[Review] Blood for Blood (Wolf by Wolf #2) by Ryan Graudin

Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

Series: Wolf by Wolf #2

Rating: 5 stars

Version: ARC Paperback

Release Date: November 1st 2016

If there's a gif that sums up how this book made me feel in the end...

I wanted to cry. I just couldn't. I felt so incomplete. This is what duologies do to me - make you want a third book so you can be with the characters once more.

It takes place promptly where Wolf by Wolf left off, after Yael realizes that Hitler isn't exactly Hitler, and she's on her way to make a quick escape... Luckily (or unluckily) for her, she's got someone tailing her. 

Blood for Blood had a different vibe from Wolf by Wolf; with no race involved, and more of a focus on our trio of Yael, Felix, and Luka, I felt like I was able to understand their motivations and characters more. Ryan Graudin did occasional interludes called Three Portraits to flashback to their pasts. This made me connect to Felix and Luka a lot more - while Luka definitely was a charmer, he wasn't a rebel without a cause. And Felix had his reasons for being an arse.

Top Ten Tuesday (10) - Ten Favorite Book Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday is a an original feature/ weekly meme that was created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new topic is presented and this week's is:

Top Ten Quotes from Books I Read This Past Year

This is also an opportunity for me to update my favorite quotes section on Goodreads.

Luckily for me, I tend to dog-ear the pages of my favorite quotes/passages. 

But don't you think that it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life? 

- (Claire) Audrey Niffeneger, The Time Traveler's Wife

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin Book-Signing and Book-off Deals!

This can also be titled - How Raisa Spent Her Saturday in the City

I recently read Wolf by Wolf (see my review here!), and when I found out Ryan Graudin was coming to the city, I had to go! Plus, her book signing and talk was in Kinokuniya, one of my favorite bookstores. It caters to your inner bookworm and your inner anime/manga obsession. Also, as a Japanese store, there's a ton of Japanese merchandise! But before I get carried away about my love of Kinokuniya (and we will talk more about our favorite NYC bookstores eventually!), let me tell you about Wolf by Wolf and Ryan Graudin.

At the book signing and event, Graudin read the opening scene to her novel, Wolf by Wolf. I actually have more but I had to cut it to fit the 100 mb.

I didn't really record/write down anything, in true Humans of New York fashion (Brandon Stanton doesn't write his interviews down and just remembers them), and I don't want to misquote anyone, so I'll do some short fun facts I learned from the event!

1. Wolf by Wolf will be a duology.
2. Adele will be in the second novel.
3. The sequel comes out next fall.
4. Ryan Graudin has a wolf-hybrid dog (Many more reasons for the wolf motif!)
5. Felix was the most frustrating character for her to write. Reason being, "you shouldn't force your characters to do something they don't want to do".
6. While Wolf by Wolf focused more on Yael, in the sequel, there will be much more of the other characters.
7. The Scorpion Rules is one of Graudin's favorite books! However, in contrast to its slow pace, Wolf by Wolf definitely has a faster, adrenaline filled vibe.
8. Certain characters carry similarities to real people (Erwin Reiniger to Erwin Rommel), but they're their own people
9. Wolf by Wolf is about Yael dealing with her identity as a skinshifter
10. Yael's wolf tattoos remind her of the people who shaped her and changed her into who she is. There were also washable wolf tattoos at the event!
11. Ryan Graudin saw Inglourious Basterds after writing Wolf by Wolf.

To finish off, there was a book signing of her novels, so I got my ARC of Wolf by Wolf signed, as well as The Walled City. Plus, there's a wolf stamp!

 


And I got a picture with her! She's so nice.

To top off my Saturday, I headed over to Book-off, home of the greatest deals in books and games and manga - and now, holiday goods! Amongst many other things. The YA section is hidden in the back on the second floor, where all the Japanese books are. If you really look, you'll find really hidden gems. This is what I found! All 5$ each! New releases too! They're such a steal.

Why would anyone sell these!?

I now intend to go back at the end of every month, because it seems that's when new releases appear. Preparing to be broke. There are also certain days (if you follow their twitter here) that they have even cheaper deals (you might be thinking - is this possible?!) But it is! And if you're in the NYC area, I recommend checking out both Kinokuniya and Book-off, they're only three streets away from each other.

How was everyone else's Saturday?

[Review] Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Rating: 4.5 stars 

Series: Wolf by Wolf #1

Version: ARC

Release Date: October 20th 2015

Goodreads Synopsis:
Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds in this fast-paced novel from the author of The Walled City.
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 received this book from the Hatchette Book Group in exchange for an honest review.

As a Tarantino fan, yes. Yes to this book. I was reading Wolf by Wolf and came to the conclusion that Yael is basically YA Shosanna. Her story was my favorite part of Inglourious Basterds.

If a movie for Wolf by Wolf was a thing, she'd be Yael

But this is about Wolf by Wolf. Alternate Universe if Hitler and the Axis won WWII. Essentially, a living hell. In this world, Germany and Japan run most of Europe and Asia with an iron fist, but their ideal perfect world is collapsing from within. Starting with Yael...

Yael is one of those female heroines with a tragic backstory, but it's something that makes her persevere to complete her goal. For her wolves (Babushka, Mama, Miriam, Aaron-Klaus, Vlad), the ones who shaped her into who she is. She's certainly very relentless, to the point of doing rather reckless hurtful things to Felix and Luka. There is no love triangle actually, because Felix is her brother (Adele's brother), and all the love triangle trope haters can read this book in peace.

After all the things Yael did to Felix, I'm surprised her actually kept on following her and didn't hate her for ya' know, knocking him unconscious and stealing his bike. That's sibling love for you.

The romance between Yael/Adele and Luka - There are so many unanswered questions! What happened to them in the Axis Tour of last year? I really want to know, and the fact I didn't know clenched my insides! They were so complicated! It was so great, and the romance in this book was something I really needed because lately I've been reading unfulfilling romance.

Romance isn't even the main part. Graudin alternates between the past and present of Yael, telling the story of her life inside the camps, her escape, and eventual meeting with the resistance of Operation: Valkyrie. The present is the Axis Tour and Yael fighting tooth and nail to become first place and win a Double Iron Cross, and assassinate Hitler.

The pacing of this book was so fast-paced and a quick read. It was full of action and sadness and Yael realizing she can't be as ruthless as she thought. I literally read the last 150 pages in two hours because of sheer suspense - Who wins the Axis Tour? You'll have to read to find out!

But the questions remain... The entire time I wanted to know what happened to Adele? Do we hear more of the other competitors? Ryoko, I hope we see more of her in the sequel. I HOPE YAEL ACTUALLY KICKS HITLER'S BUTT. And not a decoy's.

The sequel, I'm dying to read and the first book still isn't out yet. Ah, the perks of being a blogger/fast reader.

If you read it, do you agree or disagree? Comment below! Also, casting ideas please! Shosanna Dreyfus aka Melanie Laurent as Yael needs to happen.