Wolf by Wolf - Ryan Graudin

Review by Coll
5 Stars

As soon as I finished this book my first thought was “Oh crap, it’s over!” My second thought was “Okay now how long do I have to wait for book two?” My heart tells me that waiting more than a few seconds to continue with the story is unacceptable, but my brain tells me I will have to wait until November. I know I need to accept this, and I begrudgingly do.

Wolf by Wolf is a genre mashup of alternate history, historical fiction, and science fiction. The Axis Powers won the Second World War and Hitler’s Third Reich, along with Imperial Japan, now rule the world. Each year a motorcycle race, known as the Axis Tour, is held in which select members of the youth of Germany and Japan participate to commemorate the great victory. The time has arrived for the resistance movement to use the race as a chance to kill Hitler and bring about an uprising, and hopefully a new world. The secret weapon of the resistance is a young girl named Yael, a death camp escapee and the survivor of a painful and powerful medical experiment that left her with an ability known as Skinshifting. In other words, she can change her appearance at will. The plan is simple enough: kidnap last year’s first female victor, Adele Wolfe; impersonate her; win the race; kill Hitler. But when family, love, and murder are thrown into the plan, Yael needs to tread carefully and suppress her conscience if everything is to succeed.

Wolf by Wolf had me with its first line and kept a tight grip on me throughout the entire story. I have always loved alternate history books, and the sci-fi twist made this one appeal to me even more. Through present time (1956) and flashbacks, the book shows the tragic state of the world and invokes such a range of emotions. Graudin was able to weave so many elements into this story, combining action, drama, and history so seamlessly. Even though the book portrays an alternate history, it still includes a lot of true moments from the era of Hitler and the Nazi regime. The true historical elements included in the story, when woven into what could have been if WWII had ended differently, make for a very compelling tale. 

Graudin created a resistance movement in Wolf by Wolf that was full of such power and passion that you, as the reader, begin to feel a part of it. You are drawn to Yael, a girl who had a part of herself stolen away from her and was made to look like a person she had never been. As a result, she was unintentionally turned into the perfect weapon to use against the regime, a job that she voluntarily enlists herself for. There is so much raw emotion in Yael and we see how she has to fight to not be broken from the loss, heartache, and deception she has had to live through. I was so attached to her throughout the book and was terrified every time she was in danger, which is a sure sign of exceptional character development.

Throughout the book we are introduced to numerous characters, some who are present for just a short time and others who remain the duration of the story. What I found amazing was how I felt something for each character in the book, whether their time was fleeting or extensive. It is also almost impossible to completely hate any character, for at some point in the story you are made to feel sympathy for each person, even if you spent the majority of the time hating them. Graudin has a beautiful way of making each character seem so human and shows that their outcome has been determined by the world around them, some having no choice in how to behave. 

All in all, I adored this book. It had most of what I look for in a good book: character development, excitement, a range of emotions, detailed descriptions, and best of all, Wolf by Wolf was a great example of a story showing and not simply telling. This is one of my favorite books of the year so far and I shall sit here and wait patiently (but not without occasional complaining) for the next book in the series to come out.

“No lights. Just a darkness that swam in front of her eyes, holding so much (as all dark does): days mixing with lifetimes, swirling with dreams. She could almost hear the howls from her nightmares, pressing into her ears.”

Interested in Wolf by Wolf? Check it out on Goodreads.