Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: August 23rd, 2011

Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I am a huge fan of fairy tale retellings if they are done right.  Example: Disney- not done right; Jackson Pearce- done perfectly.  To be "done right" a fairy tale retelling needs to capture the feelings the original author was trying to evoke and get the same type of reaction out of the reader, while keeping to the main elements and message.  Disney changes stories to the extreme that the point is lost.  Yeah, I get that they are catering to children and "happily ever after" sells better, but I still get mad.  Jackson Pearce breathes new life into the cautionary fairy tales of old; modernizing them to fit into today's world.  I really enjoyed the first book in her Fairytale Retellings Series, Sisters Red, but I LOVED Sweetly.  I feel like Sisters Red was a warm-up, and Sweetly is "game on".

I was hooked from the Prologue, and who wouldn't be?  Ansel, Gretchen, and her twin sister being chased by a witch in the forest, with only Ansel and Gretchen making it out?  Yikes! You would think it would lull after that, but it doesn't...  Chapter one begins 12 years later, with Ansel and Gretchen beginning their road trip to the coast and a better life, after basically being booted by their stepmother. They didn't have much-no real plan, not much money, but they had each other and they had hope... Then their car breaks down in a small, rather strange town.  Not having anywhere else to go, Ansel takes some handyman work and a place to stay from a young chocolatier named Sophia, and the story really begins.  There's something not quite right about the town, the people who live there, candy shop, or Sophia herself.

This story is told in a way that keeps you guessing at what will happen next and how certain characters and their experiences tie in.  There is a great deal of mystery on many levels, and nothing is what you think it will be.  This book moves along at a great pace with the revelations spaced really well.  I never felt over or underwhelmed with new developments.  As far a the descriptive element was concerned, I was impressed; it was awesome.  Honestly, I could practically taste the sweets mentioned in this book and could feel the surroundings- the creepy forest, the quaint house, the desperate town- while reading about them. 

My favorite part of this book, though, were the characters.  They are so human, and as we all know, there is some monster in every human being.  How much of that monster is on the surface is the real question.  In this book you forge such a connection to the characters that in the end it is difficult to decide who is right and who is wrong, because it is so not black and white.  Scratch that.  It's not necessarily difficult to decide; the actions of some characters are definitely wrong, but you have to wonder if you wouldn't have done the same in their shoes... One of my favorite characters was Samuel, just as his brother Silas was one of my favorites in Sisters Red.  I love that the Reynolds siblings will be represented in each book; Jackson says the Reynolds triplet girls will be the subjects of her next Fairytale Retelling, Fathomless, a retelling of The Little Mermaid (releases in August of 2012).

Overall, I think this is Jackson's best book yet.  It may have been her hardest to write so far, but I think it paid off.  This book will be difficult to top, but I have no doubt she'll be able to do it with Fathomless.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½ 

Grade Level Recommendation:  This book is pretty clean.  There is violence and some romance, but all in all, quite benign.  My 5th grader has read it.  Ages 11 and up (5th-6th grade +).

**Don't forget to enter my AWESOME giveaway of an audio copy of the AMAZING All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin HERE!**

Before the Blog (7): Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Some of you already know this, but I've started a weekly meme called "Before the Blog". In short, it's a place to review books you read and loved before you began blogging about them. Basically, you choose a book each week, then answer the following three questions,and post your review.   Then you can add your post to the little Mr. Linky widget below, and voila!

Why did you choose this book? 

When did you read this book?
Who would you recommend this book to?

For more info, see my 1st BtB post by clicking this LINK.  The book I chose this week is...

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: June 7th, 2010

Why did you choose this book?  I love a good fairy tale re-telling.  It is one of my favorite genres of YA.  When a friend told me that Jackson Pearce tells fairy tales the way they should be told, I knew I had to read this.  Plus, I love the cover!

When did you read this book?  December of 2010

Who would you recommend this book to?  Anyone who is a fairy tale/fairy tale re-telling lover.  Also, anyone who likes a kick-ass action novel with a paranormal element to it.

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I enjoy Jackson Pearce's re-tellings.  She does a great job of making the story her own, while keeping the main elements of the original.  This was my first exposure to her writing, and I was really pleased.  When I started to read this book, I will admit that I was a little nervous because I didn't see how she was going to keep to the original enough to do it justice, but as the story progressed, I became exponentially impressed.  Although I was skeptical of there being two "Red Riding Hoods"at first, I ended up liking the alternating POVs and having two girls really did work; I liked that they had their own unique crosses to bear because of their shared childhood tragedy.  I thought the descriptions in the book were fantastically gruesome, and I loved how she was able to take a story that was set in such a long gone era and make it feasibly fit into the modern world..  What most impressed me though, was the fact that the romance was placed so well, so as not to engulf the story; no love triangles, no "I've laid eyes on you and now I LOVE you!".  Stories like that piss me off, and I'm happy I didn't have to have this story, that I was so taken with, ruined by that type of thing. The pace was great- I felt like the important elements of the story unfolded at just the right times to keep me interested.  This book was certainly a page-turner, packed with action and mystery, and the twist at the end was awesome.  Definitely a must-read for fans of the genre.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Grade Level Recommendation:  This book has a few swears, a fair amount of violence, and a bit of romance.  I would say it is appropriate for ages 12 and up (6th grade+).

**Don't forget to enter my AWESOME giveaway of an audio copy of the AMAZING All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin HERE!**