Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin Book Review

Hello everybody! How is your day going so far?

I am here with a spoiler-free book review for a book I recently read, called Wolf by Wolf. My sister read it back in 2021 and has been bugging me to read it since then. After finally getting around to it, I realize what all of her hype was about!

Basics

Title: Wolf by Wolf

Author: Ryan Graudin

Genres: Alternate history, historical fiction, young adult, adventure

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Summary from Goodreads

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?

My Review

Initial thoughts

I was hesitant to read this book, just because of the fact that my sister rated it so highly. She continued to recommend it to me, yet I just didn’t get to it until now because of that, and the fact that it didn’t sound like anything I’d read before.

After reading the synopsis, I thought that it sounded interesting. But, a fast-paced alternate historical fiction book about a girl who can “skinshift” doesn’t sound like something I’d normally read. So, I sort of put it off, always telling myself that I’d read it later sometime.

Characters

I liked the characters quite a bit. I found them interesting, especially the main character, Yael. She had a very tragic past, and I was always anticipating reading more about her backstory. She was a very unique character! She was strong, yet her vulnerability showed several times, reminding the readers that she was still human.

There were many characters that I didn’t know what to make of, such as Felix and Luka. They had this past with the real Adele Wolfe that the reader knows nothing about, but that just kept me reading, trying to figure it out. The side characters were well-developed and included in the book at a perfect rate, none of them overpowering the story, but still being included enough to be a part of it.

At the start of this novel, I did have a bit of trouble remembering names and which characters they went to. In the first few chapters, quite a few names are introduced, and I found myself flipping back through pages to discover who was who again. It’s not a big deal, and probably just my fault for being bad with names, but it is just something to note.

Plot and story

The plot, as I mentioned, sounded interesting. I haven’t ever read any alternate history before, and I initially thought the story sounded different from anything I’d previously read (and it was.) I read a lot of historical fiction, but not alternate history. I think that it was quite interesting to think of the “what ifs”: what if Hitler had won World War II, or what if terrible experiments in concentration camps had led to the ability to skinshift?

I had had a bit of trouble getting started out with the book. I find that this happens to me quite a bit: I will read the first hundred or so pages of a book more slowly, and then zoom through the remainder of the book. It was definitely no different with this one. I’m sure that it took me the same amount of time to read the first quarter of the book as the remainder.

Writing

The writing in this wasn’t my favorite. I feel as if writing is really a personal preference, though, and just because I didn’t particularly enjoy the writing style, doesn’t mean that everyone won’t. There were quite a few metaphorical terms, and it is a bit poetic, which I don’t often enjoy. This, however, didn’t ruin the book for me. It was just a slight bother to me, and lots of other people, I’m sure, enjoy the writing quite a bit.

Final thoughts

I liked this book immensely! It was a real page-turner, and had me on the edge of my seat for the latter chunk of the book. It was packed with action, but I wasn’t constantly overwhelmed by it. And, though the story was laced with twists and turns, the ending really surprised me! I cannot wait to get to the next book.

I would totally recommend this book to anybody who wants to read a unique, and gripping story, unlike anything that you’ll probably ever read.

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Thank you for reading today’s post! Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? If you haven’t read it, will you be checking it out soon? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

I hope that you all have a lovely week! I will be back next Monday with a new post. Bye until then!

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The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys: Book Review

Hello everybody! Welcome, or welcome back to my blog!

Today, I’m sharing a book review from the amazing Ruta Sepetys who has, once again, blown me away with her novel. The Fountains of Silence is an interesting and moving story set in a time I seldom hear about: Spain in the 1950s.

I enjoyed two other books by this author: Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray. I find this book very similar, in the writing and the progression of the story, especially to Salt to the Sea. I hope to read her latest release soon, I Must Betray You.

Without further ado, here’s the spoiler free book review.

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

Summary from Goodreads

A portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.

Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, the son of an oil tycoon, who arrives in Madrid with his parents hoping to connect with the country of his mother’s birth through the lens of his camera. Photography–and fate–introduce him to Ana, whose family’s interweaving obstacles reveal the lingering grasp of the Spanish Civil War–as well as chilling definitions of fortune and fear. Daniel’s photographs leave him with uncomfortable questions amidst shadows of danger. He is backed into a corner of difficult decisions to protect those he loves. Lives and hearts collide, revealing an incredibly dark side to the sunny Spanish city.

My thoughts on the book

Characters

I love the characters that Ruta Sepetys writes. They feel so real, with their own hopes and dream, fears and stories.

Ana and Daniel are the two main characters, and I loved them both. Ana’s courageousness and her devotion to her family, and Daniel’s caring attitude and dedication were some of my favorite traits of theirs. I also loved reading about the friendship and romance blooming between these two characters.

There is a long string of other characters, including Rafa, Ana’s brother, Julia, Ana’s protective older sister, Fuga, Rafa’s friend who won’t put up with injustice in Spain, Puri, Ana’s inquisitive cousin, and other characters, who shape this story into a powerful and heartbreaking tale about silence, love, family, and secrets, as the Goodreads summary states.

One thing that I didn’t like at the beginning was the number of characters the book follows. It’s told in the third person, but each chapter skips around to include the whole cast of characters in the narrative. At the beginning of the novel, I found it difficult to keep track of who was who, but after the first few chapters, I got to know who the characters were, and who the chapter was following.

Plot and setting

The plot and setting of this book were very interesting. The book slowly weaves together into an unforgettable story, which is driven by the amazing characters.

One thing I like about all the Ruta Sepetys books I’ve read so far is that she writes very well-researched books about little-known times in history. I knew almost nothing about 1950s Spain under Franco’s dictatorship before reading this book, which gave me a lot of insight into this historical time.

Throughout the story, the reader learns more. This book, similar to Sepetys’ other books, slowly tells the story in a secretive way, giving off tidbits of information throughout the book, until we have a full understanding of the story at the end. What I’m trying to say is that you don’t know all of the facts as the books go on. There will be some parts where you’re wondering: What is that character keeping from me? This aspect, I find very similar to Salt to the Sea.

Another thing about the plot is that it’s very character-driven, which I’m totally fine with. Sepetys researched this historical period so well, too, that as you’re reading her book, you get a feel for what that time was really like. While reading about Ana’s family’s struggles, Daniel’s time in Madrid, and Puri’s descriptions of the orphanage, the reader really understands what life was like for people living in 1957 Spain.

Writing

Ruta Sepety’s writing style is very…I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not choppy, but I feel like her writing has shorter sentences, that really draws the reader in. This writing may not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.

Something that I found a little strange at first was the way the book was written. It was told in the third person and was present tense. This, I don’t find in many books and it took a little while to get used to, but it wasn’t too big of a problem.

Similar books, and who should read this book

This book is very similar to the other two Ruta Sepetys books I’ve read, which were Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray. If you haven’t read either of those, and you loved this book, I’d recommend them to you. Or, if you’ve read these two books, but haven’t gotten around to The Fountains of Silence, I’d recommend you read this beautiful historical fiction.

One thing I’ll say is that this book is not for everyone. She has a certain writing style that not everyone enjoys. She doesn’t have choppy writing, but it’s written similarly to that: shorter, to-the-point sentences, like I mentioned earlier. I personally enjoy that narrative, but as I said, it’s not for everyone.

If you read this book, and you’re wanting to read a similar book, I’d first recommend any other Ruta Sepetys books. Lovely War by Julie Berry is another book I find similar to this one. It’s narrated very uniquely, and it tells the lovely story of two different romance stories during World War One. I was unsure about this book at first, but it was amazing and I really enjoyed it.

If you normally like historical fiction or mystery type stories, I’d recommend this book to you. It has a mysterious element to it, though it’s not a mystery, it has a bit of that, with a few plot twists, and twists at the ending. Besides that, it is an amazingly researched historical fiction.

Final thoughts

I loved this book if it isn’t clear from reading my review. There are a few things I didn’t enjoy about the novel, such as the many narrators, because it was hard to keep track of all of them at first, or the first person, present tense writing. Both of those, though, I eventually got used to. They aren’t real problems. I don’t have any real complaints about this book, which I found amazing. Despite being about five hundred pages, this book flew by quickly, because of the short two to three page chapters. It was, no doubt, a five star read for me!

Thank you for reading! Have you read this book, or any other Ruta Sepetys books? What were your thoughts about them? Or, is it on your TBR? Do you have any other historical fiction recs for me? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Bye, everyone! I’ll see you on Monday, next week! Please comment with your thoughts on this book review, or on the book, because I love chatting with y’all!

~ Rebekah