Review: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Title: Sisters Red (Fairytale Retellings #1)

Author: Jackson Pearce

Release Date/Publisher: June 7th 2010 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Read: September 2nd 2012

Pages: 324-Hardcover-Library

Series:

1. Sisters Red
2. Sweetly
3. Fathomless
4. Cold Spell

Synopsis:

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?

What I thought:

This is a fairytale retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. The prologue tells the story in a modern version of a wolf entering their house and killing their grandmother. The rest of the book is about the two sisters, Rose and Scarlett, and how they live their lives after the horrible event from when they were younger.

This book is much darker than the sweet version of her outsmarting the wolf, and I just loved it. There is a lot more fighting action, blood and injuries than you would think, and the fight scenes themselves were awesome. But it’s not just that, this book goes in depth with how they are both dealing with the hunting differently and what they’re going through.

Scarlett, the older sister, is covered in scars from her fights and all she wants is to protect her younger sister Rose from the same fate. All she has is the hunt, she doesn’t seem to live for much else and she feels it’s her duty since she is no longer innocent to the dark ways of the wolves. She tends to be kind of harsh and an angry person but it fits since she’s out for revenge against all the wolves.

Rose hunts as well but she still longs for more than what her sister has. She’s kind and sweet and loves her sister more than anything. When she falls for Silas, she feels like she shouldn’t be with him at first even if it’s everything she wants. She believes that she owes her sister her life since Scarlett saved her years ago, and that’s why she still hunts and does nothing for herself outside of that.

There is so much of a deep connection between the sisters, they believe they are from the same heart, that’s how close they are. There are many things in this book that happen that start to draw them apart but their bond will help them out. I loved all the emotion going on and all the action and the evil-ness of the Fenris wolves was just so good!

A must have for those who love fairytale retellings, this went beyond that I thought it was going to be!