Author: Davonna Juroe
Pages: 326 pages
Publisher: BumbleB Media, Inc.
Publication date: October 12th 2012
Source: eBook copy provided by the author (Thanks, Davonna!)
Buy the book: Amazon
Find the Beast ~ Find the Cure
Scarlette, an 18-year-old peasant, lives under a dark threat. A nightmarish creature lurks in the surrounding forest, killing the villagers one by one. When Scarlette's grandmother survives an attack, Scarlette learns that her grandmother hasn't suffered the bite of just any normal animal.
Now desperate, Scarlette searches throughout her province to find a cure. But there are those who want to keep their pasts hidden. As she begins to uncover the dark secrets of her village, Scarlette is befriended by a local nobleman and a woodcutter who share a gruesome history with the beast. To save her grandmother, Scarlette must unravel their mystery and solve an age-old crime. But as she pieces together the clues, Scarlette finds herself torn between the two men, both of whom want to be more than friends and hold the key to the cure.
What if Little Red Riding Hood was Real?
Based on both the Grimm and Perrault versions of Little Red Riding Hood and set against the terrifying, historic Beast of Gévaudan attacks, this dark YA retelling blends two epic legends, giving the fabled girl-in-the-red-cloak a new, shockingly real existence.
(Summary from Goodreads)
Review:
I first came across Scarlette on Reading Teen's blog when Amy reviewed it, and of course I was curious. I've always been a big fan of fairytale retellings and oddly enough I've always preferred them as gruesome and disturbing as possible (that's probably why I loved Kill Me Softly so much.) It did feel like a match made in heaven when Davonna Juroe tweeted me and we chatted so casually about her book and how excited I was to read it, and imagine my surprise when she offered to send me a copy. I wasn't only surprised but delighted as well! I bit into Scarlette faster than you could have said "apple sauce".
Scarlette did not lack the shock factor that most Little Red Riding Hood retellings needed. When you stick a man-killing wolf in a small, simple town, you know things are about to go down. You can actually really see the struggle of the people and their need to rid their town of the evil beast wrecking havoc. I honestly pitied the people, there was so much abuses happening and so much poverty and I felt that how the people were being treated by the soldiers who "came to rescue them" were very unjustified. And trust me, you'll also feel insanely sorry for Scarlette with the amount of sufferings she's experienced.
I think that my biggest issue with the first parts of the book (this issue was resolved near the middle) was that Scarlette was a really pitiful person. She cried a lot. A lot. And I was really glad that she was able to find her big girl panties in the not too far future. I do understand that she was going through a really tough time and I can't really fault her for them but I'm happy with how she progressed as a character. She started off with a small simmer but ended with a big BANG.
Other than the fact the you, yourself, will be asking the question: Who IS the Big Bad Wolf killing off all the people? (Because trust me, that's enough to consume you throughout the whole book. Davonna Juroe just knows how to keep you at the edge of your seat and guessing.) Scarlette's lovey-dovey life was pretty sweet. I think that she was looking for a person who was willing to love her since it was hard for her to find that love in some places. I honestly don't know who I wanted her to end up with, the Baron or the simple woodcutter. Even though I already know how the book ends, I'm still not sure who she was meant to be with... for me.
Scarlette is a big break from the normal Oh.-I'm-falling-in-love-with-a-Paranormal-creature-would-do-I-do? kind of books we have now. If you want a book that will sink it's claws (*pun pun*) into you and leave you absolutely breathless with exhilaration, then this is the book for you.
.5
Scarlette did not lack the shock factor that most Little Red Riding Hood retellings needed. When you stick a man-killing wolf in a small, simple town, you know things are about to go down. You can actually really see the struggle of the people and their need to rid their town of the evil beast wrecking havoc. I honestly pitied the people, there was so much abuses happening and so much poverty and I felt that how the people were being treated by the soldiers who "came to rescue them" were very unjustified. And trust me, you'll also feel insanely sorry for Scarlette with the amount of sufferings she's experienced.
I think that my biggest issue with the first parts of the book (this issue was resolved near the middle) was that Scarlette was a really pitiful person. She cried a lot. A lot. And I was really glad that she was able to find her big girl panties in the not too far future. I do understand that she was going through a really tough time and I can't really fault her for them but I'm happy with how she progressed as a character. She started off with a small simmer but ended with a big BANG.
Other than the fact the you, yourself, will be asking the question: Who IS the Big Bad Wolf killing off all the people? (Because trust me, that's enough to consume you throughout the whole book. Davonna Juroe just knows how to keep you at the edge of your seat and guessing.) Scarlette's lovey-dovey life was pretty sweet. I think that she was looking for a person who was willing to love her since it was hard for her to find that love in some places. I honestly don't know who I wanted her to end up with, the Baron or the simple woodcutter. Even though I already know how the book ends, I'm still not sure who she was meant to be with... for me.
Scarlette is a big break from the normal Oh.-I'm-falling-in-love-with-a-Paranormal-creature-would-do-I-do? kind of books we have now. If you want a book that will sink it's claws (*pun pun*) into you and leave you absolutely breathless with exhilaration, then this is the book for you.
Rating:
.5
This is the first I've heard of this book but it totally sounds right up my alley. I love gruesome retellings just as much as you do. Scarlette's crying does sound annoying but at least she gets past it. I think I'll have to give this one a try.
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