Review: Scarlette Review by Kelly @ Belle of the Literati
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2012
[...]"To make her happy, I slid out the oak chest that contained her belongings.When I lifted the lid, I saw a red cloth folded into a neat square.I touched the soft fabric, fine linen. I held it up.A hood blossomed out into a cloak.Around the hood was a thick edge of rose satin.The looped and embellished stitching could only be Grandma's handy work.I had never seen anything so fancy."--Davonna Juroe, ScarletteAlright. I am a Disney fanatic. I love fairy tales. Like obsessed. I believe every girl is a princess and every woman deserves her own personal Prince Charming. And because of this I adore reading fairy tale re-tellings or different spins on stories of old. Scarlette by Davonna Juroe was no exception. From the very beginning I was pulled in by this tale and did not want to stop reading. Not only is this another spin on Little Red Riding Hood, it also ties in the true story about the Beast of Gévaudan.  If you haven't guessed by the title this story follows Scarlette, an 18 year old woman who lives in Gévauda, France. She is very close with her Grandmother whereas her mother is absolutely horrible to her. Not only is her homelife miserable, there have been people being attacked by wolves, whether they be of the were fashion or not has yet to be determined. The townsfolk are a superstitious breed and after Scarlette's grandmother is attacked the people turn their eyes to Scarlette as the reason for these attacks. Along the way we meet Jeanne (her best friend). Marie (Jeanne's mother), Francois (a huntsman), the Baron (the wealthy overseer of the province who takes an interest in Scarlette...rawr), and the owner of the tailor shop Monsieur Narbonne who also has an interest in Scarlette. OK, so I cannot give anything more away with the plot because if you are a Little Red Riding Hood fan or any fairy tale lover you will have to read this!First of all the writing is excellent! It flows so well and I really felt transported to the 1767 town of Gévaudan. Maybe it is just me but I feel like there is definitely a difference between the writing of a novel versus storytelling. This is storytelling at its best. It reminded me of John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things. It was real life mixed with paranormal and a bunch of fairy tale-esque amazingness. I just loved how much the story moved and changed and always kept me interested. And the plot kept twisting and turning and I was questioning everybody in my head at one point or another. And it is not until the very end that all the pieces really come together.I absolutely adored the characters! Scarlette is so well-developed and her actions are so true to what an 18 year old girl in her situation would do. The Baron was one of those characters you so want to believe in and he is definitely the Prince that wants to take our princess off into the castle and away from scrubbing floors. And Francois! *swoon alert* I mean both men in this story have their redeeming qualities but I think I'm a little biased because the second I read the word huntsman I immediately pictured Chris Hemsworth sooooo I was mentally a little distracted when I was reading about him...what?! It is so totally normal...isn't it?...Whatever.Because I am such a huge fan of fairy tales I might be reading too much into this but I could not help but notice small situations where my other favorite fairy tales made an appearance. Such as the townsfolk referring to the wolf as bete...the beast...Beauty and the Beast is my favorite! Scarlette's mother at one point calls her Sleeping Beauty after sleeping for 4 days...A huntsman that saves her life is most definitely involved...enter Snow White. And while usually it is an evil stepmother that we loathe, in this case it was Scarlette's real mother that forces hard labor on her day after day...Cinderella has come calling too, ladies and gents. I LOVED this! It was so subtle but I noticed it each and every time and I always had a sly little smirk on my face when I came across something like that.I really, really enjoyed this book. It was a fantastic version of Little Red Riding Hood that intertwined a real life event that occurred in this town. And you might be wondering if they all lived happily ever after...well, you'll just have to read and find out...This e-book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review