Review: Red Riding Hood

Mar •  3 •  2011

Title: Red Riding Hood
Series: No
Genre: Young Adult-Paranormal
Author: Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Release Date: January 25, 2011
Book: Bought

“The body of a young girl is discovered in a field of wheat. Her flesh mutilated by telltale claw marks. The Wolf has broken the peace.

When Valerie learns that her sister has been killed by the legendary creature, she finds herself at the center of a dark mystery, one that has plagued her village for generations. It is revealed that the werewolf lives among them, and everyone in the village immediately becomes a suspect. Could her secret love Peter be behind the attacks on her town? Is it her betrothed, Henry? Or someone even closer to her?

As the men in the village hunt for the beast, Valerie turns to her grandmother for help. She gives Valerie a handmade red riding cloak, and guides her through the web of lies and deception that has held her town together for so long. Will Valerie discover the werewolf’s identity before the town is ripped apart?

This is a dangerous new vision of a classic fairy tale, the happy ending could be hard to find.”

I had been waiting for this book for a while excited about the release of the movie. Once I read it, I found myself slightly disappointed in it. While I enjoyed the plot, I just wish there was something more.


Valerie character is unique. She is not the same as the other girls in the village. She is strong-minded and always speaks her mind, which in turn get her into trouble. She doesn’t think much about herself, which leaves her to be always lonely. She also is very caring for the ones that she loves and will do anything for them.


The love interest bothered me because we were thrown right in it. Instead of see the love be built up, the guy just comes back and BAM! In love. I wanted to see more of the characters get to know each other more and see more between them.


Now, the characters of the wolf startled me. The author left us with so many clues, that there was no telling as to who was the wolf. I was sure that I knew who it was but in the end, there was a cliffhanger, leaving me again unsure.


I give it 4 BITES!



Happy Reading!


11 Comments

  1. It sucks that this was a little disappointing. The movie looks awesome. Great review 🙂

  2. Darkeva
    Mar 3, 2011

    Hey Savy, good review! I’m not sure what to make of this, and when I saw the trailer for the redux of little red riding hood, i kind of cringed :-S But at least the character of Valerie was decent.

    Cheers,
    D

  3. I’ve seen some crappy reviews for this, so I’m excited to see a positive one! I can’t wait for the film, so I really want to read this first. Fabulous review, Savy! 🙂

  4. I’ve also read a few crappy reviews for this one, and I’m not a huge fan of modern retellings of fairytales.

    Glad you enjoyed it overall, though! 🙂

  5. Missie
    Mar 3, 2011

    Nooooo! I hate cliffhangers.

    Thanks for the review Savy. I’ve been unsure about this one because of the negative reviews I’ve read, but it does sound interesting, so I may have to give it a try.

  6. Jenny
    Mar 3, 2011

    I felt much the same way on this one Savy! I didn’t care for the instant love, even if it was with someone she knew in childhood, he was still a different person when he came back. And the fact that they left the last chapter off until the movie released irritated the heck out of me. I’m all for clever marketing, but I thought that was a bit unfair to do to readers!

  7. bibliophile brouhaha
    Mar 3, 2011

    Very honest interview, although s shame you were a bit disappointed. I’m not if this is one I am going to pick up, but I am looking forward to the movie!

  8. Moonlight Gleam
    Mar 3, 2011

    Thank you so much for the honest review! I have really been looking forward to reading this novel and watching the movie! I will definitely pick this one up soon! Sorry to hear that you were a little disappointed, it happens to me a lot when I get really excited about a book and I build it up too much to a certain expectation.

  9. I just got this one in the mail. It sounds like a fab read until you said… cliffhanger! Oh noez! *sigh* Oh well, I think I’ll enjoy it up until then. 🙂 Thanks for the review.

  10. ooooh great review!

    Im looking forward for the movie hehe

  11. tiny marulanda
    Dec 15, 2012

    i totally agree with you! The book was great real mysterious and all but the ending was so not a “and they lived happily ever after”. Not at all.
    You did a great job reviewing the book, just right.