Review: A Dark Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with a Historical Twist
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2013
There's a bit of history lurking behind the scenes in SCARLETTE.  There was a creature known as the Beast of Gévaudan</a> in 1767 that terrorized the Gévaudan province of France for three years. Davonna Juroe mixed this research in with the lore of Little Red Riding Hood to create SCARLETTE, a terrifying version of the tale you haven't read before.  It's a mix of the well-known Grimm version with a touch of the lesser known, but darker, more morbid rendering from Charles Perrault.Mystery, intrigue, and horror combine into a new tale for readers.  The novel centers around an eighteen-year-old girl named Scarlette, who lives in hard times.  There is a beast running around killing people, and after her grandmother is attacked, her life changes drastically.  Scarlette's mother was always a little unhinged and unpredictable, but now she's spouting outright madness after the attack.  She attempts to force Scarlette into a forced marriage with her employer, an overweight, lecherous tailor. Scarlette, however, finds herself under the protection of a baron who wants to keep her safe and will go to any means to prevent the Gévaudan beast from attacking anyone else.  Scarlette also finds herself entangled with a group of woodcutters who know more than they say and, for some reason, will stop at nothing to make sure Scarlette is killed.SCARLETTE starts off slowly, but picks up as the mystery evolves and Scarlette finds herself entrenched in the horrors surrounding her.  She's very naive, but she was in the tales as well, and this is done on purpose.  She's not as gung-ho and go-get-'em as some of the other Little Reds we've seen in recent YA novels.  Rather, she's a terrified girl who wants to protect her loved ones and make it through life intact.  To me, there was some predictability in terms of the way certain elements would align by the end, but for most readers, they'll reach surprise after surprise as all is unveiled by the novel's hurtling climax.  The lore that went into the story that unfurls in unique and SCARLETTE stands as being wholly original, while still inspired by a beloved fairy tale, only much, much darker than the tame, sanitized version we know today.