'Wolf By Wolf' by Ryan Graudin
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?"
- Goodreads
So, as mentioned above, the Allies have lost World War II. Hitler, along with Emperor Hirohito, has control of most of the world and they rule mercilessly, advancing with bloodshed in their wake and a morbid future looming up ahead.
As a reminder of who is in power, and to test the best of Hitler Youth and Japan's prized motorcyclists, an annual race is held. The victor is awarded a medal, and a chance to meet Hitler.
Yael, a Jewish girl who was the unfortunate victim of her concentration camp's scientific experiments, seeks revenge for all the pain and suffering Hitler has inflicted upon her and those she loved, even though the horrid man is completely unaware of the terror he inflicts, believing that what he is doing is simply due to his role as the Führer of Germany. But there's always a hidden agenda for the one that possesses power over others.
As part of the resistance and possessing the power to skin shift, Yael sees it as an opportunity to compete in the race to win and assassinate Hitler. But how? Pretty simple. Yael can change her appearance into the victor of 1955's race, and participate in 1956's race. But plans don't go accordingly when the victor she is impersonating - Adele Wolfe - has hectic competition in the race and a brother who joins just to keep an eye on her after she refuses to return home with him. Not to mention that a fellow victor shares a past with Adele - one that even the papers hadn't covered, and so Yael cannot even begin to guess why the relationship went downhill. She struggles with her decisions to either avoid or mend these ties Adele shares with the victor and her brother, while managing to be ahead of everyone in such a dangerous race. Will Yael succeed in her mission and help bring about a new, more effective resistance against Hitler? Could this resistance succeed unlike all the other failed attempts?
Or will the Axis powers win this round too?
Yael, our protagonist, had the worst childhood imaginable. The book switches between events in her past and those that take place in the present (and how they are linked), and we experience the conflicting feelings and identities that Yael deals with. She's a strong heroine with the awesome ability to shape shift (that's just SO BADASS!). In the book, the way shape shifting is so magnificently described ties in with the plot of the story flawlessly and seems equivalent to invincibility, but we are acutely aware of all the problems that are associated with such an ability that Yael considers a gift and a curse.
The origin of Yael's ability is purely scientific, contradicting neither the story line nor the truths of the experiments that were actually performed in real-life concentration camps - this was done to alter appearances in the hopes that a formula could be created that changed one's features to resemble that of an Aryan. (Theory: Perhaps this formula could then be used on Germans that did not have blue eyes or blonde hair, and they would be contributing to the 'perfect' human population once their features were changed).
Yael goes through new feelings, emotions and situations that left me short of breath, and wishing I could reach into the book and comfort her, maybe even guide her so that she isn't so dumbstruck by the possibility of new, better things in a terrible reality. Her past is gruesome and incredible sad and her search for her identity is not like a modern-day teenager's. She has many different issues she has to worry about, and needless to say, the burdens she carries on her shoulders are extremely pressurizing for an seventeen/eighteen year old. A lot depends on her, and failure is the only thing she can't afford in such drastic times.
This book, as a whole, discusses an alternate path that World War II could have followed. And it makes us wonder: What would have resulted from Hitler ending up winning in 1945? What would have become of the rest of the world? Would we have ended up victims to Hitler's unquenchable thirst for victory or would someone else have brought an end to Hitler's reign before he could conquer the world? Would it have been torturous and painful, or quick and painless? The road that this alternate ending follows in Wolf by Wolf isn't happy, folks. Life is cruel in this what-if reality. There are parts in this book that Graudin writes that make me feel hollow inside. Simply imagining that the reality this book took place in could have been our reality too - had the Allies not won - is extremely unpleasant and feels like a black hole opening in my stomach and sucking out all the hopes, dreams, freedom and joy that my body is composed of.
Every nice thing that Yael experiences amidst the bad is like an everyday thing for me, and that makes me sympathize for her. She never had a normal, fun childhood like I did, and that difference simply enhances the feelings that this book - this protagonist's pain - evokes within me. Nothing's black and white for Yael. Nothing's just good or just bad, and almost everything has more cons than pros. Eventually, whatever she does will consequently make her lose a piece of herself, due to her circumstances. Every aspect of her life - and countless others' - is overshadowed by Hitler's tyranny, and nothing seems to bring joy to this reality.
But even though this book is pretty dark and cold, there are some parts that just make me feel all warm and giddy within, and sometimes bittersweet. There's a part where Graudin describe's color through the eyes of Yael, and it's so real and so emotional to know that such a simple thing brings happiness to the protagonist, highlighting how blank her life must have been with no hope, and fear controlling her every action, as well as pain. Her happiness is like a rose amidst ashes - an array of hues in a black-and-white movie. And honestly, that specific point in the book made me so unbearably happy - as if I was beside Yael (or even her, perhaps) and experiencing this starburst of colors for the first time. Graudin gave joy and similar emotions color in that moment, as compared to the everyday reality and scenery that I pegged as a grey landscape in which happiness had been completely sucked out along with the color. If I went more into depth with that scene, and a few others, the next few paragraphs would be full of spoilers and so many more soppy feelings that even words can't justify.
This book was very interesting, and one of my favorites of the year 2015. It was so unique and full of deceit, heartache and suspense. So obviously, Wolf by Wolf had to be an amazing read. This book was a breeze when I read it, and I couldn't put it down unless absolutely necessary. You would think the book was stuck to my hand by superglue!
The story was never too slow, and at times it was so fast that I had to close the book for a few moments and recollect my thoughts... and my feelings (OH MY GOD, THE FEELS THIS BOOK GAVE ME!). The writing was extraordinary, and an exhilarating new style to what I'm usually familiar with. The emotions that were laced within each sentence were so tangible; it was quite hard to believe that I wasn't actually in this story (that's how real it felt),
Even though the reader can't possibly relate with the events of World War II as they weren't part of that time period, let alone an alternate past, Ryan Graudin makes this possible. Every author strives to make her characters connect with the readers, or even make some events of the book heart-touching, breath-catching and absolutely memorable. Hands down, Graudin achieved this. She described the protagonist's painful past and the horrors of WWII so vividly. The truth about the concentration camps was grotesque; the hopes of so many crushed was absolutely heart-wrenching; and the pain that the main character felt throughout the book was so awful.
In the end, Wolf by Wolf left the biggest of cliffhangers possible (insert angry emoticon here) and left me feeling so incomplete. This book is a must, and its sequel, no doubt, will be just as action-packed and refreshing to read as the first, because really - who doesn't like a story about what-could've-happened and then proceed onto torturing themselves by pondering over the various outcomes that could result from one simple tweak in a long list of small events that lead up to the big SHABANG!?
Butterfly effect, people. Don't take it lightly - it's a serious issue! So if time travel is ever perfected, keep that in mind...
(You tell them, Yael! #Rebel)
History Lesson!
For anyone who is new to the events of World War II, here's what went down between the years 1939 and 1945:
Basically, there was a war between the Allies (America, Britain and the Soviet Union) and the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). This war took place due to the violation of the Treaty of Versailles - a peace treaty that was drawn up after the events of World War I (1914 - 1918) to take into account the damages and casualties of WWI, and to come up with a punishment for Germany and Austria-Hungary, who had declared the first war. World War II resulted in many important historical events, of which some were:
- The Holocaust - the mass murder of Jews and others that were thought off as undesirables by Adolf Hitler
- Battle of Pearl Harbor - the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprised military strike against the United States naval base, stationed at Pearl Harbor
- The bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima - America's solution to the problem of a future retaliation from Japan, and a forceful blow to Emperor Hirohito, who - until the bombings - was not willing to stop attacking America. Due to the radioactivity of the bombs, future generations of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were born with deformities (mentally and physically, dude to the parents being exposed to such an extensive amount of radiation), while the survivors suffered from severed burns and other injuries, while those closest to the site of the bomb were instantly vaporized and simply ashes in the end.
Adolf Hitler, a former soldier of the World War I German army and the political leader of the Nazi party, rose to power through the years 1933 to the beginning of World War II, and from there on he was one of the leaders of the Axis powers. As he clawed his way up to power, he targeted those who were potential threats to his campaign when he was running for Chancellor, and this resulted in the Reichstag fire; and the SA, SS and the Gestapo (police forces that eventually evolved into Hitler's personal bodyguard party).
After several events (for more information, watch Hitler: The Rise of Evil), Hitler gave himself the title Führer ('leader' in German), and assigned Joseph Goebbels as head of propaganda, hence promoting his ideas and opinions to everyone, The propaganda was always in Hitler's favour, making him appear as Germany's savior who could free them from the punishment they were carrying out due to the Treaty of Versailles (even after so many years after WWI, the effects of the treaty were still in effect). The propaganda also spread the idea that Germans deserved Lebensraum (additional living space for Germans), and that the perfect human specimen was found within the Aryan race (people with blonde hair and blue eyes). Aggravated by the Treaty of Versailles, once Hitler was in power he passed out the Enabling Act and began violating the Treaty by giving out orders to proceed with the Luftwaffe and the creation of war weapons.
Eventually war was declared, and the second world war resulted in global devastation. Under Hitler's reign, Jews were collected and sent to concentration camps where they were gassed to death, handed over to camp scientists for lab experimentation, or forced to do labor until their bodies gave out. If they weren't sent to the concentration camps, it was because they were in hiding or resisting actively and passively. This usually ended in the Jews being shot on sight. Of course, this targeting on Jews was not immediate but took effect in three stages. First, the Jews were prohibited from partaking in activities Germans were allowed to do. Then they were isolated from society until ultimately, the Holocaust came into effect and millions of Jews were slaughtered.
Along with the Jews, blacks, the old, the disabled, Slavs and many more imperfections in the perfect society Hitler dreamt up were sent off to concentration camps. These 'imperfections' were crowded in trains and trailers like cattle, with only a communal bucket to relieve themselves, and dirty water to stay alive. There was no sitting space and the trips to the concentration camps were usually long (ranging from hours to even days), At the concentration camps, the young were either sent to scientists with pregnant women (Hitler was obsessed with twins and ways to alter DNA so that one would possess the traits of the Aryan race, and so the scientists tried to change the babies before they were born), or they were assigned labor, Possessions were stripped and hair was shaved off. After that, the elderly were sent with other individuals into a closed chamber that was filled with a gas that killed off all that were within the chamber resulting in mountains of lifeless bodies that were then burnt,
Although majority of the Germans followed Hitler's ideology of a pure German race with no Jews or outsiders, a few aided the Jews in their escape from a totalitarian fascist Germany, and any territory under Hitler's control. (A film related to the aiding of Jews, and based on a true event: Schindler's List), In 1945, Hitler and his wife of two days, Eva Braun, committed suicide once the defeat of the Axis powers was inevitable and Hitler was bound to meet his end by the Allies. The couple's bodies were burnt shortly after.
In the end, World War II was a devastatingly dark part of the world's history that amounted to 50 - 85 million fatalities and therefore was considered the deadliest conflict in human history, lasting from 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945 (6 years and 1 day). It's definitely a part of our history that was so bloody, horrific, and such a nightmare that it need not repeat itself in the future.
(On a lighter note... Could this be my longest post yet??? Woah!)
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