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A review by a_novel_ty
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
4.0
Rating: ★★★★
Oh Jackson...I see what you did there. I have to admit...even though I tried not to read the synopsis for this book...I gave in and ended up reading it about 100 pages in to see if I could figure out what was going to happen. NO HELP!
Sweetly is kind of a sequel to Sisters Red in that some of the same Monsters and Bloodlines doing the tango, however Sweetly is an ENTIRELY different story, with eerily similar similarities lol.
Ansel and Gretchen are brother and sister. They're a pair that used to be a trio, one that was ripped apart by an unknown yellow eyed, clawed creature Gretchen has taken to calling "The Witch." When they are both of age, they're kicked out of their home by their stepmother and start a journey that takes them to Live Oak. A small, nearly deserted town in South Carolina that holds a slew of secrets, missing girls, monsters in the woods and an enchanting little chocolatier named Sophia in the middle of said woods.
I have to say, I enjoyed Sweetly more than I did Sisters Red, however I think that's mainly due to the fact that there were no annoying relationship inconsistencies in this book. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a bit weird that Gretchen and her brother just moved in with Sophia when they didn't even know her but, I got it, it wasn't TOO much of a weird occurrence.
I will say this though, I didn't trust Sophia from jump. I knew something was off about her, what with the seashells, and secrets and just her always having this barely hidden sadness in her eyes. It just screamed 'SHE'S HIDING SOMETHING!' -- I'm not really going to say too much because I don't want to give anything away.
I just want to say, Jackson Pearce has definitely learned from her mistakes with this book. One of the main issues I had with Sisters Red was that the relationships seemed inorganic and rushed. In "Sweetly," everything flowed. I mean Sophia and Ansel's relationship was kind of weird, but since the focus was barely ever on Ansel and all he did throughout the novel really, was fix doors and fences...it didn't really grate much on my nerves. Gretchen and Samuels relationship felt authentic and it was cute, and there were no premature declarations of love that made me go WTF! either so that was a WIN!
Favorite part of Sweetly: The tie-in with Sisters Red. I didn't realize the extent of the connections until I was almost finished with the book, but it was a nice little surprise once I understood that the "witch" Gretchen kept talking about was closer to something I was more familiar with. Also...Silas might want to give his brothers a call, he might be surprised that he and one of them have more in common than he would have thought.
Least favorite part of Sweetly: I really hate that Jacksons female characters all seem to just drop out of school. Rosie didn't finish high school in Sisters Red and Gretchen didn't finish the 8th grade in Sweetly, meanwhile i'm just sitting here like, who the hell is keeping up with these children. Doesn't ANYONE notice these girls are just NOT in school...And why do they have to drop out of school anyway? I can kind of understand why Rosie had to drop out but I REALLY don't understand why Gretchen had to...
Anyway, I definitely enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and some things definitely had me yelling at myself in the mirror trying to figure out what was going to happen or what was happening. (I do that sometimes to vent...don't ask me why, I'm weird) would I recommend it? ...yea what the hell.
Oh Jackson...I see what you did there. I have to admit...even though I tried not to read the synopsis for this book...I gave in and ended up reading it about 100 pages in to see if I could figure out what was going to happen. NO HELP!
Sweetly is kind of a sequel to Sisters Red in that some of the same Monsters and Bloodlines doing the tango, however Sweetly is an ENTIRELY different story, with eerily similar similarities lol.
Ansel and Gretchen are brother and sister. They're a pair that used to be a trio, one that was ripped apart by an unknown yellow eyed, clawed creature Gretchen has taken to calling "The Witch." When they are both of age, they're kicked out of their home by their stepmother and start a journey that takes them to Live Oak. A small, nearly deserted town in South Carolina that holds a slew of secrets, missing girls, monsters in the woods and an enchanting little chocolatier named Sophia in the middle of said woods.
I have to say, I enjoyed Sweetly more than I did Sisters Red, however I think that's mainly due to the fact that there were no annoying relationship inconsistencies in this book. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a bit weird that Gretchen and her brother just moved in with Sophia when they didn't even know her but, I got it, it wasn't TOO much of a weird occurrence.
I will say this though, I didn't trust Sophia from jump. I knew something was off about her, what with the seashells, and secrets and just her always having this barely hidden sadness in her eyes. It just screamed 'SHE'S HIDING SOMETHING!' -- I'm not really going to say too much because I don't want to give anything away.
I just want to say, Jackson Pearce has definitely learned from her mistakes with this book. One of the main issues I had with Sisters Red was that the relationships seemed inorganic and rushed. In "Sweetly," everything flowed. I mean Sophia and Ansel's relationship was kind of weird, but since the focus was barely ever on Ansel and all he did throughout the novel really, was fix doors and fences...it didn't really grate much on my nerves. Gretchen and Samuels relationship felt authentic and it was cute, and there were no premature declarations of love that made me go WTF! either so that was a WIN!
Favorite part of Sweetly: The tie-in with Sisters Red. I didn't realize the extent of the connections until I was almost finished with the book, but it was a nice little surprise once I understood that the "witch" Gretchen kept talking about was closer to something I was more familiar with. Also...Silas might want to give his brothers a call, he might be surprised that he and one of them have more in common than he would have thought.
Least favorite part of Sweetly: I really hate that Jacksons female characters all seem to just drop out of school. Rosie didn't finish high school in Sisters Red and Gretchen didn't finish the 8th grade in Sweetly, meanwhile i'm just sitting here like, who the hell is keeping up with these children. Doesn't ANYONE notice these girls are just NOT in school...And why do they have to drop out of school anyway? I can kind of understand why Rosie had to drop out but I REALLY don't understand why Gretchen had to...
Anyway, I definitely enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and some things definitely had me yelling at myself in the mirror trying to figure out what was going to happen or what was happening. (I do that sometimes to vent...don't ask me why, I'm weird) would I recommend it? ...yea what the hell.