Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin REVIEW!

  Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Pages:  388

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Little, Brown

My Rating: 4.5/5

GoodReads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, 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.

Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has 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 victor, 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 begins to get 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?

“I’m tired of fixing things that always break”

TALK. ABOUT. AN. AMAZING. BOOK. Woah, you guys!

As you may or may not know, I held a read-along for this book and I read it with a few Twitter friends and it turned out fantastic!

Now, I don’t normally read books that deal with any type of historical background. Historical fiction gets really overwhelming and boring for me so I tend to steer clear BUT, I do have a soft spot and keen interest in WW2 books. This book was picked by Uppercase Box in one of their boxes and I had received it that way and I’m so glad I did. You guys and gals need to understand how awesome this book is!

First thing Graudin does is start off SO strong. The intro is left you wanting to know more of Yael and her story and what the situation is. Not only is the starting SO strong, but her writing is immaculate! Some authors overdo writing (and when done right it’s just as immaculate) but the writing in Wolf by Wolf was simple, effective, concise and amazing. And because her writing is so amazing, reading this book felt so natural. She also does a fantastic job of explaining the world and Yael’s life. World building was slow and steady and done really well.

The first 200 pages or so are really strong and stay that way (as we’re getting to know Yael, and start off the motorcycle race) but the pacing slows down just a TAD bit around page 250-300 but picks RIGHT BACK UP for the ending! Ryan Graudin KNOWS how to write a story.

Not only was the writing, and intro amazing but so were the characters. You really felt for Yael AND Adele and rooted for them throughout the entire book. They’re both such a strong willed character but have feelings and are rational beings. Also, reading about Luka and Felix were also interesting and they were great characters. (Although, I really am going to need more information on them ASAP, along with the sequel.) Romance wasn’t really a thing in this book so it was really refreshing, although I did like the blurry line with Luka.

Overall, I really really loved this book and HIGHLY recommend it to all readers!

Check out everyone else’s review of WOLF BY WOLF:

Kaelyn @ Crimson Ink Is Best

Erin @ Unironically Excited

Claire @ Blank Slaters Reads

Sasha @ The Pendant Trilogy

Shari @ YA Book Monster

Carlisa @ Confessions of Carlisa