Sweetly

Sweetly
By Jackson Pearce

Sweetly is a companion (not a sequel) to the book Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. Due to the fact that it isn’t a sequel it is not necessary that you read Sisters Red prior to reading Sweetly but there are some small things you may appreciate a little more if you do.

Sweetly is a retelling of the fable, Hansel and Gretel. Gretchen and Ansel are siblings who lose their sister to a “witch” in the forest behind their home. Years pass and both parents succumb to the grief of losing their daughter, leaving Ansel and Gretchen alone in the world. They decide to drive cross country to start over in North Carolina. Their jeep breaks down on the way and they have no choice but to stay in the town for the time being. After some poking around town, Ansel finds a job as a handyman at Sophia Kelley’s candy shop.

Sophia is a young and gorgeous woman who has taken over the chocolate shop after her father is killed by wild animals. People in town are either captivated by her or believe her to be a witch. Those that believe her to be a witch also believe that she has something to do with the eight girls who have gone missing over the years, as they always go missing on the eve of her chocolate festival. Ansel and Gretchen are captivated by Sophia, for Gretchen, she is healing the wound that their missing sister left in her heart and Ansel falls in love with her almost immediately. However, after a time, Gretchen begins to suspect something is different about Sophia and she soon finds evidence that doesn’t paint Sophia in the most perfect light.

Gretchen meets Samuel, the town crazy and convinces him to teach her how to hunt Fenris, the werewolves that those of you who read Sisters Red will find familiar. The two vow to uncover the mystery as well as keep the rest of the girls in the town safe from the Fenris. Secrets are uncovered and Gretchen is forced to come to terms with who Sophia really is.

I have to say that I enjoyed this story a lot more than Pearce’s Sisters Red. I found myself more connected to the characters in this story which really helped me enjoy the novel on a much deeper level. Pearce also wrote this story in such a wonderful way that I really found myself craving the chocolate and candies that were showcased in Sophia’s shop.

Overall, this book exceeded my expectations, I had hoped to enjoy it more than Sisters Red and I did. Additionally, Jackson Pearce has a third companion novel coming out titled Fathomless that is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. I am curious to see if Pearce brings the characters together from the first two novels as they all have the same goals and since Fathomless will focus on the sister of both Silas, from Sisters Red and Samuel from Sweetly.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good retelling and wants their mouth watering at the thought of chocolate truffles and fruit flavored candies.

"There is always some madness in love,

and always some reason in madness."

...and more wolves!

Sisters Red 

By Jackson Pearce 

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

I love fairy tale rewrites and I love that this was loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood. However, I did not love this book. I wanted to, really! Looking back, I think that the reason I didn’t love it was because I had a hard time loving the characters. I found Scarlett to be obsessive and resentful for saving her sisters life, I found Rosie to be so naïve and annoying in the way that she couldn’t follow her own desires because they conflicted with her sisters. I found Silas to be a coward and honestly kind of a jerk in the way that he falls head over heels for his best friend’s sister and then manages to not tell her, even though they are living in the same house. The love triangle bothered me the most, Silas pushed Rosie to follow her heart while trying to tell Scarlett her heart’s desire was wrong. I can’t even get into what bothered me the most about this love triangle because it would ruin a shocking and rather infuriating climax that made me want to throw the book against a wall. ::end rant:: That being said, I can give the book credit in relation to its general plot line. It is interesting to turn the Red Riding Hood character into a fighter as she is a weak character in the original story. However, I do think it could have been interesting had the wolf character not been so bad. Perhaps I am a romantic but I like to daydream that the typical bad guy isn’t always bad just as the damsel in distress is sometimes fully capable of saving herself. I also have to say that the ending shocked me, I really didn’t see it coming and that was something that really redeemed the story for me. I realize that my opinion is quite biased and I can really see why some would love this book. I am currently reading Jackson Pearce's companion novel Sweetly and I have high hopes that I will enjoy it more than I enjoyed Sister’s Red.

Rating 2.5 out of 5

Wolves!

Shiver

By Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

When Grace was younger, she was attacked by wolves in the woods surrounding her home. As she lay dying, a wolf with bright yellow eyes fended off the other wolves and saved her life. As the years went on, Grace continued to find the wolf staring at her, keeping her safe. Grace begins to think of this wolf as “her” wolf and when a hunting party ventures into the woods she becomes terrified. Once at her house, Grace finds a naked, shivering boy on her porch who has been shot in the shoulder. Grace soon learns that this boy, named Sam, is indeed “her” wolf and has been watching and protecting her for years. The catch of his “disease” is that every summer, when it is warm, Sam turns into a human and once the temperature drops he becomes a wolf again. As the years go on however, Sam’s summers become shorter and shorter and he fears he will soon lose the ability to turn into a human all together. The story progresses and Sam and Grace work together to keep him warm, and human.

The cover of this book was what initially drew me in, and the fact that it was a book with a werewolf as a focus, a change from the typical vampire love story. I also really appreciated that the “change” for the werewolf isn’t brought on by the full moon but by the change in temperature. Unfortunately that was not enough to make me enjoy the story, I had a very hard time reading this book and found myself fighting against the storyline. I can definitely see why most readers would LOVE this book. For me, it was like the Twilight series, minus the vampires. The two main characters were head over heels, nothing can stop us, will do ANYTHING for the other in love. I had a hard time buying this, the characters were not very developed and their love was just supposed to be understood, with little evidence as to why they had fallen in “love” in the first place. Overall, I was a bit bored with the story and couldn’t really get into it; however I would definitely recommend it to readers who like teen romance and books like Twilight.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Once Upon a Time...

Fables

By Bill Willingham

Once upon a time, all of your fairy tales turned out to be true…

Fables is a graphic novel series created by writer Bill Willingham. The series focuses around various characters from fairy tales and folklore that have been forced out of their Homelands by The Adversary. The Fables have created their own secret community in New York City known as Fabletown. Certain Fables who are unable to blend in with human society (The Three Little Pigs, Bageera, etc.) live at “The Farm” in upstate New York.

Bill Willingham has completely re-created the characters from popular fairy tales. Snow White is Deputy Mayor of Fabletown and her prince of old is not so charming. The story arcs are diverse, ranging from murder mysteries to a political war with a surplus amount of back-story on your favorite fairy tale characters!

Let me start off by saying I am not a “graphic novel” reader. Not that there is anything wrong with reading and enjoying them, I just never had the desire to pick up a comic book and take a gander. So it was no secret that I wasn’t too excited when we were assigned to read graphic novels for my young adult literature course last semester. I struggled with my choice, finally settling for a standard Batman/Superman theme. Soon after I begrudgingly read through my comic I noticed one of my classmates (and Goodreads friend) was reading the Fables series for our assignment. Suddenly I was taken aback, fairy tales as comic books? Umm yes, please!! I immediately harassed her for all of the information she had on the Fables series and Mr. Bill Willingham and that, my friends, is the beginning of a beautiful love affair between myself and the characters of Fabletown (primarily Mr. Bigby Wolf, I won’t lie).

So, in a nutshell, drop what you are doing and go to your local library, find these graphic novels and start reading!! Seriously, go now.

Oh and for those of you reading this thinking how daft I am for finally jumping on this bandwagon that you have been riding on for years, did you know Bill Willingham has other graphic novels? How about a novel called Down the Mysterly River? Bet you didn’t…

Series Rating: 5 out of 5

Grimm Reads...

A Tale Dark and Grimm

Adam Gidwitz

“Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome.  I know, I know. You don’t believe me. I don’t blame you. A little while ago, I wouldn’t have believed it myself. Little girls in red caps skipping around the forest? Awesome? I don’t think so. But then I started to read them. The real, Grimm ones. Very few little girls in red caps in those.

The real Grimm stories are not like that. Take Hansel and Gretel, for example. Two greedy little children try to eat a witch’s house, so she decides to cook and eat them instead – which is fair, it seems to me. But before she can follow through on her (perfectly reasonable) plan, they lock her in an oven and bake her to death.

Which is pretty cool, you have to admit. But maybe it’s not awesome.

Except – and here’s the thing – that’s not the real story of Hansel and Gretel.”

This however, is the “real” story of Hansel and Gretel. It is a story about two children who run away after their father cuts off their heads to save his faithful servant, Johannes. These children have adventure after adventure, all the while searching for a parent figure who won’t try to harm (or kill) them. Their adventures start of course with the wicked witch who tries to eat them for supper after fattening them up on her house made of gingerbread. After escaping, the children find solace with a couple who recently traded their seven sons so that they could have the daughter (enter: Gretel) that they always wanted. After saving the seven sons and escaping these wicked parents (who had the best intentions) Hansel and Gretel begin living in a magical wood that unfortunately turns Hansel into a werewolf and leads Gretel to move to a nearby town, fall in love with an evil warlock and eventually sentence him to death by oil and snakes. While Gretel is suffering, being nearly killed by an evil warlock, Hansel is living the life in a kingdom nearby. Unfortunately, his new “father” has a gambling problem and gambles Hansel’s life away over a game of cards with Satan. That’s right, SATAN. Therefore, Hansel must use his wiles to outsmart the devil and escape Hell which turns out to be a hilarious endeavor that ends up with Hansel dressing as the “mother devil” and singing like a dead cat. Eventually, Hansel and Gretel find their way back to their home kingdom and are given the task of ridding the land of an evil dragon. This proves to be a little more than a personal problem and Hansel and Gretel are forced to come to terms with their lack of parenting yet again.

I loved this book. The narration style was hilarious with some aside statements made to both parents and children as well as to the characters in the story...

For a moment she stopped and considered following the rain’s advice. But then shook her head. “You’re being foolish,” Gretel told herself. “Rain can’t talk.”

No, of course it can’t. The moon can eat children, and fingers can open doors, and people’s heads can be put back on. But rain? Talk? Don’t be ridiculous. Good thinking, Gretel dear. Good thinking.

The narrator tells the reader how it is, even if it is not always happy and positive. In fact, the narrator often explains how bloody and terrible the situations coming are going to be and "prepares" them for what is to come. This book also reintroduces some classic fairy tales and some that are not as well known to a new generation, putting a brand new spin on the “Grimm” works.

It is no secret that I love a good fairy tale re-write, and although my first impression was that this story would be too juvenile for young adult (or adult) readers, after reading it I found it to be a refreshing change and relatable to readers of all ages.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Another contender for our top 10 of 2011 reads!