Wolf by wolf

It's 1956 and Hitler won the war. Yael escaped from a death camp and is now part of the underground resistance working and plotting to rid the world of Hitler. Yael enters a cross continent race to win the iron cross and attend a ball with Hitler, where she will finally kill him and start the revolution.

I'm a sucker for anything WWII related. I'm fascinated and repulsed by it, of course. So I've had this book on my TBR forever. It didn't disappoint. I was a little surprised by the skin-shifting element just because I didn't know about it before I started reading, but it's so interesting and I really liked the idea. Ryan created a whole new world and reality after WWII, she did an incredible job with world building, including details that weren't even necessary to the story but helped imagine exactly what the world was like in the wake of Hitler's win.

I won't give anything away but there is some slight romance hinted at but it's not in the way you would think, which I LOVED and can't wait to see what comes of it in the next book. No annoying tropes, which is a win. And the ENDING. The ending. Most of the twists and turns in the book, I saw coming because I've read too many YA books. But the ending I did not anticipate for some reason and I yelled “NO!” and threw my book down. So yeah, pretty great ending that made me really happy I bought Blood for Blood at the same time, which I'm going to start reading as soon as I post this review.

Would I recommend?
Do you like YA, WWII fiction, and historical retellings? Then yes, for sure. It's a tough and sad read in places, as anticipated. But worth it, for sure.

4.5 stars!