Mundie Moms

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Book Review - Sweetly


Written by: Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publishing Date: August 23, 2011
Source: ARC provided by publisher
4 out of 5 stars - I liked it a lot. If you loved Sisters Red, then Sweetly is a Must Read.

Synopsis (from Jackson's webpage): Sweetly is a companion book to Sisters Red, and a retelling of Hansel and Gretel.

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.

Jackson Pearce's companion book to last year's Sisters Red plays with the familiarity of "Hansel and Gretel" while using Jackson's own world of the dark and disturbing Fenris. A stop in a small town and an introduction to the local chocolatier, Sophia, leads Gretchen on a journey of not just self-disovery but also of resolution. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Gretchen's own twin sister is somehow connected to the identical strange disappearances of young girls in Live Oak. And these disappeances appear to be linked to the Chocolate Festival thrown by the sweetly alluring Sophia.

Jackson's world-building skills are well honed as she constructs the slow, hot days which build up to the festival. Just like Gretchen, I was lulled into the predictability of each day. I awaited the fragrance of the latest confections and happily watched romance develop between Sophia and Ansel. But just as I grew comfortable with the story, Jackson started to build an unexpected twist in Gretchen's character. And one that I liked a lot. Let's just say that Gretchen quickly became one of my favorite characters of 2011.

Don't let the slow build-up and the sweet smell of candy fool you, there is one heart-pounding climax in those last 100 pages. And how Jackson resolves the mystery of the disappearing girls pays tribute both to the original folklore as well as her own Fenris mythology. This tale is not at all a sugar-coated fantasy but a story which will surprise you with its dark, romantic nature. I encourage all of you who enjoy a well-crafted, fresh take on a folktale to pour a glass of sweet tea and pick up Sweetly when it's released this summer.

4 comments:

  1. This sounds like a great companion novel! I loved Sisters Red and can't wait to check this out :)

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  2. Kelsey - It isa wonderful companion novel and provides a different look into Jackson's Fenris world. Hope you enjoy it.

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  3. Awesome review Sophie! Now I'm even more excited to read this!! Thank you.

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