Reviews

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde

abaugher's review against another edition

5.0

vande velde is always so funny! this collection of alternative little red riding hood stories was not exception, and thoroughly enjoyable over the course of an evening of reading.

misspippireads's review against another edition

3.0

Little Red Riding Hood retold several times for the teen or tween audience.

christiana's review against another edition

3.0

Cool for a fractured fairy tale retelling kind of thing. But for just entertainment purposes? I wanted more than what I got. It's shelved in teen in my library, but I don't see a big deal giving this to 5th graders either.

hnbb's review against another edition

3.0

The author has such sarcastic humor. She pointed some things out about the Little Red Riding Hood tale I never thought of before. The stories felt too short, or pointless. After reading other books by VVV, I don't think this was her strongest effort.

fyrekatz's review against another edition

4.0

loved the following:
the red cloak
little red riding hood's family
granny and the wolf

liked the others!

ameserole's review against another edition

2.0

I feel like I need more fairytale books in my life right now. Especially during this crazy month workwise. Unfortunately, I just kept going back and forth with these short stories. Some of this was good, borderline okay, but mostly it was meh and not quite my cup of tea. Still, it was interesting and a different take on little red riding hood. Would probably read more anthology fairytale retellings.

emellis59's review against another edition

2.0

The introduction might just be the best introduction I've read. Hilarious! But the book didn't live up to the witty intro. The eight stories were more trippy than interesting or fun...and just as unbelievable and off the wall as the original tale. It was a quick read though.

yungokssss's review against another edition

4.0

This was a satisfying and funny read. Recommend it to all.

thereadrose's review against another edition

3.0

I really enjoyed the author’s note. Some of those versions of Little Red Riding Hood, I had never heard of before.

1st Story: 4 stars!

Spoiler

I really enjoyed this version. I thought it was creative that the woodcutter was the villain in this story and how she saved herself by using the wolf to intimidate her would be abductor. I also appreciate the irony of the tables being turned and how Meg was clever enough to think about ransoming the woodcutter rather than the other way around.

2nd Story: 3 Stars.

Spoiler

I like that in this story, little read riding hood is a doll and Georgette’s mom is the “Granny.” That gives an interesting perspective! Plus I really liked that Georgette and her mother are dressmakers... it was just creepy that she made a life sized doll to be her daughter. That’s would give me nightmares. Although I kinda wish that the doll would’ve turned evil, rather than just quoting closing lines usually said by the wolf in the traditional stories.

3rd Story: 3 Stars.

Spoiler

-Lol, I’m also an only child, my mom on the other hand was the youngest of six. She would tell me it was her job to embarrass me and pick on me... as if it was my fault I was an only child. 😂 So I can relate to Roselle! 😂
-It’s interesting that not only is Granny a Werewolf, but it’s more interesting that her family is aware of it and not frightened.
-Omg, a werewolf, a vampire, and witches. It sounds like the beginning of a cheesy joke.

4th Story: 3 Stars.

Spoiler

-Finally there’s a story where a wolf is dressed up in a bonnet. Although, instead of the wolf imitating the Granny, the wolf is dressed up by the Granny to look like her granddaughter.
-Lol. How many people can Granny hide in her house? This take on the story reminds me loosely of the children’s book There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly.

5th Story: 2 Stars.

Spoiler

-Oooo, this one involves the three little pigs!
-Eh, even though this one is creative with tying in the three little pigs story, this story is too close to a traditional fairytale. It has a naive main character that always bugs me in stories.
-Ok, there’s a collection of classic stories tied into this one, including a classic Little Red Riding Hood.

6th Story: 4 Stars.

Spoiler

-It’s interesting that this time the cloak is actually green. It was only called red by a boy who was colorblind.
-Omg! I love that the troublesome neighbors ended up being the Grimm Brothers!! 😂 Willy did have a big imagination. Lol

7th Story: 2 Stars.

Spoiler

-Aww, the wolf is just misunderstood.
-I just didn’t have enough of an opinion on this story.

8th Story: 3 Stars.

Spoiler

-Interesting, this time there’s a fairy godmother!
-It’s kind of cool that the cloak was an accidental magical hand-me-down.
-Ruby is driving me crazy. She’s so annoying and like it’s stated in the story, not smart.

Average rating of all stories: 3 Stars

I think Vivian Vande Velde did a good job being creative with these stories. I was never a fan of the classic story Little Red Riding Hood, but I enjoyed this collection. 😊

jamiehatch4488's review against another edition

3.0

This was a collection of 8 short story versions of the classic Little Red Riding Hood. When I picked it up, I thought it was one story. The forward is hilarious, and I expected the rest of the book to be written in a similar style. While some parts were, most was a different style.
Anyway, I really enjoyed some versions. Didn't really enjoy others. I was a little disappointed that it wasnt all just one story.