Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce was utterly wonderful. I've always love fairy tale retellings, but my especial favorites are the stories that take a familiar tale and make it entirely their own. Sisters Red does this marvelously.
The writing itself was captivating. It's told in chapters narrated alternately by Scarlett and Rosie. I loved that we got to listen to each sister. Their outlook on life is so different, their views so varied that their voices didn't need much help being unique. It was easy to tell which sister was thinking or talking. I also loved both the prologue and epilogue which were written as fairy tales. It's such a small detail that definitely makes a big difference. (Big smile).
Jackson Pearce is not the first author to take the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and turn the sinister wolf in the forest into a werewolf. It's been done before, but never have I read it done like this. Pearce is brilliant and I'll definitely be signing up to read any and all fairy tale retellings she writes up in the future. Scarlett is mauled while trying to protect her younger sister Rosie from the werewolf (Fenris) that killed her grandmother. She loses her eye and gains an intense hatred for the Fenris and a passion for hunting them down. And, she's good at it. It drives her life and often blinds her to anything else. This is her mission, her role. She needs to protect others and remove as many of these horrid monsters as possible, with the help, of course, of her lovely sister Rosie and their childhood friend Silas. (Side note to say thank you for not making the werewolf the love interest... Ahem... Very big thank you.)
Oh ya, and the red cloak — it's a lure. I just can't get over how much I loved that detail. Red is the color of passion, lust, desire and blood and the Fenris just can't resist the lure. It made me happy.
Anyway... I will admit that I saw the twist coming from a long way off. I can't remember actually being surprised at anything that happened, although I know we were supposed to. But, I'm okay with that. Pearce writes in such a way that I didn't mind figuring everything out long before the characters. It just felt like I was in on the secret. And, I'm much, much more lenient with fairy tales being predictable than I am with the average book. Fairy tales are supposed to be familiar. And, the great writing, and realistic characters more than made up for that. And, it was great writing. It's one of those stories that just pulls you in and holds you close until you finish the last page metaphorically gasping because you just can't handle it anymore.
And can I just add that I love when authors combine more than one fairy tale?! It makes me so happy! And before I go into that, understand that this may very well be me reading more into it than the author intended... Maybe she's not actually familiar with the tale Snow White and Rose Red, and I may have seen the slight correlations because I wanted to, but I wanted to. So there... It's really subtle and I noticed it more in the personalities of the girls and their relationship to each other than the actual story line, but the faint hint of this tale was there, almost like a perfume that lingers long after the woman has left.
If you haven't read this yet, and you have any enjoyment at all for fairy tales, strong heroines, dashing young men, exciting fight scenes and stellar writing, I suggest you locate a copy now, and read it. I finished it a week ago, and already I'm wanting to read it again.
*Disclaimer: I received this book through We Love YA Tours.