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fantasynovel's review against another edition
1.0
*1 star*
Okay, so first of all, when I started this book, I had high expectations. High, high, high expectations. I mean, how could I not?
The Characters:
Scarlett: Femme Fatale (I think. What exactly is a femme fatale? Not exactly sure. I feel like it has to do with black and white movies. Huh. They're seductive, right? And then they stab you. #fun) Anyway, the book sells Scarlett as a badass motherf****** who kicks wolf ass and takes names. She's a girl with a vendetta, out to kill the wolves who ruined her life. Except her vendetta's kind of vague bc she's already killed the wolf who's ruined her life, so she doesn't really have a goal. Kill all the wolves, I guess? But it's not much to work to because there are So. Many Wolves. So we don't really get anything interesting from Scarlett. Her driving force just isn't interesting enough, even as we go through the book? Finding the potential? Snooze-fest. (I didn't care, and, besides, if you didn't figure out who the Potential was, you're probably a character in this book.) And Scarlett didn't have a personality. It didn't take long to figure this out. It was mainly tell, no show: "I am so angry. I want to kill the wolves. My anger melts away and I am strong." She's supposed to be all about killing those wolves, but instead she's all about saying that she's all about killing those wolves. We don't see it anywhere else. We don't see it in how she thinks, how she acts. Basically how she thinks is just a narration of what she's doing at the moment, with a little of "I was angry" thrown in. She doesn't have any idiosyncrasies, except that she likes Chinese food? Chinese food and hunting does not a character make. My favorite Scarlett quote? Silas has just asked her if she wants to be more than a hunter, and she responds with, "Can you really see me as a wife? A mother?"
...
Let that sink in. I don't even know where to start. This book, for assuming that the only thing a woman is good for is being a wife or a mother? For how she's defined in relation to men? For giving us the quote a few pages back, "Someone's friend, someone's daughter, granddaughter, someone's sister . . . nothing more than food for a monster." Yikes. Never once in this book is a woman saved for her own sake--it's always for the men in her life. Or am I angry because Scarlett doesn't have enough of a character to be able to comprehend anything besides hunting? We heard that she likes libraries a few chapters ago (one of my least-favorite tropes by the way. Making a character say she likes libraries is a quick way of giving her a personality, but it doesn't work. I'm sick of all these lost souls being drawn to the libraries in town but never saying anything else about it. We see her in the library later, but she's never happy to be there--so does she really like libraries? Food for thought), so why doesn't she say, "Can you really picture me as a librarian?" Or what about joining the military? Has that never occurred to her? Just being a wife or a mother? Aaaaarggggghhhh!!!!!!
Okay. Enough about Scarlett. Let's move on to Rosie: If anything, she has less of a personality than Scarlett. Actually, that's not fair. Scarlett didn't have much of a personality either. In fact, they both had such weak personalities that I had to keep flipping to the front of the chapter to see who was speaking. Also, for some reason, Rosie keeps leaving her knives at home. It's really fucking stupid. Every other scene, Rosie's being attacked by a Fenris and going, "Oh, shoot! My knives!" MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP FORGETTING YOUR KNIVES, ROSIE, HUH? HUH? Wow. That girl really could not catch a break. And by catch a break, I mean "be reasonably prepared in a city filled with dangerous murder-wolf-demons."
And, finally, the third character, Silas: Hot. So hot. Wow. He's so, so hot. So hot that when Rosie sees him for the first time in a year, her ovaries burst into flame. At least, judging by that scene, that's what happened. Silas really isn't worth mentioning. He's even more of a paper cut-out than the girls, but at least being in the girls' heads gave me something to talk about.
Finally, my final point: this book was filled with slut-shaming. Gratuitous, nasty slut-shaming. The girls who don't know about the Fenris are "innocent" and "giggly" and "stupid." Scarlett even wonders at one point if the girls would dress the way they do if they knew they were attracting Fenris. Like, what? Slut-shaming for the win, guys. And, also, the way girls who weren't the two main characters were infantilized really drove me up the fucking wall. Every time we see them, they're giggling and falling over themselves. This bothers me on two counts: One, it's presented as the only way girls can act if they're not the super-special MCs, and Two, it presents being giggly as a bad thing. Do you like to giggle and wear sparkly outfits and do your makeup and get dressed up? I'm sorry to say, but you are a moron. Or at least that's what this book would like to have you think. Also, give these girls some credit, ok? There's just been a rash of violent murders. These girls--and you know what, I'm calling them girls bc that's what the text called them, but some of them were at clubs so that had to have been at least 21, so WOMEN, not girls--these women wouldn't just follow random guys around when people have been getting murdered lately.
Basically, this entire book was a fail, which really sucks because I wanted to like it. Oh, well.
Edit: Also, this book was boring AF. Just, like, really boring.
Okay, so first of all, when I started this book, I had high expectations. High, high, high expectations. I mean, how could I not?
The Characters:
Scarlett: Femme Fatale (I think. What exactly is a femme fatale? Not exactly sure. I feel like it has to do with black and white movies. Huh. They're seductive, right? And then they stab you. #fun) Anyway, the book sells Scarlett as a badass motherf****** who kicks wolf ass and takes names. She's a girl with a vendetta, out to kill the wolves who ruined her life. Except her vendetta's kind of vague bc she's already killed the wolf who's ruined her life, so she doesn't really have a goal. Kill all the wolves, I guess? But it's not much to work to because there are So. Many Wolves. So we don't really get anything interesting from Scarlett. Her driving force just isn't interesting enough, even as we go through the book? Finding the potential? Snooze-fest. (I didn't care, and, besides, if you didn't figure out who the Potential was, you're probably a character in this book.) And Scarlett didn't have a personality. It didn't take long to figure this out. It was mainly tell, no show: "I am so angry. I want to kill the wolves. My anger melts away and I am strong." She's supposed to be all about killing those wolves, but instead she's all about saying that she's all about killing those wolves. We don't see it anywhere else. We don't see it in how she thinks, how she acts. Basically how she thinks is just a narration of what she's doing at the moment, with a little of "I was angry" thrown in. She doesn't have any idiosyncrasies, except that she likes Chinese food? Chinese food and hunting does not a character make. My favorite Scarlett quote? Silas has just asked her if she wants to be more than a hunter, and she responds with, "Can you really see me as a wife? A mother?"
...
Let that sink in. I don't even know where to start. This book, for assuming that the only thing a woman is good for is being a wife or a mother? For how she's defined in relation to men? For giving us the quote a few pages back, "Someone's friend, someone's daughter, granddaughter, someone's sister . . . nothing more than food for a monster." Yikes. Never once in this book is a woman saved for her own sake--it's always for the men in her life. Or am I angry because Scarlett doesn't have enough of a character to be able to comprehend anything besides hunting? We heard that she likes libraries a few chapters ago (one of my least-favorite tropes by the way. Making a character say she likes libraries is a quick way of giving her a personality, but it doesn't work. I'm sick of all these lost souls being drawn to the libraries in town but never saying anything else about it. We see her in the library later, but she's never happy to be there--so does she really like libraries? Food for thought), so why doesn't she say, "Can you really picture me as a librarian?" Or what about joining the military? Has that never occurred to her? Just being a wife or a mother? Aaaaarggggghhhh!!!!!!
Okay. Enough about Scarlett. Let's move on to Rosie: If anything, she has less of a personality than Scarlett. Actually, that's not fair. Scarlett didn't have much of a personality either. In fact, they both had such weak personalities that I had to keep flipping to the front of the chapter to see who was speaking. Also, for some reason, Rosie keeps leaving her knives at home. It's really fucking stupid. Every other scene, Rosie's being attacked by a Fenris and going, "Oh, shoot! My knives!" MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP FORGETTING YOUR KNIVES, ROSIE, HUH? HUH? Wow. That girl really could not catch a break. And by catch a break, I mean "be reasonably prepared in a city filled with dangerous murder-wolf-demons."
And, finally, the third character, Silas: Hot. So hot. Wow. He's so, so hot. So hot that when Rosie sees him for the first time in a year, her ovaries burst into flame. At least, judging by that scene, that's what happened. Silas really isn't worth mentioning. He's even more of a paper cut-out than the girls, but at least being in the girls' heads gave me something to talk about.
Finally, my final point: this book was filled with slut-shaming. Gratuitous, nasty slut-shaming. The girls who don't know about the Fenris are "innocent" and "giggly" and "stupid." Scarlett even wonders at one point if the girls would dress the way they do if they knew they were attracting Fenris. Like, what? Slut-shaming for the win, guys. And, also, the way girls who weren't the two main characters were infantilized really drove me up the fucking wall. Every time we see them, they're giggling and falling over themselves. This bothers me on two counts: One, it's presented as the only way girls can act if they're not the super-special MCs, and Two, it presents being giggly as a bad thing. Do you like to giggle and wear sparkly outfits and do your makeup and get dressed up? I'm sorry to say, but you are a moron. Or at least that's what this book would like to have you think. Also, give these girls some credit, ok? There's just been a rash of violent murders. These girls--and you know what, I'm calling them girls bc that's what the text called them, but some of them were at clubs so that had to have been at least 21, so WOMEN, not girls--these women wouldn't just follow random guys around when people have been getting murdered lately.
Basically, this entire book was a fail, which really sucks because I wanted to like it. Oh, well.
Edit: Also, this book was boring AF. Just, like, really boring.
reedandright's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Body horror, and Blood
sng2098's review against another edition
4.0
Scarlette and Rosie are sisters. When they were younger they got attacked by a Fenris (werewolf), and the attack left Scarlette covered in horible scares (except over her heart). During the attack their grandma, Oma March, was killed by the Fenris.
They lived by theirselves, leaving Scarlette to raise Rosie by herself since their mother ran off. They now have to spend the rest of their lives hunting down the Fenris and making sure no one gets killed agian because of them.
The Fenris population is increasing and the girls, plus Silas (there family friend) must go to Atlanta to hunt. They then learn about "The Potential", a fledling Fenris. Now they must save the boy and protect themselves.
So, I rate this book 4.5/5. I didn't find the characters whiny at all (which was nice). I really liked Rosie's character, she was strong and independent. Scarlette is a very strong female character, she saved her sister from the attack. Silas is also a strong male character, he is the youngest of nine children.
The writing was very easy to read and understand. I actually enjoyed the writing style. I was glad to read something that had a writing style that was the way we talk, not something that included a lot of sarcasm that people hardly ever use.
I definitly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good romance, werewolf, or a book with strong female characters!
They lived by theirselves, leaving Scarlette to raise Rosie by herself since their mother ran off. They now have to spend the rest of their lives hunting down the Fenris and making sure no one gets killed agian because of them.
The Fenris population is increasing and the girls, plus Silas (there family friend) must go to Atlanta to hunt. They then learn about "The Potential", a fledling Fenris. Now they must save the boy and protect themselves.
So, I rate this book 4.5/5. I didn't find the characters whiny at all (which was nice). I really liked Rosie's character, she was strong and independent. Scarlette is a very strong female character, she saved her sister from the attack. Silas is also a strong male character, he is the youngest of nine children.
The writing was very easy to read and understand. I actually enjoyed the writing style. I was glad to read something that had a writing style that was the way we talk, not something that included a lot of sarcasm that people hardly ever use.
I definitly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good romance, werewolf, or a book with strong female characters!
bookbuggs93's review against another edition
4.0
Spoiler****
I liked Scarlett as a character and I loved the story and how it ties in with Little Red Riding Hood but I wasn't too crazy about the love interest that Rosie has with Scarlett's partner, Salias.
I liked Scarlett as a character and I loved the story and how it ties in with Little Red Riding Hood but I wasn't too crazy about the love interest that Rosie has with Scarlett's partner, Salias.
inook_u's review against another edition
4.0
So amazingly gripping, grahpic and dramatic.
March Sisters rule.
March Sisters rule.
shorty_320's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. I liked the idea of the book, but found it to be lacking. Perhaps my intense dislike of the Scarlett character is influencing my feelings for the story.
jena_33's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
misspippireads's review against another edition
4.0
Fenris, or werewolves, are despicable creatures. As humans they are swuave and handsome, but as werewolves they are vicious and grotesque. Most young women are obvious to the world of Fenris in our society. Scarlett March and Rosie March were thrust into the world of blood because of an early attack on their grandmother. Life would never be the same after that summer and as they grow older it is harder and harder to seperate duty and living in the normal world.
Pearce retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood in a bloody and action packed story. It takes place in modern times in the South. Fenris are unbelievable! I adored the visual of their death. The sisters are very driven and their neighbor returning home (Silas Reynolds) adds an amazing twist and revelation to this tale. Sweetly is the next book in the Fairytale Retelling series. I look forward to the next retelling, because I couldn't put this one down.
Reviewed from a library book.
Pearce retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood in a bloody and action packed story. It takes place in modern times in the South. Fenris are unbelievable! I adored the visual of their death. The sisters are very driven and their neighbor returning home (Silas Reynolds) adds an amazing twist and revelation to this tale. Sweetly is the next book in the Fairytale Retelling series. I look forward to the next retelling, because I couldn't put this one down.
Reviewed from a library book.
mbfeeney's review
4.0
This book was recommended to me by a friend. I quite enjoy modern retellings of fairytales and this was one of the best I've read for a while. Like most fairytales, it is predictable in that I guessed the secret about Silas, but the ending pleasantly surprised me.
As for Silas being brooding, I wouldn't go that far. I did like his character, but to me he was simply an old friend returning home after a lengthy time away. When he does return home, he sees things in a new light, Rosie especially.
The fact that Rosie feels she has to lie to her sister is a bit sad, but I can understand why. Scarlett risked her life to protect Rosie in the attack that opens the book and hunting the Fenris is her raison detre, but it's not Rosie's. Eventually, Rosie becomes the hunter that Scarlett is, but it doesn't last and the sisters reach an understanding.
I would recommend this book to people, as long as they don't expect it to be a completely new story.
As for Silas being brooding, I wouldn't go that far. I did like his character, but to me he was simply an old friend returning home after a lengthy time away. When he does return home, he sees things in a new light, Rosie especially.
The fact that Rosie feels she has to lie to her sister is a bit sad, but I can understand why. Scarlett risked her life to protect Rosie in the attack that opens the book and hunting the Fenris is her raison detre, but it's not Rosie's. Eventually, Rosie becomes the hunter that Scarlett is, but it doesn't last and the sisters reach an understanding.
I would recommend this book to people, as long as they don't expect it to be a completely new story.