Series: Wolf By Wolf, Book One
Publisher: Orion
Format: ARC**
Published: 5th November 2015
Number of Pages: 400
Book: For Review*
Genre: Historical, Science Fiction, Alternate History, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller-Suspense, Action-Adventure, YA
Recommended
Age: 13+
Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Smoking References
Author's
Site: Ryan Graudin
Over
ten years since the Nazis won the war, 18 yr old Yael has one mission: to kill
Hitler - a captivating second novel from Walled City author, Ryan Graudin.
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.
Germania,
1956. Over ten years since the Nazis won the war. 18-year-old Yael is part of
the resistance, and she has just one mission: to kill Hitler.
But
first she's got to get close enough to him to do it.
Experimented
on during her time at Auschwitz, Yael has the unique ability to change her
appearance at will. The only part of her which always remains are the five
tattooed wolves on her arm; one for each of the people she's lost. Using her
abilities, she must transform into Adele Wolfe, Germany's most famous female
rider and winner of the legendary Axis Tour; an epic long distance motorcycle
race from Berlin to Tokyo, where only the strongest (and wiliest) riders
survive. If she can win this, she will be able to get close enough to kill the
Fuhrer and change history forever.
But
with other riders sabotaging her chances at every turn, Yael's mission won't be
easy...
Review:
“Tomorrow
the end began. She was going to race from Germania to Tokyo. She
was going to win the Axis Tour and earn an invitation to the Victor's
Ball. She was going to kill the Führer and spark the death of the Third
Reich.
She
was going to cross the world and change it.
Or
die trying…”
What if Hitler and the Nazis hadn't lost
WW2? What would become of the world? Where – or if – would Hitler
stop? What would become of his brutal, dreadful experiments?
Yael.
The Nazis won – with the help of Emperor
Hirohito from Japan – and have spread their control over Europe, bringing death
and pain and destruction in their wake...
Taken to a concentration camp as a little
girl, Yael is experimented on by an Angel of Death – a Nazi doctor. The
experiments change her and turn her into the ultimate weapon for the Resistance. Using her unique ability, Yael goes
undercover as Adele Wolfe, the poster-girl for the Nazi regime, who won the
Axis Tour – a motorcycle race that goes from Germany to Japan, in honour of the
Axis' victory: the winner receives an audience with the reclusive Hitler.
Yael must win the race. She must meet
with Hitler.
She must kill him for all he has done.
But when she meets the real Adele's brother
and former boyfriend, Yael realises that reaching the Fuhrer and finishing the
race might be more difficult than she first thought...
I absolutely adored The Walled City and so I was deliriously excited for Wolf By Wolf – especially when Nina from
Orion described it as 'The Book Thief
meets X-Men'. I mean, come on!
How's a girl meant to resist that pitch? She just can't! And
when I heard Ryan talk about it, when she read us a bit of the first chapter, I
just knew I would love Wolf By Wolf.
And when I started it on the train home, I was just swept up – completely
hooked by this alternate world. It was just... whoa. I didn't think
Ryan could top The Walled City and yet
she managed to totally outdo herself. Wolf
By Wolf... amazing. Incredible.
Breath-taking. I have no words
for how much I loved this book.
One of my favourite parts of this book was Yael:
she was such a badass! Clever, brave, smart, damaged and just...
brilliant. She didn't know her own face, but she knew she was strong and
she had such strong morals, such strong values. She still saw beauty and
hope, just as much as she saw corruption and loss. I was instantly
rooting for Yael, right from the word go, and I adored her – and can't wait to
see her grow and kick butt in the next book! Why must it be so far
away...?
Luka... He was the real Adele's love
interest (although their shared past was pretty unknown). I wasn't sure
what to make of Luka to begin with, but then... I started to love him.
All he wanted was to be with Adele, he risked himself to help others, he
was snarky and prickly and funny. And then he’d do something and I'd hate
him all over again... I'm so
conflicted!
Felix was just such an amazing brother –
the best. If I had a twin or older brother, I would want one exactly like
Felix. He was protective and brave and clever and always looking out for
his sister (well, who he thought was his sister), no matter what she did.
I loved him so much!
The relationships were so brilliant – as
brilliant as the characters themselves. I know that Yael wasn't Adele,
that she wasn't who the boys thought she was, but their relationships... they
felt real. They started off shaky, weak, and they grew and grew into
something real and believable. Felix was so protective of Yael, and she
grew to trust him – care about him. And Luka... yum. The two really
had some chemistry, despite whatever went on between him and the real Adele.
There were various supporting characters in
the book, none as badass as Yael, confusing (and hot) as Luka or as wonderful
as Felix. But I did really like Ryoko, Henryka, Vlad and the Babushka.
I really did not like the
doctor or other riders in the Axis Tour, though all of them were very well
created.
Holy Scheisse, this world... It scared the crap out of me.
Seriously, the research and world building was just phenomenal and so
terrifying. I mean, if just a few things were different during the Second
World War, think what could have happened – all the Scheisse that could have gone down. It's freaking scary
as hell – and makes for such an amazing, brutal backdrop of a story.
And the idea of what Yael could do was
fascinating – the dreadful causes of the 'gift' even more so. I mean,
you're experimented on. Changed. Something – your identity,
yourself – is taken away for ever. And now Yael can't even remember her
own face, what she really looked like. It was heart-breaking! And
then there was her relationship with Luka and Felix: she truly cared about
them, but she wasn't the girl they knew and loved.
Though I'm not going to lie. The
Mystique quality of Yael's abilities was so cool.
Ryan wrote Wolf By Wolf in the third person, which can sometimes feel more impersonal.
In this case, however, I think the distance was a good thing: everything
Yael had been through... It would have been too much. To hear what she went through as a child, growing
up, how much pain her world put her through... But, as always, Ryan's
writing was phenomenal – exciting, action-packed, beautiful, sharp, gritty, bloody brilliant. I loved this
book so much! *jumps up and down hugging the book*
As for the storyline? Just wow. Thrills, spills, danger,
spying, fighting, racing, trying to bring down a vicious fascist... It
was all just nonstop and so utterly addictive. I read the book in one go
(utterly shattering myself in the process, thanks to lack of sleep) and was
left so hungry, so desperate, so needing for
more more more! The plot of Wolf By Wolf is utterly amazing and
unpredictable and brilliant and exciting: there was just never a dull moment!
I adored and gushed about The Walled City. It is a
phenomenal book. But Wolf By Wolf was,
somehow, impossibly, even better.
It took uniqueness and magic and excitement and amazingness and brought
it all up to a whole new level. It was amazing, breath-taking and... I
really just don't have the words to do it justice. But I really believe
that Ryan Graudin is the goddess of words, of creating unique and incredible
books that I fall in love with so quickly, so desperately and so deeply. Wolf By Wolf was just pure magic.
It was a book so good I was hooked from start to finish. It was a
book so good I slowed right down when I reached the last few chapters, because
I just did not want the story to be over. It was a book I began raving
about when I was only a few chapters in and a book I will never stop
recommending to everyone, everywhere. It was a book I will never forget.
It was a book that left me absolutely desperate for the sequel (and a
book that will drive me insane until I get my hands on said sequel). It
was a book so damn good that even with all of this rambling, I simply do not
have to words to truly do it justice. It was a book that was unique and
magic and beautiful and horrible and exciting and terrifying and addictive and
pure magic.
Please, just go and go now. Buy it.
Read it. Love it. And then you will understand why I am so
very desperately in love with Wolf By
Wolf.
Because, yes, Wolf By Wolf's lead girl was a Mystique-like character, undercover
and with special powers – it is a race, a battle, a supernatural-esque thrill
ride. But Wolf By Wolf is also
about fear and pain and hope and survival. About fighting against all the
odds. About making the world right after it went oh-so very wrong. About
fighting for what you believe in. About how terrible the world could have
been, if just a few things had gone differently during WW2. And that is why everyone, everywhere simply
has to read it. Wolf By Wolf
was beyond phenomenal and I honestly just cannot recommend it enough – to every
single person who reads this review, who sees this book in Waterstones and who
lives on this planet. Read it. Read it now.
I, meanwhile, will be going insane waiting
for the sequel... I just need it so badly. Ryan Graudin is amazing
and all powerful and I am well and truly hooked.
Star Rating:
5 Out of 5
5 Out of 5
Read this
book if you liked:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Grisha by Leigh Bardugo
Happy Reading
Megan
* This
book was received from Indigo-Orion in exchange for an honest review
** Quotes used are
from a proof copy and may have been changed in the finished book
No comments:
Post a Comment