Review: Scarlette - Davonna Juroe
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2013
I've read a lot of Little Red Riding Hood rewrites. So I was a bit worried when I started this book that it would fall into the trap of "shocking twist" stories - either Scarlette or her grandma would be the wolf. I'll definitely give the book credit for the identity of the wolf. It was done very well, kept hidden until the very end, and the identity of the wolf kept in line with the moral of the original fairy tale.I didn't see why the whole drama with the mother was necessary. It could have been explained better. Instead, it felt like it was tacked on at the end, as a way of justifying the wolf's actions and shifting the focus of the villain from the wolf to the mother, which I guess does work with the whole fairy tale theme in general. My problem with all of that is that the wolf kills many, MANY people before Scarlette's grandma. If he just has a personal vendetta against Scarlette's family, and is just trying to get revenge for what was done to him, why kill all of the innocents? Why not just kill Scarlette's family first, if that's what his intention was all along? He's not a very good wolf...The idea of the Woodsmen being a secret guild of monster hunters was a fun idea, and much more interesting than going with the usual lumberjack character who invariably plays the woodcutter in other versions. Francois was a bit bland, but I did enjoy him more than I usually like the woodcutter characters.I loved the ending. Scarlette may spend a lot of her time as a character not knowing what to do,, or crying that people don't like her, or throwing herself at a man to solve her problems, but all of that is redeemed by the epilogue.(Follow my book reviews at: [...])