Fairytale Retellings #1
Juvenile Fiction
Hachette UK
April 7, 2011
Kindle
352
Amazon
18/12/14 to 15/8/16
Sweetly, Fathomless,
Silas Reynolds, Fenris, Rosie March, Scarlett March
Atlanta, Georgia (United States) Ellison (United States)
The story of Scarlett and Rosie March, two highly-skilled sisters who have been hunting Fenris (werewolves) - who prey on teen girls - since Scarlett lost her eye years ago while defending Rosie in an attack. Scarlett lives to destroy the Fenris, and she and Rosie lure them in with red cloaks (a colour the wolves can't resist), though Rosie hunts more out of debt to her sister than drive. But things seem to be changing. The wolves are getting stronger and harder to fight, and there has been a rash of news reports about countless teenage girls being brutally murdered in the city. Scarlett and Rosie soon discover the truth: wolves are banding together in search of a Potential Fenris - a man tainted by the pack but not yet fully changed. Desperate to find the Potential to use him as bait for a massive werewolf extermination, the sisters move to the city with Silas, a young woodsman and long time family friend who is deadly with an axe. Meanwhile, Rosie finds herself drawn to Silas and the bond they share not only drives the sisters apart, but could destroy all they've worked for.
Even though it took me a while to read this book I thoroughly enjoyed it. It only took me so long to read it as I got distracted with other books and life got busy. I gave this book a five star rating because:
– I felt it was aimed at the right age range while still being appealing to older readers.
– Its a book that I will whole heatedly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good romantic retelling
with a paranormal basis.
– I wont hesitate to buy it for anyone I know, whether they are young adults or older, who I think
will enjoy it.
The authors writing was great and aimed well for young adults his descriptions evoked different character emotions and scenes really exquisitely conveying a real darkness when it was necessary. I loved the twist of it being two sisters, who were the survivors of a wolf (Fenris) attack, along with their partner a woodsman named Silas who were hunting the wolves as apposed to the traditional story of the wolf eating the Grandmother.
The way the author dealt with disfigurement and the way a person who’s disfigured as well as society as a whole deals with the disfigurement in a very sensitive and thought provoking way.
All the characters were fully developed and multi faceted especially the main three which made the easy to connect with on different levels. I loved Scarlet for for her strength and determination when it came to dealing with not just her disfigurement but also hunting the wolves as well her unconditional love for her sister and her best friend/fellow hunter Silas. Rose, Scarlet’s sister, was really strong and determined as well but in a far gentler way than Scarlet was; and her ease of showing love and other emotions was really endearing. Silas was a very quiet and strong character but he also acted as the buffer between the sisters with regard the hunting.
I loved the romance of the relationship that developed between Rose and Silas because it was so gentle and loving which juxtapozed to the harshness of the reality of them being Ferris hunters.
The world building and plot development meshed well together, which with the descriptions that were given in places really meant that as I was reading particular bits in the story I could vividly picture the scene as well as almost taste the emotions of the characters.
So all in all yay to Cameron for producing such a well rounded and amazingly well written book which successfully draws readers into the story.