nazis had won World War II? And, what if, in a world where race stands above everything else, it becomes irrelevant? This book is essentially, Ryan Graudin’s take on those two questions.

The result is an exciting and compelling story that follows one of my new favourite female characters.

Yael is part of the Nazi resistance. Having escaped a death camp years earlier, she has one ultimate goal: kill Hitler. But the dictator, having barely survived numerous assassination attempts, no longer shows himself in public, with one important exception. Every year the Axis powers host a motorcycle race in order to commemorate their victory over Britain and Russia. The winner of the race will be awarded a personal audience with Hitler, an opportunity that Yael cannot let slip through her hands.

Yael believes that her biggest challenge will be handling her bike, an assumption that quickly proves inaccurate, as she comes to realize that even those she hates, those she believes to be blind followers of the Hitler regime, have more to them then meets the eye.

To make things even more interesting, the author also added in a sci-fi element, which takes the premise from cool to extraordinary.

Yael is a character who is strong both in mind and body. She is smart. She thinks about what she’s doing. Do you know those YA heroines who sometimes act in irrational ways? Who make mistakes only to keep the plot moving? Yael isn’t one of them. Every decision she makes is calculated, and when it is not, the reader can fully understand why she acts the way she does. She isn’t flawless, she makes mistakes, and those mistakes make her all the more relatable.

I really enjoyed the side characters as well. None of them are black or white, they all have their own hidden agendas and motivations which results in a plot that is full of twists and turns and goes places you didn’t expect. Wolf by Wolf was one heart-pounding adventure.

But, beneath this fast-paced plot, there are also underlying themes. One that clearly stands out is the theme of identity. Ryan Graudin herself expresses it best in her author’s note.

This book, at its heart, is about identity. Not only in how we see ourselves, but also about how we see others. What makes people who they are? The color of their skin? The blood in their veins? The uniforms they wear?

This may seem like a lofty goal, but I promise you that she fully managed to get these points across. This book left me reeling with the places it went, but also pondering the above mentioned questions.

The ending had me awestruck and now I am just dying a little bit inside with every day that goes by that I cannot read the sequel.

I am aware that the writing style might not be for everyone. It is quite poetic and the author uses many metaphors and other literary devices which I personally loved, but some readers might find jarring.

I could go on and on about this book but I will leave it there. Trust me when I say it’s as cool as it sounds. I’m not into motorcycles in the least, but reading Wolf by Wolf made me want to put on my sunglasses and ride at high speeds through the desert.



The novel had me at the edge of my seat from start to finish and I am certain that it will be one of my favourites of 2016.

Highly recommended!

[Mikee (ReadWithMikee) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them -- made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same. Her story begins on a train."

If you haven't read this book, then I'm tell you right now: DROP what you're doing or what you're reading and pick this book up. As soon as I read the synopsis for a Wolf by Wolf, I just had to read this story. Although I did pick up some Hunger Game vibes, the plot was completely unique. How many YA books, or just books in general, have motorcycle races? Or better yet, plots to assassinate the infamous Adolf Hitler? Not too many!

Just when I thought I had this book figured out, I fall into series of traps and plot twists. I honestly haven't been fooled by a plot twist that bad since I read Red Queen and oh man, the ending to Wolf by Wolf got me bad!

At first, I was a little worried that a story about a motorcycle race would bore me to death since interests in motorcycles and automobiles weren't really at the top of my list, but this book just had me at the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Although it took me a little longer than usual to get through Wolf by Wolf, I never found myself bored or anything of that sort. In fact, I was kept on my toes anticipating the main character's next move and what obstacle she must prevail. Wolf by Wolf just got BETTER AND BETTER up until the very last page and I loved every single second of it.

This was definitely my favorite read of 2016 so far and it took me completely by surprise! I can't wait to get my hands on the next book!

[Sarah DiMento · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She-wolf. An interesting choice."
"I didn't choose it," she told him. "It chose me."

I can already tell this is going to be a long one, I have so much to say about this book!

Let me just start off by saying that I am no stranger to World War II historical fiction. I have an entire bookshelf devoted to the topic (both fiction and nonfiction) and have read my share. something about that entire era just intrigues me. This one is definitely right up there with my favorites :) it surprised me and exceeded all of my expectations (and I've seen nothing but five star reviews among my gr friends so my expectations were high!) But while I've read so many books about WW2, this one is so different because it's alternate historical fiction: what if Hitler had won the war? When I think about it, it's terrifying. How long would the death camps have continued? How many countries would Hitler come to control? How many people would have died?

And the picture that Ryan Graudin paints for us is provocative and horrifying. The year is 1956 and the death camps continue, Hitler has conquered Europe, Russia, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and into Asia, and he's more powerful than ever.

This is the story of Yael, a young Jewish girl who is sent to a camp when she's about six years old. She's chosen by the doctor as a test subject for one of his experiments, and he injects melanin into her veins regularly in an attempt to lighten her hair, eyes, skin ect to make her look like the ideal Aryan. After weeks of sickness, infection, pain, it actually works- but with a side effect- Yael can now skinshift and make herself look like any person. She uses this ability to escape the camp, and is (conveniently) found by the resistance movement. Forward ten years later, and the resistance movement has a mission for Yael. The mission.

"The ghost girl whispered to a smokeless sky, "I'm Yael. I'm alive." The heavens- full of the dead's eyes and stars- whispered back: You are special. You can live. You are going to change things."

Every year there is a cross-continent motorcycle race, beginning in Germany and ending in Japan. The participants are exemplary models of Hitler's youth: young National Socialists, perfectly Aryan, steadfastly devoted to Hitler's cause. There are Japanese participants as well (Hitler and Hirohito are still tentatively allied), and the winner of the race is thought to demonstrate the strength, talent, and superiority of their country. The winner is honored by their country's leader at a ball and is considered a national hero for the rest of their life. Last year, a girl won the race for the first time ever. Girls were previously not allowed to race at all, but Adele Wolfe had impersonated her twin brother to get into the race. But even more surprising, Hitler actually danced with Adele at the victor's ball. Hitler rarely makes public appearances anymore after too many assassination attempts, and he certainly doesn't let anyone close to him outside his trusted circle. But Adele's perfectly blonde hair and blue eyes, and her strength and pride in winning the race, captivate even Hitler himself.

Yael's mission: kidnap and hide Adele, skinshift to take Adele's place in this year's race, win the race, dance with Hitler, assassinate Hitler. Easy enough, right?

"It was a cruel irony that this was the message she had been chosen to deliver. She, the loneliest of all. The girl without a people. Without a face. The girl who was no one. Who could be everyone."

The interesting and unique story alone is enough to make you want to read this book. And the story certainly delivers- I could NOT put this book down and wanted to avoid all real life responsibility until I was finished! The last 50 pages nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought something was wrong with me until I reminded myself to breathe...

But besides the amazing story, this book is beautifully written and delivers on amazing characters and themes. At its heart, this is a book about identity. Yael's past haunts her, she feels (literally) stripped of who she is, the same way her skin sloughed off after so many injections. Yael can't even remember what she actually looked like before the experiments. She becomes prisoner 121358X and she doesn't know how to be more than that. The other prisoners call her a monster as she gets sick and her appearance changes, and Yael continues through life unable to shake the feeling that she is a monster.

"Yael was a bare-bones blank slate. A hanger that held a cloth of pretty skin.
Who are you? (On the inside?)
The answer to this question was something Yael had to fight for. Her self-reflection was no reflection at all. It was a shattered mirror, something she had to piece together over and over again. Memory by memory. Loss by loss."

Besides the cruelty done to Yael herself, we learn about the people Yael has loved and lost during her time in the death camp and even after she escapes. There are no bounds to the tragedy she experiences in her life, and at times she feels completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of all she has lost: no one to love, no one to love her, no memories of who she is or where she came from. To make the pain manageable, she hides her prisoner number tattoo with five wolves, each representing a different person. These wolves remind her of what she's lost and why she continues to fight.

"Five wolves. Four memories and a reminder. Her loss was larger than that... But four + one was a number she could remember. A number she could handle without letting the vastness of it pick her to pieces like a crab's ragged claws."

I loved the role that skin shifting plays in this book. Yael is able to take on the role of anyone, but inside she is always the same person, always pretending to be someone else. She has studied everything there is to know about Adele Wolfe: read countless files, watched the way she walks and the way she plays with her hair, she knows what foods she likes and dislikes. But when it comes to actually being Adele, Yael struggles.

"The truth was inside. Always inside. (And it made Yael wonder, if she unfolded herself, what she would find. The monster of Dr. Geyer's making? Or the Valkyrie of her own design?)
She did not know.
She did not know.
How could she forget her own self?"

Through the race, Yael learns about who she really is as she pretends to be Adele. And we learn that there may be more than meets the eye about the real Adele Wolfe. I neeeeed the next book ASAP! What's the deal with Adele and Luka, and, more importantly, what's the deal with Yael and Luka?! The ending I just didn't see coming. I even thought to myself at one point that Yael can't be the only skin shifter- if the experiment worked on her, wouldn't it work on others? But I still didn't see it coming! I adore Ryan Graudin's writing style (there's lots of parenthesis, but I like parenthesis!) (and there's lots of repetition, but in a poetic style) I like when authors do something different and it works.

Overall, this is a book that I think any type of reader can enjoy. Well-written, exciting plot, well-developed characters, meaningful themes, and even a sci-fi/fantasy element. I wish I could give this book more than five stars, and it's definitely become one if my all-time favorites!

[Ryan Graudin]

I wrote this book. I'm pretty partial to it. ;)

For every 1000 adds WOLF BY WOLF receives, I'll be posting a teaser!

1k teaser: https://instagram.com/p/1pBu04lIkP/

2k teaser: https://instagram.com/p/47JEFnlIlf/

3k teaser: https://instagram.com/p/7Vq7qOlIjq/

4k teaser: https://instagram.com/p/8esry5lIos/

I'll be posting another teaser at the 5k add point if it is before the release date!!

ALSO, for those of you who are curious, WOLF BY WOLF is the first book in a duology! The sequel is tentatively scheduled for Fall 2016!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting to like this book just not love it! It blew me away! With the plot twists and the history and the added slight element of sci fi or paranormal (not sure yet!) I fell in love plus a motorcycle race?!
To say I am desperately wanting the sequel right now would be a vast understatement!

[Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's an understatement to say I am disappointed.

The premise of this sounded pretty neat. Skinshifting? An International motorcycle race? A Jewish girl's sole purpose to assassinate Fuhrer Hitler?

That sounds badass.

Honestly though, I was really bored for an overwhelming majority of this book. I kept hoping that with a little patience this story would take off, but for me it just didn't.

Literally the only interesting sections in the story dealt with the main character's past. Yael has a tattoo of wolves on her arm, one for each person she's lost under the brutal rule of Adolf Hitler. Learning about these characters was heartfelt, and I did enjoy those bits.

Between those little glimpses of her past we have a lot of internal monologue about personal identity, which was relevant but boring. Mandatory interaction with hot guy character/love interest. And overall a very uneventful race to the finish line.

I am not someone who often predicts endings or twists. I'm bad at it. Plus, I think it's easy to get caught up in guessing what will happen when you should just enjoy the story and see where it goes. However, I saw this ending coming a mile away because there was really nowhere else for it to go. When I am able to guess one of the only twists in this story without even a moment of concentrated effort, that is a problem.

I'm giving it a 2 stars because the premise was interesting, and there were some small parts I actively enjoyed. Overall though, not my cup of tea.

[Kai Spellmeier]

“The wolves of war are gathering. They sing a song of rotten bones.”

One girl with a thousand identities on an impossible mission with a single goal: Kill Hitler.

Cover and title had me hooked the minute I first saw this on Goodreads. Especially since Victoria Schwab (one of my favourite authors) had rated it 5 stars.
The first few pages had me utterly confused until I had finally figured out what "Alternate History" was supposed to mean. Now, pretending that Hitler survived, enlarged the Third Reich and sent half of the world to concentration camps is not really something I want to think about. Nevertheless, this doesn't keep it from being a great novel: thrilling, original, twisting and turning; this made for an exciting read.
In my opinion it was somewhat lacking in deep emotions. I can't quite pin it down, but I feel like there was not enough character depth to actually bond with Yael or any other characters. And while three of them (Yael, Felix, Luka) had lots of moments, I would've loved to know more about some of the many side characters.

But there is still hope, so let's see what the sequel will bring!

Find more of my books on Instagram

[grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing

[Katie Colson · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4.25

I’ve had this on my tbr for SO LONG. I’m glad I never unhauled it.
So good. Such an interesting concept.
A shapeshifter riding a motorcycle across continents to kill Hitler? Stunning.
I love Yael and Luca and Felix and all of it. It isn’t too deep to be bogged down and distract from the action. But it’s also deeper than a YA fantasy traditionally is. Which is refreshing.
I love how determined Yael is and I love the magic of her shapeshifting. It’s like X Men

[s · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNF this like a month ago and I'm making it official now.

Like, I was so confused throughout the 150 pages I read....what the fuck was happening???? It's like when you're watching Pewdiepie videos and non stop laughing and you're little brother takes your thumb to unlock your phone password and YOU DON'T EVEN FUCKING REALIZE WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING.

You're just reading a bunch of words and not processing what the fuck they mean and I'm so fucking clueless to this day as to what the fuck was happening in this book.

Not to mention I was bored as fuck.

[Wren (fablesandwren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Hitler won the war? What if Hitler tried to make everyone have blonde hair and blue eyes? What if this actually created a shape-shifter?

Yael was mutated. She was born a normal human being, got experimented on in a concentration camp, and can no take the shape of whomever she wants. Grant it, she doesn't really change mass or anything so guys are harder for this small girl to take form, but she can still try.

After a series of events, Yael ends up in the hands of The Resistance, a group trying to kill Hitler and crumble his reign, and they have a plan: disguise herself as Adele Wolf, the only female to win the Axis Tour, and kill Hitler at the Victor’s Ball.

The Axis Tour is a motorcycle race. So she learns how to ride a bike in 9 months, and is good at it and better than any of her competitors who have been training all their lives (not a fan of that part, but moving on). She also studied Adele’s life and all who are in it. The only thing left is to win the Axis Tour and come face to face with the man she loathes the most.

The Fuhrer. Hitler himself.

As expected, a lot of things were not in the files she studied. Like the relationship Adele has with her brother Felix and how protective he is. Or the history she has with another Axis Tour winner Luka and the complicated relationship Yael forms with him as Adele.

All her studying won’t get her to the Victor’s Ball, she has to improvise.

Graudin has written a masterpiece.



Don't let the fact that the setting is a motorcycle race. Usually, that would make me automatically go to sleep; but that isn't what happened here. You are focused on the characters and Yael trying to figure out what Adele felt, how Yael herself feels and how to react and... it's really hard to pretend to be someone else when that someone else has a lot of history with them that wasn't in the folders.

I loved this series. It needs to get more hype than it has.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huzzah for alternate history YA fiction!

Huzzah for a book about a female lead who races motorcycles!

Boo for the book synopsis giving away the cool spin on the main character's ability! The book would have sounded cool enough without that particular tidbit being spoiled.

While it likely won't achieve the great & lofty heights of The Hunger Games or Divergent series, Wolf By Wolf is very worthy entry into the ever-crowded world of YA fiction. A few years ago, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a zombie or paranormal romance book. Now, YA adventure/drama is the place to be, with nearly every other book review on Goodreads parked firmly in Teen to Young Adult territory. That's really not an indictment so much as a fact, and since the genre is getting more congested by the day, it's hard for a book to stand out.

But I believe that this effort by Ryan Graudin manages to do just that. By taking a well-known, and well-worn, period of time and adding in a bit of alternate history, along with a slight twinge of the supernatural-via-science, she has managed to make a rare gem; a unique tale set during the second Great War. That's not to say that this is a wholly original type of story, because it isn't. Yael, while an entirely likeable and engaging lead, with a cool ability, is still just that; a girl with a special ability, caught up in circumstances far greater than she ever imagined, and dealing with mixed emotions about her mission, her potential love interest, and her family dynamic. Sound familiar? Yeah, it did to me too. A World War II where the Axis defeated the Allies isn't new either (in print or on screen), with The Man In The High Castle being a prime example. Attempting to assassinate Hitler? Been there and done that already, both in real life and in fiction. But while the framework may be familiar, it's the way that they come together that makes them unique, the whole becoming greater than the sum of the parts.

As I stated, Yael is a completely engaging lead. Which is a good thing, as this is a single POV tale. No cutaways to other heroes, no villain side of the tale, no third party commentary. So the entirety of the tale rests with her. And it works, in the way that it works for the vast majority of YA books. We get enough backstory that we can truly understand the painful and traumatic experiences that Yael has lived through, both in surviving the Holocaust, as well as in surviving the experiments that turned her into something more than human. We understand the pain of her loss, as we are given time with each of the people who were close to her and/or helped her in some way. She's tough but not unfeeling. Brave without being untouchable. Intelligent but not perfect. I rather enjoyed her conflicted nature. She knew what she had to do, and she knew WHY it had to be done, but there were steps along the way that she didn’t want to take. A person she didn’t want to become, even when she believed it was in all likelihood going to happen. I guess I would say that she was pragmatic, a realist who allowed herself little glimmers of hope.

One of my biggest gripes about single POV books is that we, as readers, rarely get the full sense of the world the character inhabits. By seeing events through only one set of eyes, you lose that "grand" sense of scale that other, multiple viewpoint books, generally manage to convey. Especially since, with single POV books, we only see events through the POV character's day-to-day experience and bias. And yes, I know that's basically how real life is. We all see things from our own point of view, with our own established biases, coupled with our own narrative that we apply to things/events. But the beauty of books, or one of them anyways, is the ability to transport us away from our own world, our own reality, our own way of thinking, and enable us to vicariously be someone else, live somewhere else, and (most importantly) believe something else. Mrs Graudin expertly sidesteps this typical single POV pitfall by working within the timeline of World War II. Yes, in this book, the outcome of the war is different, but the essentials are the same. World War II is heavily documented and taught, so we are all aware of the atrocities committed, the notorious figures that made those atrocities a reality, and the state of Europe (and most of the rest of the world) during this time period. So that grand sense of scale, that immersive world building, has already been established within us before we even begin reading. Which allows us to get right to the meat & potatoes of the story of Yael, her mission, and the people she interacts with along the way.

We do get interesting side characters, even though most of the other racers are window dressing, there for plot and occasional interaction, but not really coming to the forefront of the tale. There are a couple of notable exceptions, which I will not spoil here. What I really enjoyed is that we get good supporting characters both on Yael’s side, as well as on the opposing side. And as she gets to know some of her fellow racers, she discovers that they are not black & white like she initially thought. In fact, Yael is consistently surprised by the people around her, testament to her minimal social interaction outside of the resistance movement that took her in.

I will say that the potential romance in the tale is not “love at first sight”, nor is it some shoehorned love triangle designed to make Yael seem that much more desirable. It’s not fantasy fulfillment. It’s very much a contentious thing, equal parts appealing and frustrating. I can only hope that this take on it continues in the future novels.

Speaking of future novels…though this is essentially a self-contained tale, it does end in a way that sets some of the stakes for the sequel. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger necessarily, but there is a sense of danger and urgency that will likely carry over into book 2.

As someone who rides motorcycles, I found the racing portions (which are a good chunk of the book) to be relatively accurate and plausible. If anything, some of the dangers and hardships of riding so many miles on a motorcycle are downplayed in the book. There are some other side-effects of long distance riding that aren’t mentioned here, but for the most part Mr. Graudin captures the feel of the ride. Gearheads like me feel the call of the open road quite profoundly, and my friends and I like to refer to our rides as “throttle therapy”. Yael feels some of that, though she’s riding for a mission, not for pleasure. It’s a nice change from some of the urban fantasy tales, where the heroine rides a motorcycle to make her seem more badass, instead of for an actual reason. Yael rides because she has to. She just happens to be badass because she works so hard to be successful. And as a rider with tattoos, I can wholeheartedly root for a female rider with tattoos. They really go hand in hand, in my opinion.

As for negatives…well, let me think. There’s really not much for me to pick apart. The story was diverse and unpredictable enough that I was consistently engaged and entertained. The book does get off to a slightly rocky start, and the initial chapters are roughly written. The writing smooths out (for the most part) a few chapters in, and there are some truly amazing passages to be found; they are either poetically written, or they contain some insight that is deep and profound. However, there are still some rough patches littered throughout the novel, and some incredibly strange word choices and sentence structures that pop up in random places. While these were minor nuisances, they really didn’t impact or diminish the tale being told.

I would have liked more interaction with the other racers. Aside from a few that stand out and have heavy plot participation, the rest are just kinda…there. There was some serious opportunity here for character growth and meaningful interaction, and it just didn’t materialize. There were also a few moments of danger that were slightly too easy to escape from, and I think they could have been made a little more difficult for Yael & company.

And yeah, I said it before and I’ll say it again…the synopsis gives way too much away. The story would have been better served with more surprises for the reader. Took too many cues from Hollywood trailers here.

But, ultimately, the book really did it for me. I was always entertained, and had quite a few “just one more chapter” moments. I was invested in Yael’s struggles, I could feel the miles and miles that she was enduring, and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended. Hell, I even put on Edith Piaf and other period music to really get into the spirit of the book. I honestly can’t wait to start the sequel!

[Stacey | prettybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was invited to a blogger tea earlier this year to meet Ryan Graudin and hear all about her upcoming book. I left feeling super excited to read it, and so I should have – Wolf By Wolf is now one of my favourite books of the year.

Wolf By Wolf is set in 1956, Germany – or, Germania, Capital of the Third Reich. It has been 10 years since the Third Reich and Imperial Japan won the Second World War. As a young child, Yael was experimented on in Auschwitz and she developed the incredible ability to transform her appearance. As a teenager, she is a member of a determined rebel group. Yael is on a mission: to join the famous Axis Tour, a treacherous motorcycle race across the world, from Berlin to Tokyo – with one aim. She must win the race, dance with Hitler at the Victors' ball – and kill him.

Wolf By Wolf is a clever and impressive combination of alternate history and fantasy. Ryan Graudin clearly did a lot of research, yet it never feels like a history lesson – only one girl's thrilling attempt to seek revenge on those who destroyed her life. Yael is a brave and intelligent heroine, and one I was supporting all the way. She has five tattooed wolves, each one a memory of someone she has lost. To enter the race, Yael alters her appearance to mimic blonde-haired, blue-eyed Adele Wolfe, the only previous female Victor. I loved discovering Yael's past and the story behind each of the wolves. Wolf By Wolf seamlessly moves between the Yael's heartbreaking backstory as a frightened young girl to her exhilarating and dangerous present as she pretends to be Germany's most famous female rider.

As the race progressed, I was on edge to discover whether Yael would complete her mission, especially as she began to develop relationships with her fellow riders, and make enemies of some. I sat in a tube station and refused to leave until I reached the end because I couldn't bear to put it down. Wolf By Wolf throws us into the dusty path of a stunning, fast-paced and well-written journey. All I wanted to do upon finishing was tell other people about it. Even if you're not usually into contemporary historical fiction or fantasy, this will be one book that a lot of people will be talking about this autumn, so don't miss out. I'll definitely be picking up her first book, The Walled City , soon!

Thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review!

I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.

[Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced, engaging, and a unique alternate history story. The characters, other than Yael, lacked a bit of substance and the writing was clunky, relying heavily on repetition to a fault (she repeats words, words, words like this, this, this all the time, time, time)—but I enjoyed reading it and it made me want to pick up the sequel.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy. Fuck.

Amber recommended this book to me in December last year and I bought it back in January but it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. I had no real inclination to pick it up and I honestly didn't know what the hell this book was about.

I decided randomly yesterday that I would finally read this book and man I wish I had picked it up sooner! This book wasn't what I expected - although, to be fair, I didn't know what to expect. Even though there's a motorbike on the front cover, I didn't realise there would be a motorbike race as the main feature of the book. It kinda made me a bit hesitant to read it when I discovered this since it was totally not my thing. However, I quickly became absolutely HOOKED by this book. I couldn't put it down for a second and I ended up staying up late to read as much as possible before I had to sleep.

I'm so blown away by this book and I can't wait to read Blood for Blood! Yael is an amazing main character and I totally fell for Luka throughout this book. I need more asap!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original Read: Nov. 6th - Nov. 14th, 2015
Re-read: May 28th - June 4th, 2017

I loved this just as much the second time reading it. My original review and thoughts remain the same.

*******************************
Original Review:

4.5 stars

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them -- made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same."

What if the Axis had won World War 2?
It's a scary question to contemplate. Most historians concede that it was, at some point or another, possible. Alternative history is a genre composed of educated guesswork and speculation. That's what Ryan Graudin bases this novel on. That and a little dose of the mythical.
I admit to being the geeky kid who was morbidly fascinated by random points and events in
history....WW2 and the Holocaust being one of those periods of history. So, of course, I adore historical fiction. I will still never get over the atrocities that humans can be capable of, in the past and even now in the present day. It makes me so sad that people can't learn from the mistakes of those in the past and continue to do such horrible things to each other.

"Tonight death is at Hitler's door. And I am the one to bear it.
I have always been the one to bear it."

The year is 1956 and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their great victory, they host the Axis Tour : an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The prize? An audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's Ball in Tokyo.
Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has witnessed too much suffering, and the five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she has lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: win the race and kill Hitler.

"Her bullets and blade were for three things: defense, coercion and the Fuhrer's chest."

A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last years only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele's twin brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move.

"Not everything was gray ashfall, yellowing weeds, withered blue hands, crimson rivers of blood....There was still beauty in this world. And it was worth fighting for."

The author has said that this book, at its heart, is about identity. What makes people who they are? The color of their skin? The blood in their veins? I love that she gave her MC the ability to skinshift as a way to confront this dilemma. No matter who Yael impersonated, what her outward appearance, she was still the same girl. The same girl who's world was torn apart and never really put back together completely. I loved that through it all, Yael never lost who she was in the way that mattered, though she feared that she had lost herself long ago when her ability to skinshift led to her forgetting her true appearance. But after all, that's not what matters. The author did a beautiful job of reinforcing that all people are created equal, despite race, despite gender, despite everything. Would rec to everyone to read and I am so, so incredibly happy that this isn't going to be a standalone. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next chapter of Yael's life, in the world that I am so happy didn't come to be.

[Anna M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

2016 Genre Challenge: Historical Fiction
Pretty freaking awesome book! I loved everything about it, the characters, the plot, the action. The idea of this type of story is not original, but this was written in a way I could enjoy it. Being one of Jewish heritage and born in the USSR, I could relate to the story of Yael's life as these stories have been passed on to me during my life.... This was a great book. A very strong recommendation from me.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...this book is definitely something else!
A historical alternative universe, an action packed race to killing totalitarian evil, interesting and layered characters to explore, a great cliffhanger..
The author could've used "Scheiße" a bit more grammatically correct, but all in all a fantastic read!

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was so different and interesting. I loved the characters so much and the plot was so fast paced. I've never read a book like Wolf by Wolf before and I read the whole book in just one sitting.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

** 4 “I NEED THE SECOND BOOK NOW !!” **

I don’t understand why I waited so long to read this, especially because the synopsis had always appealed to me, but I don’t know, I never came around to read it in the end until now ! And what an amazing read this was !! Loved it !

The story and world-building :
• Basically, I loved the whole concept of the book : writing a story about our world as it could have been IF Hitler had won WW2. Just this aspect alone was fascinating and had a way to make it appear more realistic because it’s inspired directly from true events that have taken place not so long ago, touching you more deeply and more personally than any other dystopian story could, because you know this could have been real.
• Now on to the other aspect of the story : the motorcycle race ! Badass much ?! The entire book revolves around a group of teenagers from both the Third Reich and the Japanese Empire competing in a motorcycle race going from Germany through North Africa and China to Japan, in the span of 3 weeks. The whole thing just made the book action-packed, thrilling and fast-paced , making you feel as if you were on a bike of your own with the other competitors.
• I also really enjoyed the back and forth between the present, meaning the race, and the pastof Yael, what happened to her in the camp that gave her the ability to skinshift and how she lost all the people she loved and cared for leading to her absolute hatred of Hitler and giving more meaning to her mission of killing him.
• The added fantasy element of the story through Yael’s skinshifting was in my opinion accurate and spot-on to deal with the antisemitism under Hitler’s reign.

I never got bored on bit while reading and was hooked from the first words weaved so beautifully and with such meaning and feeling by the author. She managed to deal smoothly and with the right words with serious subjects such as the Holocaust or the issue of identity very present in this book.

The characters :
• I really liked the main character, Yael . I liked how badass and brave she was, but without being arrogant about it which I found quite enjoyable. Despite that, Yael still had insecurities and doubts, making her feel so humane, and making you feel closer to her due to that. I liked how the author dealt with the issue of identity through Yael’s character and her skinshifting : Yael’s constant fear of losing herself and who she truly is inside behind the faces and identities that she stole and used.
• I guess my only complaint about this book, and the reason why I didn’t give the book five stars, was because I wasn’t very fond of the second main character, Luka . He’s shown from the start as an arrogant and pompous guy, trying to be funny when actually he’s not. I thought his character felt sometimes too forced and not natural. In my eyes, he only appeared as a cliché cocky love interest that didn’t really have anything interesting about him. I can’t say I hated him, but he just didn’t make me feel anything. I especially didn’t really feel the connection between him and Yael, and the fact that he apparently loved the real Adele in the first place makes it hard for me to believe he could love the real Yael.
• However, I really liked Felix , Adele’s brother. He’s such a caring, protective and selfless brother , despite Yael-Adele hitting him or lying to him, he was always there for his sister, and I found that very touching. I liked that even though Felix thought Yael was his sister, Yael still found someone she could count on and maybe even trust.

As for the ending, it was very surprising and awesome, and now I really don’t know what to expect from book 2 which is good, and I can’t wait !!

[Arunimaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5 stars*

“Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them--made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.
Her story begins on a train.”

Wolf by Wolf- An alternate history laced with action, thrill, betrayal, loss and desperation, all threaded together brilliantly to deliver an incredible tale. A tale of a girl, who was no girl at all. A girl who had lost her own face behind numerous foreign faces. A girl with so many identities but not one of her own. A girl who has lost all that she loved. A girl who has lost but remembers all. Forces herself to remember each and every pain and loss. Because she has to. She has to remember the pain, for the rage to follow it, because with that very rage brewing, curdling, brimming inside of her, she is going to put a bullet through the Führer.

Babushka—the one who gave her purpose.
Mama—the one who gave her life.
Miriam—the one who gave her freedom.
Aaron-Klaus—the one who gave her a mission.
Vlad—the one who gave her pain.

These were the names she whispered in the dark.
These were the pieces she brought back into place.
These were the wolves she rode to war.

I was really excited by the premise of this story which is of an alternate universe-more like, alternate history. Wolf by Wolf is built on an alternate history where World War II ended with the victory of the Axis power. But that's not the only point where Ryan Graudin deviates from the events of the real world. Back in the day in Nazi Germany, there were a series of gruesome genetic experiments carried out on Jews at the concentration camps.

I was aware of the fact that these heartless experiments had existed which had inflicted ghastly things on their subjects but I wasn't aware of what actually these said ghastly things were and the extent of them. So I went and read a bit about these experiments and realized how much more brutal these experiments had been than I had presumed in my head - sewing twin babies to create conjoined twins, injecting dyes into the eyes, mutilation without anesthesia, freezing bodies to see means to prevent and treat hypothermia, and just so many more sickening things. However, most of these experiments failed and resulted in the death of most subjects.

Ryan Graudin takes this element from reality and constructs her story further from a situation where one of these experiments leads to a very different, highly unprecedented outcome. Yael was six when she and her mother were forced into a train full of other victims and shipped to one of the camps. There, among thousands of other similar kids like her, she was picked as the chosen one. Chosen for one of the most "special experiments ever. For years she was injected with strange fluids, resulting in days of severe pain, fever, and just so much torture. Her skin had started to shed, change colours in patches. She wasn't herself anymore. She was slowly coming undone, peeling away. She finally loses her own face, her own body but realizes she has the ability to take any other. Years of experimentation had resulted in her having the ability to skin shift, be anyone at all.

Now it's the year 1956 and Yael is a part of the resistance with the biggest mission of her life. The fate of the entire country lies on her shoulders. She must win this year's Axis Tour- the annual motorcycle race across the entire conquered area of The Third Reich and Imperial Japan- disguised as last year victor's, Adele Wolfe. Then after that, the plan is simple- get invited to the Victor's ball, share a dance with Hitler and then put a bullet through his heart.

However, when she enters the race, she realizes disguising as Adele isn't as simple as she had hoped for it to be for there are two boys-Felix, Adele's brother and Luka, a fellow victor who appears to share this secret history with Adele which seems to have gone down terribly - intent on keep throwing at her a past that she didn't share with them, that she has no idea of, posing as a threat to her guarded secrets, a threat to her entire mission. There is a slight romance in it which would possibly bloom more in the next book though I am not sure how that would play out, if at all it does. Well, we will find that out soon enough. I have the sequel beside me (hehehe).

The entire time, I was high on an adrenalin rush, scared to move forward for what might be the outcome of it all but also not able to stop even for a second. I was really dreading the end and it took me by surprise. I was highly impressed and satisfied with the entire book. There were a few things that I felt were unanswered but hey, we have a sequel and hence, I have really high expectations of the next book, especially because of the cliffhanger at the end which paves the way for an equally gritty and exciting sequel. Also, it has recently come to my knowledge that there is a Bok 1.5 as well-Iron to Iron, a novella about what exactly happened between Adele and Luka that I HAVE BEEN DYING TO KNOW but didn't get any answers about from the first book. So I am also excited about that. Lastly, there was one tiny thing that nagged at me According to Yael, here is no need to worry about Adele's parents because there are Resistance members waiting outside their houses to whisk them away to safety as soon as the mission is complete. However, what about Felix? Yael leaves him in her room, unconscious before going to the ball. How is he safe? He'd be caught in an instant and tortured to death for that. It's not so much as why did Yael do that as to why it didn't even occur to her that this is very risky. I am hoping the sequel has answers to that.

I'd also like to mention how absolutely marvelous the audio version of this book was. The narrator, Christa Lweis really is the best that I have ever come across. Her voices for different characters, accents, tone, emphasis, and dramatics were immaculate. It's amazing how a really good audio has the capability to tremendously increase the overall rating of a book. I am not saying the book wasn't good by itself, but while the book rendered a gritty, fast-paced tale, it was also a little heavy on the description side. I don't particularly mind that sort of thing if it's done well, which by the way, it was. However, the dialogue-paragraph scale was heavily tipped on the latter side. I imagine that kind of thing might have gotten a little draining, especially where the thoughts of the protagonist get very repetitive at times, had I been reading the book. But the narrator knows her way with these descriptions.

Not once did I find the flowery descriptions, loaded with metaphors and repetitive parts draining. Instead, it felt like the most natural thing. The narrator has a flair for making even the boring bits dramatic, packing even the repetitions and long purple prose with so much emotion that it pulls you in even more rather than pushing you away from it. I always used to be wary of audiobooks because I had put my own way of reading and interpreting dialogues and the overall essence of a particular moment on a pedestal and would think the narrator wouldn't be able to match that. But Christa Lewis surprised me even more by making the things that would have probably sounded boring in my head if I was reading by myself so much more interesting with her narration. Hence, I would wholeheartedly recommend the audiobook of this book to anyone who wishes to pick this book in the future. (Which by the way you totally should. The entire purpose of this review is to convince you to read the book.)

“Her self-reflection was no reflection at all. It was a shattered mirror. Something she had to piece together, over and over again. Memory by memory. Loss by loss. Wolf by wolf.”

[Lonna | FLYLēF · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Post: Wolf by Wolf at FLYLēF (www.flylef.com)

HISTORY IS REVIVED to magnificent effects in this moving and haunting novel. Ryan Graudin’s Wolf by Wolf shines a light on one of the darkest, most terrifying chapters in our past and spins a remarkable tale of an alternate history. The what-if’s set in motion by one courageous girl—Yael Adele— had me racing along, and rooting for her to change history as we know it: Win the Axis Tour. Assassinate Hitler.

Or Die Trying.

Graudin’s writing is very lyrical. There is a musicality to her prose that is quite rhythmic—like a song, like a chant. The playful effects of typefaces and font sizes — faint, fainter, faintest — are so successful in enhancing the story. I know most people won’t look twice at this, but as a designer I enjoy and appreciate the extra attention to these details.

The characters are written so well. They possess qualities that I genuinely thrive on: strength through struggle, flawed not foolish, and an overall “moreness.” Yael is an impersonator, resistance conspirator, black-market scoundrel—a secret weapon. “You are special. You are going to change things.” My fondness for Yael grows with every flashback that the author takes me on, and I had this aching need to hug her. She is an incredible story of fortitude, identity, and destiny.

As Yael sets her eyes on winning the Axis Tour, twenty contestants stand in her path. My favorites among them are Luka, an ally and romantic interest who is as charismatic as he is deadly; Felix, her brother and wild card; and Katsu, who will stop at nothing to win the coveted and illusive Axis Tour Double Cross. These characters have an overall “moreness” that was never boring. I was questioning their motives and loyalty until the end.

I followed along with them on a mad dash from Germainia to Tokyo, covering 39,731,284 kilometers (okay, it was actually 20,780…still). The bit of sabotaging between the competitors breaks the monotony of the race, but each incident resolved itself fairly quickly. Personally, I’m really not fond of dirt-bike racing, so I ended up skimming those parts; however, I did gain a greater appreciation for it. Thank you Mr. David (supportive husband) for taking Ms. Graudin off road on a surprise dirt-bike date. I’m sure it is because of this experience that I was able to feel the bumps and bruises, aches and soreness, as Yael led me to an exciting climax that unraveled at lightning speed, leaving me with a burning need for the sequel—Blood for Blood. Is November here yet? No. Oh Scheisse!