Review: Gripping Paranormal Fairy Tale
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 27, 2013
‘Scarlette’ is a blending of historical fiction and fairy tale with supernatural elements mixed in.  This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood set in France in the 1700’s with werewolves…I could tell from the author’s notes before I even began reading this novel that a lot of care and attention to detail had gone into this book to make it read authentically to the time period it is set in.  This can really be appreciated while reading the story; nothing felt out of place.Scarlette was endearing, a little nave but caring and likeable.  What is seen of her grandmother shows that her relationship to Scarlette is a close one and that she is kind-hearted.  Scarlette's mother’s mental problems were obvious and hard to deal with and added to the horrors being heaped upon her.  Her friend's exploits were mildly amusing.  I wasn't overly keen on any of the male characters but they each served their purpose in the story.I will admit during the first half of the book I was a little worried that Scarlette was playing the victim overly much but this doesn't continue all the way through.  The way her character behaves at the start of the story is basically the only believable way she could have acted at that point and she does definitely change and grow as a person as the story goes on, learning not to be so trusting etc., which was great to see happen.The setting was so authentic and the characters felt very real.  The historical setting with the fairy tale and supernatural elements blended together worked very well and made for a story that kept me gripped from start to finish.  Recommended to anyone who enjoys any of these genres; historical fiction, fairy tales, paranormal novels, romance.