Fighting & Kissing Review: Wolf by Wolf
Aaaaahh, this book. I have to put a disclaimer that I absolutely loved Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. It's such an amazing twist on history and World War 2 and the race is gripping and I could go on and on.
There seem to be a few different covers out there (I really like the red one btw). I zoomed through this book with my heart racing and palms sweating, that's how invested I was by the end. It's riveting with a motorcycle race across the entire Asian continent and it's just freaking amazing. I also finished reading and then promptly went through and skimmed again, taking notes on the character development and plotting. Nerdy, yep. BUT SO GOOD.
Anyway, on to the fighting (first) and kissing (second) bits!
There's an early fight scene in the beginning that shows just how well Yael is at fighting. She's been trained to be a secret agent in the war against the German & Japanese empires that now cover half the world. She's got some super secret powers that I won't spoil in case you haven't read. In this fight scene, she's just made it to Rome and some German soldiers are asking for her papers. Which of course, she doesn't have. So -- time to fight!
First of all, how big is said dude? If he's like six foot plus, that's 1. a little tall for me to try and aim up at his chest, 2. I probably don't weigh enough to knock him backwards into someone else. Maybe, he'll take like a step back if I'm lucky.
Now, if Yael is taller/heavier - at least as tall as the guy - then this is more plausible. I'm also not sure why the author didn't write 'met his solar plexus with her fist.' That would at least cause the guy some pain and make him struggle to breathe.
Honestly, if it were me writing this scene, I'd choose: 'met his sternum with her foot.' A push kick delivers MUCH more power than a punch to the chest. And also keeps the character a safer distance back....Also, she just dropped a sheet over him. How could she tell exactly where his sternum was to punch it? This bit of the fight scene could be stronger.
But back to the scene -- she's finally kicking! Though, kicking the gun out of his hand is slightly questionable as it is a rifle. That's a big gun. Hand gun - that I would probably feel more comfortable kicking out of someone's hand. (Though honestly, that would never EVER be my instinct. Guns are very scary and much faster than anyone's kick.) But we'll, uh, pretend that kicking a rifle out of someone's arms is totally doable. Yael then roundhouse's him again and 'stole the air from his lungs.'
Hmm.....roundhouse kicks normally land on the side of a body. The outer thigh. The side of the ribs. Now, could you kick someone in their side and cause them to double over? Yes, most definitely. A kick could easily steal the air from their lungs or break their ribs or hit some other vital organ.
In this scenario though, we just roundhouse kicked the gun out of his arms, not front kicked the gun out of his arms. This means, more than likely, his arms will be in front of his body as opposed to up over his head. Which can make it harder to get the kick in the right spot, especially when you have only seconds to do so.
In my opinion, a second kick here would be most believable if she did it with her other leg. Kick the arms aside with one leg, then slip the other one up and underneath the arms to roundhouse across their chest - effectively knocking the air out of their lungs. It's a fairly common move in Muay Thai so I have seen it done many times.
Final take on this part -- the author didn't specify which legs are doing the kicking so I guess it's up to our reader imagination. If I were writing it, I might put something like "Yael kicked the Carcano from his hands and, in one swift move, whipped her other leg up under his guard, roundhouse kicking him across the chest and stealing the air out of his lungs." This is an instance where not enough information could lead to confusion.
(If you read last week's post on Aurora Rising, we could apply the less is more tactic to this scene like this: "In two swift kicks, Yael kicked the Carcano out of his hands and roundhoused the air out of his lungs." ...I'm not entirely sure that roundhoused is a verb...but it is now!)
As it stands, not a bad fight scene but still a bit clunky in parts.
To recap:
1. Choose moves that make the most sense for your MC in that scenario (feet power vs punch power)
2. If a sheet falls on someone - remember - it doesn't actually take that long to get out from under it.
3. Roundhouse kicks can do lots of damage but just make sure their described accurately.
4. If you're leaving out specifics, make sure it's not confusing.
And that takes us to the romance!!!
Warning: Kissing spoilers ahead.
.
.
.
Really spoilery!
.
.
.
I love the romance in this duology. I ship Yael and Luka so much and was definitely into the sparks from the get-go. It's a slow build as Yael is pretending to be someone else who already had a relationship with Luka. So for Luka, he's already interested but of course, it's complicated by the fact that Yael looks like someone else and is on a secret mission to kill Hitler and Luka's the model German youth. So much going on! Which just makes me want them to kiss MORE! Gotta love that complicated slow burn.
We finally get some action a little over halfway through.
And then of course, Luka leaves Yael spinning and worrying about her cover. And we're back to no kissing. There's one other kiss in the book which unfortunately does not end well (because the slimeball poisoned her to get ahead in the motorcycle race! Punk!) But like Luka says, it's all fair in love and war.
The two characters do have a complicated relationship as they're both using each other as a means to an ends. It's not until the very end of this book and the beginning of the next book that they realize who exactly they are and who they are to each other.
Which we'll have to save for another post!
Questions? Differing opinions? Feel free to comment below!
There seem to be a few different covers out there (I really like the red one btw). I zoomed through this book with my heart racing and palms sweating, that's how invested I was by the end. It's riveting with a motorcycle race across the entire Asian continent and it's just freaking amazing. I also finished reading and then promptly went through and skimmed again, taking notes on the character development and plotting. Nerdy, yep. BUT SO GOOD.
Anyway, on to the fighting (first) and kissing (second) bits!
There's an early fight scene in the beginning that shows just how well Yael is at fighting. She's been trained to be a secret agent in the war against the German & Japanese empires that now cover half the world. She's got some super secret powers that I won't spoil in case you haven't read. In this fight scene, she's just made it to Rome and some German soldiers are asking for her papers. Which of course, she doesn't have. So -- time to fight!
"Yael’s arm swung out, up. Her fingers snagged the cloth and pulled. The sheet fell—an avalanche of cotton on top of the sergeant. The privates yelled, all surprise, rifles pressed back into their shoulders."I always like it when characters use their surroundings to their advantage. Good action movies do this too. Because a fight doesn't have to be with just fists or weapons. Anything might prove useful! In this case, a hanging bedsheet. Surprise!
"Yael gave them no chance to aim as she lunged at the sergeant, met his sternum with her fist. He stumbled back, into the first private. Both went tumbling, a white cloth tangle."Okay, so she's punched him in the sternum. I have mixed feelings about punching a dude in the sternum.
First of all, how big is said dude? If he's like six foot plus, that's 1. a little tall for me to try and aim up at his chest, 2. I probably don't weigh enough to knock him backwards into someone else. Maybe, he'll take like a step back if I'm lucky.
Now, if Yael is taller/heavier - at least as tall as the guy - then this is more plausible. I'm also not sure why the author didn't write 'met his solar plexus with her fist.' That would at least cause the guy some pain and make him struggle to breathe.
Honestly, if it were me writing this scene, I'd choose: 'met his sternum with her foot.' A push kick delivers MUCH more power than a punch to the chest. And also keeps the character a safer distance back....Also, she just dropped a sheet over him. How could she tell exactly where his sternum was to punch it? This bit of the fight scene could be stronger.
After this part, there's a slightly long aside where Yael debates whether she should kill this guy. Finally, she knocks him out with her pistol and then speeds away on her bike before the guys under the sheet can get back on their feet. (Because a sheet is very hard to get out from under. Eye roll.)The third patrolman was slow, his finger frozen over the trigger. Yael kicked the Carcano from his hands and stole the air out of his lungs with a second roundhouse. He stumbled to the ground, winded.
But back to the scene -- she's finally kicking! Though, kicking the gun out of his hand is slightly questionable as it is a rifle. That's a big gun. Hand gun - that I would probably feel more comfortable kicking out of someone's hand. (Though honestly, that would never EVER be my instinct. Guns are very scary and much faster than anyone's kick.) But we'll, uh, pretend that kicking a rifle out of someone's arms is totally doable. Yael then roundhouse's him again and 'stole the air from his lungs.'
Hmm.....roundhouse kicks normally land on the side of a body. The outer thigh. The side of the ribs. Now, could you kick someone in their side and cause them to double over? Yes, most definitely. A kick could easily steal the air from their lungs or break their ribs or hit some other vital organ.
In this scenario though, we just roundhouse kicked the gun out of his arms, not front kicked the gun out of his arms. This means, more than likely, his arms will be in front of his body as opposed to up over his head. Which can make it harder to get the kick in the right spot, especially when you have only seconds to do so.
In my opinion, a second kick here would be most believable if she did it with her other leg. Kick the arms aside with one leg, then slip the other one up and underneath the arms to roundhouse across their chest - effectively knocking the air out of their lungs. It's a fairly common move in Muay Thai so I have seen it done many times.
Final take on this part -- the author didn't specify which legs are doing the kicking so I guess it's up to our reader imagination. If I were writing it, I might put something like "Yael kicked the Carcano from his hands and, in one swift move, whipped her other leg up under his guard, roundhouse kicking him across the chest and stealing the air out of his lungs." This is an instance where not enough information could lead to confusion.
(If you read last week's post on Aurora Rising, we could apply the less is more tactic to this scene like this: "In two swift kicks, Yael kicked the Carcano out of his hands and roundhoused the air out of his lungs." ...I'm not entirely sure that roundhoused is a verb...but it is now!)
As it stands, not a bad fight scene but still a bit clunky in parts.
To recap:
1. Choose moves that make the most sense for your MC in that scenario (feet power vs punch power)
2. If a sheet falls on someone - remember - it doesn't actually take that long to get out from under it.
3. Roundhouse kicks can do lots of damage but just make sure their described accurately.
4. If you're leaving out specifics, make sure it's not confusing.
And that takes us to the romance!!!
Warning: Kissing spoilers ahead.
.
.
.
Really spoilery!
.
.
.
I love the romance in this duology. I ship Yael and Luka so much and was definitely into the sparks from the get-go. It's a slow build as Yael is pretending to be someone else who already had a relationship with Luka. So for Luka, he's already interested but of course, it's complicated by the fact that Yael looks like someone else and is on a secret mission to kill Hitler and Luka's the model German youth. So much going on! Which just makes me want them to kiss MORE! Gotta love that complicated slow burn.
We finally get some action a little over halfway through.
“I’m not the only one pretending to be someone else.” Luka was still whispering, but his words were so, so loud. So close.
He was closer, Yael realized when she looked back. Close enough to stab or toss her out the door, onto the tracks. He kissed her instead. A motion made of the same fluid lion-grace that had felled Aleksei."Yessssss, finally! She's so worried about her cover that she's almost blindsided by the kiss.
"She’d been trained to survive many things: Starvation and bullet wounds. Winter nights and scouring sun. Double-tied knots and interrogations at knifepoint. But this? A boy’s lips on hers. Moving and melding. Soft and strength, velvet and iron. Opposite elements that tugged and tore Yael from the inside. Feelings bloomed, hot and warm. Deep and dark."Gotta love those comparisons! Sometimes using the opposite comparison gets on my nerves but occasionally, it works. Here, it works for me. (Except for the velvet and iron one. Too many 'velvet' references in old-school romance books for me not to read it and giggle.) But I love how the feelings are blooming. It may sound cheesy but that line really captures a first kiss experience to me. (Not my own first kiss...but the ones that I imagine were awesome.)
And then of course, Luka leaves Yael spinning and worrying about her cover. And we're back to no kissing. There's one other kiss in the book which unfortunately does not end well (because the slimeball poisoned her to get ahead in the motorcycle race! Punk!) But like Luka says, it's all fair in love and war.
The two characters do have a complicated relationship as they're both using each other as a means to an ends. It's not until the very end of this book and the beginning of the next book that they realize who exactly they are and who they are to each other.
Which we'll have to save for another post!
Questions? Differing opinions? Feel free to comment below!
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