Book Review: Blood For Blood; Ryan Graudin.

Two books in one day? Amazing! I've basically been reading them alongside each other just to see how doing that feels. Some people like to read a lot of books at once, and some like one at a time. I have to say, I think I will go back to the latter because while two books in one day is a victory, the journey is hard. Not to mention, a little confusing...

SOURCE: Illumicrate/Netgalley
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Blood For Blood
AUTHOR: Ryan Graudin
SERIES: Wolf By Wolf (#2)
PUBLISHER: Orion Children's Books
PAGES: 496
GENRE: Young Adult, Thriller, Romance, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction

RATING: 4.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
For the resistance in 1950s Germany, the war may be over, but the fight has just begun.

Death camp survivor Yael, who has the power to skin-shift, is on the run: the world has just seen her shoot and kill Hitler. But the truth of what happened is far more complicated, and its consequences are deadly. Yael and her unlikely comrades dive into enemy territory to try to turn the tide against the New Order, and there is no alternative but to see their mission through to the end, whatever the cost.

But dark secrets reveal dark truths, and one question hangs over them all: how far can you go for the ones you love?

What I Liked:

• Just like book one, Graudin's writing skill is phenomenal. I've never been a fan of Thrillers but I can definitely get on board with books of the genre written by this lady! The action was fast-paced, there were plenty of twists and turns and I liked the way that Graudin re-wrote history: Hitler's victory, a dash of science-fiction that didn't seem too ridiculous for the era, the political and social repercussions, etc. She did a fantastic job!
• The characters were still likeable in this one. Graudin writes very unique, complicated people into her books but it was good to re-find them in book two. Yael was still the loveable badass that I adored before, Luka was hilarious, and Felix as complicated as you'd expect given his circumstances. Graudin did a good job of reintroducing an old friend too and while I won't give anything away, it was a heartwarming reunion.

What I Disliked:

• I suppose the biggest thing that I missed was the spark from book one. Yael was on a mission then, filled with passion and determination for her cause. Book two is a story of survival and Yael's lack of purpose meant that she lost her spark. I really missed the motorbike race too! Obviously it would be useless putting another one in for this book, but it really helped book one's plot, whereas book two actually didn't have much of one.

Overall Conclusion:

Without a doubt in my mind, I really enjoyed this book. It had Graudin's fantastic writing and character work that really helped it to be a worthy of conclusion to the duology. I didn't quite give it full marks though because the pang of disappointment was still there: not a huge amount happened, Yael lost the fire that I loved, there was a distinct lack of bikes, and sadly I also predicted the 'big' twist at the end. I'm still really glad  I read this though and enjoyed the series as a whole immensely.