Review: Very unique
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2013
This is a Little Red Riding Hood retelling, but the story is so unique and different you really don't have any idea how it could play out.  As a matter of fact I really had no idea what could happen, or even what was going on and it kept me turning those pages like crazy.  I was a tad disappointed that the clues were revealed so late in the story though, I could have used a bone or two a bit sooner.I love reading historical fantasy books.  I like getting fully immersed in the story and really feel like I'm in the time period.  This book didn't do that for me.  I could picture the village and stuff, but the way of talk felt too modern, the behavior of the characters felt too modern at times and I just didn't feel like it was as historical feeling as I would have liked.  However, this is something that those who don't enjoy historical fiction so much may consider a positive.  Still though, this wasn't a huge issue for me.Definitely what kept me reading was needing to know what was going on.  Who the wolf (or wolves) were, what the deal was with the men in the book, what was up with her mother and what the heck is going on with her grandmother (though that's a bit more predictable).  I knew that there were secrets, but figuring it out kept me going.  I did get a bit annoyed with having to wait so long for things to really start happening, or for us to get a few more clues.Scarlette was a frustrating character for me.  As a matter of fact I think she's the part of the book I liked the least.  She was one of those characters that really didn't think things through.  She made some decisions that just seemed downright ridiculous.  I don't get why anyone would go out at night (especially into the woods) when people have been getting attacked by wolves and killed.  But Scarlette, even though her grandmother was attacked, went barreling into the woods to look for answers.  Not only that but she overlooked things that were right smack in front of her and as obvious as can be.  And even when someone tells her over and over how things are (regarding the wolves and stuff) she's STILL denying it even though she KNOWS it's true.  One thing I did like is that she didn't rush off to marry a man her mother wanted her to marry (rather demanded her to marry) even though she knew she'd be kicked out and on her own.  She refused to accept it and managed on her own.There's some romance in the book and while parts of it are quite predictable, there was enough going on that I wasn't sure how it would go.  There is a triangle, but mostly I felt annoyed at Scarlette for being so naive about one of the men.  Otherwise the love triangle didn't really bother me because it was clear to me pretty early on who she should be with.  Unfortunately I didn't really feel the sparks between them, but just knew what he was thinking anyway.I kind of feel like there's a lot of things about this book that get me a bit riled up.  But the truth is that while I was reading it I was fully immersed in the story and could hardly put it down.  I was super eager to find out more and I really enjoyed the story that the author came up with even though it wasn't delivered completely to my liking.  So while 3 stars may sound generous, it honestly is how I felt when I finished.  That I actually did like it.