Red is not afraid of the big bad wolf. She’s not afraid of anything . . . except magic.
But when Red’s granny falls ill, it seems that only magic can save her, and fearless Red is forced to confront her one weakness.
With the help of a blond, porridge-sampling nuisance called Goldie, Red goes on a quest to cure Granny. Her journey takes her through dwarves’ caverns to a haunted well and a beast’s castle. All the while, Red and Goldie are followed by a wolf and a huntsman—two mortal enemies who seek the girls’ help to defeat each other. And one of them just might have the magical solution Red is looking for. . . .
Liesl Shurtliff weaves a spellbinding tale, shining the spotlight on a beloved character from her award-winning debut, Rump.
My Review:
The true story of Red riding hood was enjoyable, and a perfectly crafted blend of classic fairy tales with just enough twists to make it new and exciting. I particularly loved meeting beauty and the beast, and I'm excited to hint down the true story of Rumpelstiltskin by the same author. In this book, there were hints at the true story if Snow White but I guess we'll have to sit on the edge of our seats and hope for the best.
Pros: an adventure, tale of friendship, and coming of age story all in one.
Cons: the beast could have been rounded out more, but the story is about Red anyway.
Recommendation: buy.
I got this copy as a courtesy from Netgalley
Meet Allie: she's just woken up in an empty forest with blood on her hands and everything she's ever known wiped from her mind. In her survival-oriented world, people are hunted by vicious predators and it quickly becomes clear that they are specifically hunting her.
Allie's friends and sister have no insight as to why she's a target, and her only clue is a list of tally marks she finds tucked away, detailing how many lives she's saved and how many deaths she's caused. Judging by the amount of ink slashed across the page and the fact that nobody seems to know about it, Allie knows she used to have secrets that need to be recovered.
Without knowing whom to trust, she finds herself drawn to a new stranger in the caves they call home, and even though he won't talk about his own past, he's ready to help Allie recover hers.
The problem now is that Allie's instinct to survive is the only thing strong enough to bring her memories back. Flashes of her old self will only surface to save her from life threatening danger, so if she wants to avoid living as an echo of her former self, danger is what she must seek.
My Review:
I was so amazed to find that this book came about from a kickstarter. First of all, the cover is SO. PRETTY. There are also usually some tell-tale signs that a book has been self published but I honestly didn't see any, and only knew when I got to the acknowledgements page at the end of the book. There is a perfect blend of mystery and adventure in this book, and the emotional descriptions were well crafted. Even when it came to the action parts of the novel, nothing broke me out of the feeling that I was *there* rather than reading about it (and I'm sure we've all read some less than stellar fight scenes). I'm excited to see if there will be any more from this author in this series.
Recommendation: Buy
I got this book through a goodreads giveaway.
