Jackson Pearce

Years ago, Gretchen’s twin sister was stolen by a witch with yellow eyes. Gretchen and her brother Ansel have always been blamed for their sister’s disappearance. Many years alter, the two siblings are kicked out of their house, and they find themselves at Sophia Kelly’s chocolatier, a place where the candy seems to have a calming effect on people. Everything seems wonderful, but there’s something about Sophia…the townspeople seem to have made her a social pariah. And there just show more might be another yellow-eyed witch lurking in the forest nearby…

Deliciously creepy, Sweetly delivers a twisted retelling of Hansel & Gretel. The story doesn’t go quite as far as putting children in an oven, but it gets close. Sweetly’s murder mystery is chilling and gripping, and its solution is ultimately a huge surprise. Jackson Pearce does a fantastic job of building up suspense and suspicion, but the reader only solves the mystery at the same time as the characters—nothing is easily guessable.

Gretchen is a fabulous protagonist, and she brings quite a bit of heart to the story. Her loyalty and determination make her admirable, but it’s her thoughtfulness that really makes her stand out as a character. Gretchen carries a heavy load of guilt, but slowly sheds it, layer by layer. Sweetly’s heroine is driven, too, and she’s not afraid to learn how to shoot a gun.
Another character of note is Sophia, a young woman who offers Gretchen and her brother a place to stay at her chocolatier when their car breaks down near town. Sophia is probably the most complex character in Sweetly. She has many secrets, and as they are slowly revealed, readers will find themselves going back and forth, trying to figure the Patron Saint of Candy out. Sophia seems kind and perky on the surface, but she has moments of tremendous grief. It’s these moments where we see the true Sophia, and wonder whether she’s really as bad as the townspeople think she is.

Sweetly is a mystery, but it’s also a tale of grief and blame, of love and loyalty. Fans of fairytale retellings will love this new spin on Hansel & Gretel, and all readers will enjoy untangling the complex web of a mystery Jackson Pearce weaves. show less

SISTERS RED is a modern re-telling and continuation of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. If you want some kick-ass heroines, dark werewolves, and romance than this book will have you glued to your chair until you’ve finished the book.

Sisters Scarlett and Rosie are modern day Little red Riding Hoods. Scarlett is all hunter. She’s brave, tough and ruthless towards the Fenris. Her hunting has left her not only physically scarred, but mentally scarred as well. Hunting is her show more life. Yes, she loves her sister and her hunting partner Silas, but hunting is in her blood and soul. She’s slightly bitter and more than a little envious/jealous of those girls who live in the dark about the danger surrounding them. Rosie is the younger sister. A hunter, yes, but she’s still relatively innocent (thanks to Scarlett) and finds joy in the simple life outside of hunting. Rosie loves her sister, and will do anything for her, but with Silas' help she realizes she needs to live a life outside of hunting. Silas has such an impact on each sister. He’s Scarlett’s rock, her hunting partner. One who has grown up with the hunt like the sisters have. To Rosie, he’s Scarlett’s partner, and her friend – until he becomes so much more than that.

Told in alternating points of view, the storyline for SISTERS RED is, for lack of a better word, awesome. It starts out with the well known tale of Little Red Riding Hood – the wolf arrives at grannies house in the woods. In this story, the woodcutter doesn’t arrive on time and Little Red suffers for it. Rather than stop there, the story continues, to tell what happens after the wolf, or in this case, the werewolf. It's a darker look at the fairy tale and it works. The writing is engaging and fluid, and the characterization is great. The sister's voices are so distinct, and Scarlett is definitely darker than Rosie. There were a few parts detailing how Scarlett views the women they help save that were a little worrisome, but I see it as Scarlett acting out her jealousy toward physically beautiful women (since she sees her scars as highly disfiguring), and she knows she shouldn’t have such thoughts. Everything seems to become darker and more rushed, more anxious, once the sisters and Silas hit the city, and everything spirals down from there. The ending…it’s bittersweet. Definitely fit the story well.

While SISTERS RED is an action/adventure story at it’s base (some of the fight sequences between the three hunters and the Fenris are epic, if not a little unbelievable at times), the real story is the personal interactions of the sisters and Silas. It’s a story about what it means to be family, and being true to yourself. It’s a story of love, loss and new beginnings. show less

Seriously!

No really, seriously!

So….you know that when I start a review with the word I over use most in the English vocabulary I have to be loving a book right? Well seriously, I loved this book. Not in an irrational and creepy way — you know like slipping it under my pillow at night so that it’s with me while I sleep. But still, I loved me some Sister’s Red.

Ok, so let me pepper you with a few more questions to make my point further.

You know what I’m a fan of? That is, more than show more awesome writing and great character development? I’m a fan of taking great big giant leaps of faith. The kind of risks that can either fail so epically or soar to the highest highs of success.

Guess where Sisters Red falls on that spectrum? Yup, you got it, highest of highs baby.

The best example of both is Pearce’s ability to create a supernaturally themed story that feels so steeped in reality. Many times throughout, I found myself questioning whether this situation could actually be happening in real life amongst my most familiar surroundings. It was dark and brooding and at times mysterious. Neither the events that transpired nor the places they lived felt mysticaly charged, though there were allusions to Little Red Riding Hood on which the story is very loosely based.

That, to me, these factors are the marks of a truly great story. And make no mistake, Sisters Red is a fabulous story.

Another way Pearce demonstrates her exemplary skill is the fact, that though the story is built on the foundation of a well known fairy tale and includes shapeshifting werewolves, it is a story that is primarily about the love two sisters share. It’s about growing up and growing apart and arriving at a point in your life when you no longer live for someone else but live for yourself. It was emotional and filled with turmoil but in the very best ways.

I enjoy a little romance in a story, don’cha know, and the inclusion of one here wasn’t any different. In the case of this story it was not the central focus which I appreciated. Don’t get me wrong it played a big role and initiated it’s fair share of angst but it wasn’t overbearing. It was sweet and brought a certain amount of lightheartedness to an otherwise dark story.

Fantastically written, amazingly plotted — even if you aren’t a fan of werewolves or paranormal fare I think picking up Sisters Red is well worth the endeavor. show less

Part of me loved this book, part of me was just a tiny bit disappointed.

I felt that way at the end of Sisters Red too, and I'm not quite sure why Pearce's books leave me feeling slightly unsatisfied, but I do know I enjoy them more than I don't. In Sisters Red, I know somehow (and I'm not sure exactly what about it it was, which bothers me a lot) part of it didn't feel like a fairy tale. It just felt like a modern teen fantasy book. A good one. But I was looking for a fairy tale and I show more didn't find one.

It's really hard to take something so well known and make it your own, with nods to the original, and have the new story feel authentic and fresh. Pearce actually does a very good job, I honestly enjoy all of her characters, she writes well, she has kickass females, there is romance but it doesn't make me want to gag. These girls aren't trying to bone monsters, they are trying to kill them. I am so 100% down with that.

She writes siblings really well, I loved the sisters relationship in Sisters Red, and I liked the one between Gretchen and Ansel in this one. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Gretchen and Sophia (which gives me conflicting spoilery feelings).

The bits I didn't really like were that the Fenris showed up as the monsters in this book as well. I would have been okay with them being part of the novel, I get that she is writing these all in the same universe, that's totally fine, but.....Hansel and Gretel is a completely different story than Little Red Riding Hood, and while partly, (with spoilery stuff I can't say) we had the witch and all, I was a little annoyed that ultimately, the Fenris were the monsters. It just....it felt like she was rehashing something she had already done.

That bit aside, I really did like almost everything else, this one did feel a little more like a fairy tale to me than Sisters Red did, and I liked Gretchen a lot. I think Pearce is improving, and I fucking love scary mermaids, so I can't wait to start the next one. show less