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A review by mailyreads
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I am so, so upset that I could not enjoy this read. The premise was truly interesting, but many times throughout the book I found myself cringing and wanting to drop.
I don’t think the author is Jewish and it shows. There is a lot of media on the “what if the Nazis won WWII?” and I’m not saying you need to be Jewish to ask that question, but when writing about the Holocaust—or any genocide—without being someone who is personally directly impacted, it can be obvious to readers who are (like me; I’m a Jewish person who has had family persecuted from their homes and held in Auschwitz) in really tasteless ways.
The number one thing that bothered me throughout the read was the set-up of a romantic relationship between the protagonist, Yael, a death camp survivor, and Luka Lowe, the golden boy of the Hitler Youth. The “he’s not like other Nazi boys” trope is grossly common in media (you’d be surprised how often it pops up). I’m not a fan for obvious reasons. It’s one thing to write about a bad boy, a delinquent, someone morally gray, and the prospect of changing him (as cliche as that trope is); it’s another when media creators attempt to apply this trope to white supremacist, eugenicist, genocide supporting/complicit characters. But for the sake of convincing myself to finish the book, I had faith that the author would reveal Luka to be an outspoken dissenter, a fellow resistance member, someone actively taking a stance against the Third Reich.
No. Nope. Author Ryan Graudin justifies Yael’s growing attraction to the boy by trying to say Luka was “different” because he “mocked” Hitler’s policies; but which policies specifically? Luka grew his hair out slightly beyond the social norm, and he smoked cigarettes. That’s literally it. I’m honestly getting annoyed thinking back to the specific passage I’m referencing, because it’s straight up insulting to talk as if he was any different just because he was indulging himself. If Yael absolutely had to fall in love with Luka, it would have been more realistic to chalk it up to her being a hormonal teenager, and also with her being reluctant and hating that attraction. But ultimately, I see no purpose for what a romantic relationship between Yael and a Nazi boy serves the plot of assassinating Hitler. Except to pander to an audience who gets off on that. Please understand why this is insulting.
Similarly, I couldn’t stand the constant sympathy and guilt of injuring or killing imperialist Japanese and Nazi Germans. I don’t like how there was a section in the book where Yael thought that killing a Nazi German would make her no different from them. That’s simply untrue. An oppressed person killing their oppressor, especially out of immediate self defense, could never be compared to the vice-versa. And I find it unlikely that in reality, someone in Yael’s position would even think that way. This guilt is another written trope created out of the fantasy of oppressors. However, nowhere in the book did Yael’s mentality every grow from that.
I understand the whole point of this story is to revise history, but one thing I despised was the decision to describe Britain to be the last main opponent to Hitler, while the Soviet Union ultimately sold out to the Nazis. In reality, the Soviet Union was the only reason the Nazis lost and though Britain was technically opposed to Hitler, it was on a much smaller scale than the Soviet Union, delayed, and still poorly intentioned. I won’t go into all the true history here, but my point is this type of literature does not exist in a vacuum and misinformatively feeds into the pro-Britain propaganda machine. There’s so many more consequences to this writing that I can’t go into here without turning the review into an essay, but overall it’s insulting to everyone who was persecuted in the Holocaust and then subsequently oppressed in the West.
Aside from the moral qualms I had with Wolf by Wolf, I often found the writing style to be quite corny. It could have been the very YA-esque usage of anaphora, the dramatic internal monologues no teen girl would realistically have, but Graudin somehow manages to make the horrific and solemn events of the Holocaust the backdrop for cringey dialogue. Every since The Hunger Games, writers have been trying to replicate and channel the young savior girl archetype in their own stories, but very few ever do it well. This is not one of those stories. Perhaps, if Graudin leaned more into the other characters or groups and made this a collective effort, this story would have been somewhat more interesting. There could have been more opportunity for character development outside of Yael (which was sorely missing from this story), too.
I’m giving 2 stars because I liked the idea of a plan to assassinate Hitler and overcome the Third Reich from within. I also thought the cross continental motorcycling competition was an interesting twist. Otherwise, I don’t have plans to read the sequel.
I don’t think the author is Jewish and it shows. There is a lot of media on the “what if the Nazis won WWII?” and I’m not saying you need to be Jewish to ask that question, but when writing about the Holocaust—or any genocide—without being someone who is personally directly impacted, it can be obvious to readers who are (like me; I’m a Jewish person who has had family persecuted from their homes and held in Auschwitz) in really tasteless ways.
The number one thing that bothered me throughout the read was the set-up of a romantic relationship between the protagonist, Yael, a death camp survivor, and Luka Lowe, the golden boy of the Hitler Youth. The “he’s not like other Nazi boys” trope is grossly common in media (you’d be surprised how often it pops up). I’m not a fan for obvious reasons. It’s one thing to write about a bad boy, a delinquent, someone morally gray, and the prospect of changing him (as cliche as that trope is); it’s another when media creators attempt to apply this trope to white supremacist, eugenicist, genocide supporting/complicit characters. But for the sake of convincing myself to finish the book, I had faith that the author would reveal Luka to be an outspoken dissenter, a fellow resistance member, someone actively taking a stance against the Third Reich.
No. Nope. Author Ryan Graudin justifies Yael’s growing attraction to the boy by trying to say Luka was “different” because he “mocked” Hitler’s policies; but which policies specifically? Luka grew his hair out slightly beyond the social norm, and he smoked cigarettes. That’s literally it. I’m honestly getting annoyed thinking back to the specific passage I’m referencing, because it’s straight up insulting to talk as if he was any different just because he was indulging himself. If Yael absolutely had to fall in love with Luka, it would have been more realistic to chalk it up to her being a hormonal teenager, and also with her being reluctant and hating that attraction. But ultimately, I see no purpose for what a romantic relationship between Yael and a Nazi boy serves the plot of assassinating Hitler. Except to pander to an audience who gets off on that. Please understand why this is insulting.
Similarly, I couldn’t stand the constant sympathy and guilt of injuring or killing imperialist Japanese and Nazi Germans. I don’t like how there was a section in the book where Yael thought that killing a Nazi German would make her no different from them. That’s simply untrue. An oppressed person killing their oppressor, especially out of immediate self defense, could never be compared to the vice-versa. And I find it unlikely that in reality, someone in Yael’s position would even think that way. This guilt is another written trope created out of the fantasy of oppressors. However, nowhere in the book did Yael’s mentality every grow from that.
I understand the whole point of this story is to revise history, but one thing I despised was the decision to describe Britain to be the last main opponent to Hitler, while the Soviet Union ultimately sold out to the Nazis. In reality, the Soviet Union was the only reason the Nazis lost and though Britain was technically opposed to Hitler, it was on a much smaller scale than the Soviet Union, delayed, and still poorly intentioned. I won’t go into all the true history here, but my point is this type of literature does not exist in a vacuum and misinformatively feeds into the pro-Britain propaganda machine. There’s so many more consequences to this writing that I can’t go into here without turning the review into an essay, but overall it’s insulting to everyone who was persecuted in the Holocaust and then subsequently oppressed in the West.
Aside from the moral qualms I had with Wolf by Wolf, I often found the writing style to be quite corny. It could have been the very YA-esque usage of anaphora, the dramatic internal monologues no teen girl would realistically have, but Graudin somehow manages to make the horrific and solemn events of the Holocaust the backdrop for cringey dialogue. Every since The Hunger Games, writers have been trying to replicate and channel the young savior girl archetype in their own stories, but very few ever do it well. This is not one of those stories. Perhaps, if Graudin leaned more into the other characters or groups and made this a collective effort, this story would have been somewhat more interesting. There could have been more opportunity for character development outside of Yael (which was sorely missing from this story), too.
I’m giving 2 stars because I liked the idea of a plan to assassinate Hitler and overcome the Third Reich from within. I also thought the cross continental motorcycling competition was an interesting twist. Otherwise, I don’t have plans to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide