Book Review: Wolf by Wolf, By Ryan Graudin

Author: Ryan Graudin

Language: English

Her story begins on a train.

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded 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 lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year’s only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin’s brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael’s every move.

But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?

This will contain spoilers so read at your own risk.

This book was recommended by a youtuber (booktuber), unfortunately I cannot remember which youtuber recommended it. As soon as she described it however I wanted to read it. The book is essentially an alternate universe where the allies lost the war and Germany won. Its in the perspective of a young girl who escapes from a concentration camp after being experimented on and gaining a new genetic trait (really don't know what to call it). I have previously learnt about Germany during the war and Nazis reign, in fact I just finished my As History exam this year which was about Germany, so I have learnt about it previously and as soon as you open the book you see the authors factual knowledge which is refreshing. I think Graudin really managed to capture what victims of the concentration camp went through which is important when writing a book which includes knowledge of WWII. 

As soon as I picked up the book I was enamoured with it, it's fast paced and really demands your attention which explains how I finished it in a couple of hours without putting it down for longer then five minutes. I particularly enjoy how Graudin separated the past and the present for Yael, by going from one to the other instead of having a few chapters at the beginning explaining her past and then going on to the present. It breaks the action up a bit and gives you a good look at Yael's past without overloading you with information.

I enjoyed how Yael took on Adele's persona without letting go of her goal. It shows how hardened she has become from the war and how she knows her mission and she isn't being sidetracked from a different life she could have if she just took over Adele's life. Something that did disappoint me though is how we never got to look at how the real Adele was adjusting which is understandable considering it was in first person but it was slightly disappointing. I was also incredibly frustrated with the end, how did Hitler not die? Also if the shape-shifter was taking his face, how long was he doing it for? Is the real Hitler even alive at all? So many unanswered questions! There is a sequel but I have to wait until November for that. There is also another book called Iron to Iron, which details the previous years race and focus on Luka's experience with the real Adele which sounds interesting but I do want to read the sequel before I read the prequel. 

Back to the book, I believe Graudin really created a realistic version of a world that could have occurred if Hitler had lost the war. With Germany managing to take over Great Britain to America remaining isolationists and turning a blind eye which America actually did until a certain point in WWII. I commend Graudin for keeping to the majority of the facts since as an author of fiction she could have easily bent them to meet her needs.

The race as a whole was riveting, I couldn't put the book down and the introduction of Felix to the race was nice, you can see he is a concerned older brother and how much family means to him which was refreshing. I also enjoyed how Luka was, don't get me wrong I don't appreciate him sedating Yael to win the race but I do appreciate how his character was both trustworthy but had a hint of deception around him and while I don't particularly encourage smoking I like that he does, its a small hint of a rebel in him that I appreciate. 

All the sabotaging also made so much sense, anything to win. For the German competitors it meant favour of their fuhrer and for the Japanese it meant honour which definitely fit what we associate with those countries citizens during the war, we still typically associate honour with the Japanese now, so I felt like it was a nice touch. 

Overall I enjoyed the book despite being frustrated with all of the unanswered questions but I suppose that's what the second book is for however that still leads me to scoring the book 4/5. I just felt the end of the book was slightly rushed with what happened which I can completely understand given that the sequel was obviously planned so a cliff hanger was needed but I do appreciate how Graudin gives us a hint at how the rebellion is rising, instead of just leaving it where Yael killed the fake Hitler.

Also if anyone has any suggestions for books that they want a review of, feel free to comment and I might end up reading it and writing a review, thank you. 

4/5