A Review of She-Wolf
Written by Francis Moss

This was a well-written story which I really enjoyed despite it moving faster than I would have liked. The book is about Deborah Sokolov, a young Ukrainian girl living in New York City who’s family has ties to the Ukrainian crimeworld. Despite this, she leads the typical life of any teen, until one day her grandparents, with whom she lives, are killed. Though the crime is quickly solved, there are too many questions left unanswered and Deborah begins to search for those answers. In doing so, she discovers that her beloved grandparents were not victims of some random crime, but were executed by people within the very crime family they served. Deborah wants revenge.

Overall, the book kept my attention and I was rooting for Deborah all along. The author, Francis Moss, does a good job of making the reader sympathetic to the main character. I only have two major complaints about the book and the first one is not necessarily the fault of the author but may have been the marketing people. You see, the book is titled She-Wolf and has a tagline that says “She doesn’t hide. She hunts.” Well this gave me the initial feeling that the book would be about a character who is either already trained in the ways of an assassin or learns them. Without giving much away, neither of those scenarios is the case. While disappointing, the actual story is still very good. My other complaint is that while the book allows you to get to know Deborah, it rushes the story building in many other areas. Not enough to make me not want to read it, but enough to feel like something was missing.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is still very good and is a satisfying read! So please, go get yourself a copy and read it!

She-Wolf by Francis Moss is a fast paced action adventure story. And while the main character is a 17 year old Ukrainian American in Brighton Beach, New York, this could definitely be enjoyed by adults that like a kind of ‘la femme nikita’ type book.
Our protagonist, Deborah Sokolov, is being raised by her grandparents after her parents death. And early on in the story, her grandparents are brutally murdered. Deborah doesn’t believe the old man that confessed is the real killer, so she decides to find out herself who were the real killers.
There are a lot of characters and action pieces throughout her journey of enacting her revenge. All throughout though, Deborah is the main character and the one most fully fleshed out. The author does a great job of keeping the plot exciting while introducing more layers to the heroine as the book unfolds. While the action lasts until the very last paragraph, I would have liked to have a little epilogue to get a glimpse of what happens to the character. But perhaps there could be a sequel that can continue with this well written character. ( )

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

SHE-WOLF: SHE DOESN'T HIDE. SHE HUNTS. by Francis Moss is a Young Adult action and adventure novel and a survival story told in close first person, past tense POV. It opens in present day where we are transported with seventeen-year-old Deborah Sokolov in the trunk of her grandpa’s car to the Boardwalk in Brooklyn, NY. We learn she is an infamous killer kidnapped by two mob guys speaking a blend of English, Ukrainian and Russian, which Deborah distinguishes as she tries to prove it is not her day to die. Chapter two transports us back in time so we move forward through the penultimate chapter until we returned to present day for the conclusion.

A car accident orphaned Deborah at age two, so she and her brother, Ethan, then aged six, were raised by their grandparents, Viktor and Nadiya, in Brighton Beach or as they knew it, Malen’ka Odesa or Little Odessa. Omnipresent Ukrainian and Russian language adds texture as do cultural influences woven throughout the story, including Ukranian and Russian holidays, the Julian calendar, the Eastern Orthodox Church, foods and customs. We learn that Deborah’s grandpa Viktor is not a mobster but a mobster’s bookkeeper, a distinction that seems important to her, but another distinction--that Deborah and her family are Ukrainian and not Russian as are their many oppressors--is a vibrant echo of today's headlines. Deborah recognizes and enjoys a protected status because of Grandpa’s mob bookkeeper job--a negative yet elevated station in life.

I was drawn to Deborah, or Deb as she's known to some. Her spirit in high school is confident, comfortable and even comedic at times. We see deep into her mind one heart as she pushes her well-meaning yet misogynistic grandpa. She enjoys a solid relationship with her grandparents, especially as her grandfather taught her to shoot--a skill she will use later. The narrator is trustworthy. We always know where Deborah stands, even when she is confused. One of her most interesting personality traits is to notice her multiple selfs or personas, and her related insights, as she processes the many traumas hurled at her.

The prose often exposes minimal yet revelatory detail to capture not only what a character is experiencing but how they feel about it, like when Deborah notices, for the first time, age spots, wrinkled skin, and blue veins on her ailing grandpa’s hand. Other typical YA transitions from youth to adult make frequent visits, such as Deborah’s perception of others seeing her as a child when she feels grown up. This short novel weighs in at 208 pages or about 52,000 words but makes up for that brevity with an eye-popping 63 named characters.

(Spoiler Alert) For a cover labeled "action and adventure," SHE-WOLF was slow to action. Moreover, early action occurred with Deborah as a witness, having no agency or effect on the outcome. The catalyst to her change was a compelling, worthy launch for Deborah. However, her transition from victim to she-wolf happened about halfway through the book--too late for my taste. Yet she must have felt it was early as she screamed that she was not the she-wolf immediately before morphing into the she-wolf. I wanted her to take charge, but instead, after she transformed, she took drugs and numbed, stifling her progress. Her motivation and wants became confused and less clear. In a surprisingly strong supporting role, Becky, her brother's girlfriend, pushed Deborah towards new goals and change with only apathy from Deborah. Becky and Deborah even agreed that Becky was the warrior and that Deborah was not. One surprising plot twist had Deborah abandon her investigation and revenge trajectory to take up another case from a sort-of boyfriend she hadn’t seen since middle school where she risked her life and nearly lost it. The back third of the book had enough action for an entire novel, but I would have enjoyed slowing down and spending more time on some of those details and scenarios that could have provided a bigger payoff for the narrative. And then on page 169, a little more than 80% through the book, Deborah finally accepts her calling as the she-wolf.

The ending was strong, and the last forty pages were true page-turners. For me, the ending held only one surprise since, from notes I made on page 31 and 36, I pegged the mystery killer, who seemed too obvious early on, and who was revealed with a meant-to-be-surprising and twisting flourish on page 203. The only surprise came in Deborah's misperceptions of who was evil and who was not. She got it wrong, which I didn't like since she was willing to assume a decade's long family friend was evil. After the final action, we literally got three words of what happened next. I wanted one more chapter answering some of the open questions and sharpening our understanding of how life continued for some of the main characters.

But you should read about this vovchytsya, the she-wolf and decide what you think. ( )

I really enjoyed this read! The author did an amazing job! The storyline was great! This book really had me interested in what was happening! I loved the grandfathers rule, "I never did harm to anyone—unless they would do harm to me or my family.” I also love the cover! :)

Although I enjoyed the story line – teenage girl’s grandparents (guardians) were murdered and her quest for revenge. It is a fast paced thriller with a lot going on as Deborah deals with the pain of loss, the hunger for revenge and the importance of family. The She-Wolf in the title is the woman she becomes as the rage inside her comes out. What I didn’t care for was the narrative. Although written in the first person from Deborah’s point of view, it seemed off to me. I think some of the narrative could be trimmed. The story ends abruptly giving the reader to make their own conclusion as to what happens next. ( )