Review - "Wolf By Wolf"

Wolf By Wolf, Wolf By Wolf #1
by Ryan Graudin
rating: ☆☆☆☆
published: 20th October 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Yael did know. And it amazed her that, even though there was a sorceress's boil of anger and hurt in her chest, the boy with the brown jacket could still find a heartstring. Tug it. Make her feel something else...

If I'm completely honest, I wasn't going to read this book as my first Ryan Graudin book. I bought The Walled City first, and then forgot to bring it to uni, and ended up buying this one too. I do not regret it a bit, though, and if this is how this one made me feel, then I am so so excited for the other (and a little apprehensive too, I gotta admit).

Wolf By Wolf is set in an alternative post-WWII history, where the Axis Powers (Japan and Germany) won, and proceeded to take over the whole of Europe and Asia, and parts of Africa. Hitler is still in power, and every year there is a motorcycle race called the Axis Tour from Berlin to Tokyo, which boys under seventeen years from both countries race in, in an effort to win the Iron Cross.

The story follows Yael, a girl who has the ability to change her appearance at will, on account of experiments carried out when she was very young, in a concentration camp. Yael is a member of the Resistance, who are planning on assassinating Hitler and sparking a revolution across the Axis-occupied world. In order to do this, Yael takes the place of Adele, the sole female winner of the Axis Tour. Her task is to win the race, after which she will get invited to the Victor's Ball, and will have a chance to assassinate Hitler.

However, her mission is not as simple as expected. Adele's brother, Felix, is a wildcard entrance into the race, and Luka Löwe, another past Victor, appears to have shared a much more complicated relationship with Adele than the video cameras suggested.

The story flicks back and forth between the present, and the race, and Yael's past, explaining the origins of the five wolf tattoos she has on her arm. The narrative is well-balanced between being plot-driven and character-driven. While there is less action than you might expect - possibly because the bulk of it will likely come in book two, once the stage has been set - the whole plot builds up to the question of will Yael be able to complete her mission and kill Hitler? Equally, as the story goes on, information is incrementally revealed about the characters, Yael in particular, although Luka and Felix both show signs of being more than they first appear (and hopefully, this will be further explored in Blood For Blood).

Sticking with the characters, I actually adored all of them (the main ones that is, so, Yael, Luka, and Felix) and that hardly ever happens. There were, obviously, some points where I was rolling my eyes at Felix and Luka (because boys, y'know), but not in a way that made me dislike them. Yael was my favourite (there was never going to be any question about that) because she was such an interesting character and so complex, but not complex like in her morality, more in her motivation for doing things. Luka Löwe also deserves a mention, because he is an equally interesting character. He comes off to begin with as this Hitler Youth twat, and that's definitely how Yael views him to begin with, but there is more to him and his motivations, and him and Yael teaming up was my favourite part.

Yael and Luka's relationship as a whole was probably the best part of the book, character-wise. And it left me with so many damn questions. Book two doesn't come out for at least another six months and I need to know if Luka will accept Yael after he realises a) what she did, and b) what she can do, and also if he loves her as herself or her as Adele, and also if he'll realise she told him she didn't love him so he would be protected from her and also the aftermath of her shooting Hitler. OK, I'm chill.

I have to say also, that the writing was so gorgeous, like in a simple way where the author can phrase something in the simplest terms and you'll be like oh and URGH. That is my favourite kind of writing.

Anyway, I'm now so impatient for book two. I'm gonna go lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling for a bit.