I had wanted to love this one...but it was only okay.

although I really liked Scarlett, and I really kind of like Rosie - I thought the story should have been more about the Red Ridinghood theme and LESS about the whole "i love you but we can't tell your sister" theme. The weird triangle love story was just a huge distraction

and I guessed the plot way early so I would have loved more mystery there.

but it was entertaining and I did finish it. ( )

I think I might've enjoyed this a little more if I had read instead of listened to it. Not that the narration was bad—not at all—but there are only so many fight scenes I can listen to before my mind starts to wander.

Then again, regardless of how I read the book, I still would've guessed the plot twist around chapter 3 and had to wait 15-20 aggravating chapters for the protagonists to catch on. I'll try reading the next Jackson Pearce book I pick up, but if all her books tend toward such transparent, and bootlessly drawn-out, storytelling, I'm not sure reading it myself will make much of a difference. ( )

I read this because of the kerfluffle over the Bitch magazine YA fiction reading list. That list is a mess, but this book is good. What a great antidote to the whole "vampires and werewolves are sooo sexy" trope. This is a world where werewolves kill you. One sister sees the world as predator and prey, one wants a broader view. But what do you need to do to stay alive?

Plus, the places in rural Georgia and in Atlanta are totally real. Recommended, and I'm glad she's doing a series. ( )

I would like to express my annoyance that goodreads doesn't let us us half stars once more. This book wasn't quite a 4 star for me, but it comes very, very close, 3.6ish.

I love fairy tales, and I adore retellings, however, often, they never quite capture enough emotion in me as I would like. I've heard about this book for years, it's been on my to-read list, but I never got around to it despite all the good things I had heard. I'm definitely glad I read it. The reason it isn't quite a 4 star for me though........it didn't feel much like Little Red Riding Hood.


Don't yell at me just yet, I truly enjoyed the new take on the story, I found it compelling, I read it almost all in one sitting and I loved the characters.

But.....


It had wolves, it had the red cloaks, it had girls as the victims, and the grandmother dies.....


That's it.


Other than those elements, it felt very much like a typical YA fantasy book. There was a teen love story (which my cynical self has always kind of hated even when I was a 14 year old girl) though thankfully, this one didn't quite make me gag and wasn't the center of the novel. The take on the werewolves (called Fenris in this story) was interesting and felt scary, but....it never felt like a fairy tale to me. It felt like a YA fantasy novel. I honestly don't know what would have made it feel more like a fairy tale and less like a modern story, but I know it wasn't there for me. Which is why I ended up with the lower rating.

That being said, I really did like it. Girls kicking ass and taking it upon themselves to hunt wolves, Fuck yes, I was so there. Scarlett was fierce and driven and a complete badass. One single event changed her life and gave her a purpose. Her devotion to her sister and to saving other girls was lovely and absolutely brilliant. We need more heroines like her in novels that is for sure. Rosie.....I didn't dislike Rosie, and I understood a lot of where she was coming from, but I wasn't quite as sold on her as I was on Scarlett, and I know that is because of her relationship with Silas. I also know that is more to do with the cynical, non romancey part that is me and others will like her. Silas himself, I did like and I loved his friendship with Scarlett. Part of me thinks I didn't like the relationship between Rosie and him a little bit because I did think their relationship was just a little gross because of the 5 year age difference. That might just be me, but I feel like 16 and 21 can be so very different. I don't know, I'm weird.

All in all, this book has 2 (one slightly more) kickass girls, and a pretty solid kickass boy who fight wolves and love each other. Its a great, quick read and a relatively well attempted retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. I enjoyed it enough to make sure I check out the other retellings the other has done. I ( )

Abandoned. Just didn't grab me.