Book Review/ /Wolf by Wolf, Rick Graudin

"There was still beauty in the world. And it was worth fighting for."

Summary: Yael has known nothing but suffering. Ever since Hitler stripped her of her life and threw her loved ones away as if they had no value, she sides with the resistance and learns more than who she truly is. The desire for Adolf's Youth is great and if you don't meet the qualifying appearance, then you have no right to live, according to the tyrannical ruler. Willing to test an experiment, Doctor Geyer runs several diagnostics testing his theory on recreating skin pigmentation, along with the melanin that gives your precise shade. After several deficit subjects, Yael is the only one that it seems to show development with. Eventually, her own mother doesn't recognize her. The prisoners stay away from her because she resembles everything that the enemy is. A 'monster,' they call her. Yael discovers, through the new names and characteristics that she can skin-shift. She is able to change her outward appearance just by having an image in her head. Once she escapes the camp and finds refuge with the resistance, she realizes just how helpful all those years of pain and heartache may bring. 

Third Reich is ruling hand in hand with Imperial Japan and the powers of the Axis, 1956. WWII was won, but the Allies did not gain the victory. Adolf Hitler is still alive. To celebrate his great dominion, he and Emperor Hirohito have created an annual motorcycle race across the marked territories called the Axis tour. The winner and the surviving racers receive a ball in their honor in Tokyo, their final destination. 

Yael's mission: is to win the tour. She disguises herself as the last victor of the Axis tour, Adele Wolfe. At the ball, in front of the cameras, so the entire world can see, Yael will dance with the Fuhrer and kill him, igniting the rebellion. She trains for this moment all her life, but what she doesn't know is the personal life of Adele Wolfe and how her life intertwines with a few others in the race. Like Victor Luka, who Adele has stabbed in the heart, and her brother, willing to die to bring his sister back home, out of this absurd motor-race. Will she reveal her alliance with the resistance? Can the people who know Adele most see the difference? Can she win the 18,741-kilometer race?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. One of the Booktubers that I watch actually recommended it once on their channel, so I had it on my 'To-Read' shelf forever and when it finally as available at my library I dove into it.
One of the things that made me appreciate the story more was the aspect and sanctity of life. One of Yael's quotes from the book, "Did it matter? One life. A drop in a vast, vast ocean of hundreds, thousands, millions. Yes, pounded the hollow of her heart." This is coming from a girl that witnessed the holocausts firsthand, has gone through horrendous experiments that no other being has survived, and lost her own identity. 

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Science Fiction.

Appropriate Age: 14+

There was some smoking, which was frowned upon, so one of the characters does it secretly. Yael gets a tattoo to cover up the number she received when she was taken to her death camp. 

Language that was mentioned: The German curses were used most frequently were; scheisses, arsch, and verdammts. Others that I noted; b**ch (1), bulls**t (1), bast**d (1), and da*n (1).

There's also a novella that is written after the first, which tells Luka's background story; Iron to Iron. I didn't realize there was a novella, or I would have probably read it before the sequel. However, I recently read the sequel to Wolf By Wolf, which is, Blood For Blood and it is equally amazing and startling. Highly recommend.