Sisters Red

by Jackson Pearce

The story of Scarlett and Rosie March, two highly-skilled sisters who have been hunting Fenris (werewolves) - who prey on teen girls - since Scarlett lost her eye years ago while defending Rosie in an attack. Scarlett lives to destroy the Fenris, and she and Rosie lure them in with red cloaks (a colour the wolves can't resist), though Rosie hunts more out of debt to her sister than drive. But things seem to be changing. The wolves are getting stronger and harder to fight, and there has been a rash of news reports about countless teenage girls being brutally murdered in the city. Scarlett and Rosie soon discover the truth: wolves are banding together in search of a Potential Fenris - a man tainted by the pack but not yet fully changed. Desperate to find the Potential to use him as bait for a massive werewolf extermination, the sisters move to the city with Silas, a young woodsman and long time family friend who is deadly with an axe. Meanwhile, Rosie finds herself drawn to Silas and the bond they share not only drives the sisters apart, but could destroy all they've worked for.

• ISBN10: 1444900587
• ISBN13: 9781444900583
• Publish Date: 3 June 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 November 2012
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Hodder Children's Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Artemis]

Reviews at The Artemis Reader

A retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairytale with a twist. I was really excited to pick up this book when I stumbled upon it in 2012. I read it while on break from grad school, but recently re-read it while abroad for work because I had managed to borrow the entire series from a friend.

Sisters Red tells the story of Scarlet and Rosie, sisters who hunt werewolves called the Fenris. I'm actually drawing a blank when it comes to the finer details of this whole story, which makes me question my 3-star decision. I also quickly anticipated the "twist" ending. Overall, I would say the relationship between Scarlet and Rosie was one of the stronger points for liking this book, but I also managed to find Rosie a little dull.

Pearce did manage to craft an interesting retelling of the classic fairytale, and whatever I originally loved about this book led me to read the rest of the series.

[nitzan_schwarz]

2014 cleaning my shelves challenge

To read this review and more, check out my blog!

2.5 stars
It's with a heavy heart that I must confess to being less than impressed with this book. I have wanted to read Sisters Red for a long time - ever since I first saw the cover and learned that it's a retelling of Red Riding Hood. But I wasn't crazy about what I read.

First of all, I was so very disconnected with everything happening for the majority of the book. I wasn't drawn in, I didn't feel connected. Mostly, I would look at the page count and be like "seriously? that was only 10 pages?" which is one of the bigger signs of a book not being for me. I mean, they fight crazy werewolves (which they call Fenrir but... c'mon, werewolves.) most of the book. Shouldn't I be digging my nails into the cover with the excitement and dread?

Umm... nope, not really. Not with this book, anyway.

We had three main characters - Scarlett, the older and scarred March sister, Rosie - the young, unmarred sister and Silas, a childhood friend of the both and a woodsman. I didn't connect with either one of them, really, and I didn't feel like I got to know them overly much. They were just there, on page. They weren't there, with me, in the room.

Add to that...

To read the rest of this review, go

[Kelsenator]

Originally posted on my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf

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!

[Amber]

Really good! I expected the outcome, but never mind. Beautifully written.

--
Review to come!

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

As a lover of fairytales-retold, I adore the idea of this book, but found myself overall, disappointed. Pearce's attempts to tell an old story in a new and interesting way are only partially successful in that he falls back on too many of the same old cliches. It's one thing to be able to predict a movie ending (and, ironically, the movie that comes to mind is Red Riding Hood, whose greatest secret I had called before the first fifteen minutes passed) but it is entirely a different thing when you are able to call the ending of a book. I almost put it down several times - a dishonor which I have bestowed on very few books - simply because the events were only proving time and again that my theory was correct. It's no fun to already know the ending of a mediocre book.

That said, it does get two stars, because cheesy romance and 2/3 ridiculous cliched characters aside, Pearce did do some interesting things with the retelling - such as having the Hunters instead on exclusively weak little pixies. It also just may be the fact that I am good at finding the wolves crawling out of the woodwork - many others are may not be able to predict it as well as I did, and for them, this book will certainly be enjoyable.

[Stephanie]

Sisters Red is a retelling of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. It follows two sisters, Scarlett and Rosie as they fight to keep Fenris from killing other girls. There's also Silas, the woodsman son who has lived near them all their lives and has become their hunting partner. But Silas left for a year leaving Scarlett and Rosie to hunt by themselves. Silas is back now and Scarlett can't help but feel the drive to go hunting again with her old hunting partner. But Silas and Rosie have feelings of their own that don't include Scarlett or hunting. There's also the increasing numbers of Fenris showing up in their town and numerous murder's in the city. Scarlett has to do something about the murders, knowing they're happening because of the Fenris.

I started off a little bored with Sisters Red. The only thing happening was Scarlett fighting Fenris. I couldn't help but think "Is this really all this book is about?" Which, for the most part, yeah. That is what the whole book is about. But more exciting things did happen that I won't mention for the sake of not spoiling anything.

Scarlett kind of got on my nerves. All she can think about is fighting, and when Rosie or Silas would hint at something outside of hunting, she would flip out. How dare they think of something other than hunting. I do understand why she is that way. She is missing an eye and her body is very scared because of a Fenris attack (which I just now realized how ironic her name is). But she takes it to the extreme at times. She even uses the fact that she saved Rosie's life against her. Rosie can't go out and have some fun because she owes her life to Scarlett. Therefore, has to do whatever Scarlett tells her to do.

I felt so bad for Rosie. Throughout the story she is struggling with herself to remain loyal to her sister. She has feelings for Silas, but she can't express them because Scarlett will get mad. She wants to go out and take a dance class, but Scarlett will get mad because she's wasting precious time that could be used for hunting.

But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book. I really did. There were some awesome fighting scenes and some twists. Though I did have the big twist figured out earlier on in the book. And Scarlett does redeem herself in the end.

Overall I liked Sisters Red. It was an awesome twist on the Little Red Riding Hood tale and a new take on werewolves.

[celinenyx]

When I read in other people's reviews that this book is loosely based on the Red Riding Hood fairytale, this story was not what I was expecting at all.

In Sisters Red the story follows Scarlett and Rosie that have made it their personal mission to rid the world of the Fenris. After a brutal attack of a werewolf at their home Scarlett is scarred all over her body and she only has one eye left. With the help of long-time family friend Silas, they hunt on the Fenris. But how can three teens go up against the hundreds of Fenris?

It seems like there is a new trend developing in young-adult fiction. After a whole wave of angsty teenage girls that needed a supernatural boyfriend to save them (following the Twilight trend) I'm reading book after book of kick-ass heroines that know how to wield guns, bows or in this case even axes and throwing daggers. I love seeing more girls that know how to fight back in books. Being the damsel in distress doesn't cut it any more.

What surprised me most in this book was the great emphasis on the sister-relationship. Yes, I should have seen that one coming. It was interesting to see how these two sisters feel so alike, yet are both so completely different. For me it was hard to sympathise with such a close bond between two siblings. Their connection goes a lot further than the ordinary sister-love.

The story is basically about two things. One, finding your own identity and how to deal with changing relationships. Two, go out hunting and killing some monsters to save the innocent. Sometimes I had the feeling this was about everything this book has to it, with some filling between the two.

(Trying not to spoil anything.) I think the biggest problem was that I figured out the massive exciting oh-my-god plot twist after about fifty pages. While reading through the story I kept going "No...It can't be that easy, right?". Turns out, it was. Maybe I've read so many books that I just assume that the unassumable must be the solution. I was disappointed that I was right. It doesn't really make me feel clever or a good mystery-solver. I like to be surprised with something I didn't see coming at all. (End of possible spoiling area.)

Sisters Red is a very decent read. I think a lot of young-adults can identify themselves with Rosie, who wants to be someone else than her environment wants her to be. There is quite some gore, so maybe this isn't for the easily scared, but overall this is a well-written book. I would recommend this to all those very close sisters out there. I think those will thoroughly enjoy this story.

[e_rodz_leb]

I really liked this book. Let's start with the cover, wich I loved. The way both Rosie and Scarlett are represented and the wolf at the bottom.
The author used alternating chapters from both sisters point of view. Scarlett, at age 11 killed her first Fenris (souless warewolves) defending her little sister Rosie. The attack left Scarlett scarred for life and with only one eye, and with an (unhealth?) obsession with killing Fenris. Silas is their neighborh and partner in hunting. Rosie is more normal and has other interests, but feels like she ows Scarlett her life and her loyalty.
Rosie and Silas fall in love and Scalett feels jealous, threatend, envious and runs away from them. The end was totally unexpected, but very welcomed!

[lizarodz]

I really liked this book. Let's start with the cover, wich I loved. The way both Rosie and Scarlett are represented and the wolf at the bottom.
The author used alternating chapters from both sisters point of view. Scarlett, at age 11 killed her first Fenris (souless warewolves) defending her little sister Rosie. The attack left Scarlett scarred for life and with only one eye, and with an (unhealth?) obsession with killing Fenris. Silas is their neighborh and partner in hunting. Rosie is more normal and has other interests, but feels like she ows Scarlett her life and her loyalty.
Rosie and Silas fall in love and Scalett feels jealous, threatend, envious and runs away from them. The end was totally unexpected, but very welcomed!

[Leah]

All Scarlett and Rosie March know is hunting Fenris (werewolves). Ever since the sister's were attacked and their grandmother killed, Scarlett and Rosie have strived to keep their town safe from werewolves. Scarlett from desire to avenge the loss of not only her grandmother but also her eye, and Rosie because she thinks she owes it to Scarlett after Scarlett protected her on that fateful day. However the wolves are getting stronger and stronger and in a bid to ward them off, the sister's move to the big city along with Silas, a childhood friend, to try and stop as many wolves as possible. It appears that the wolves are hunting a Potential, someone who they can turn into a wolf, and it's up to Scarlett, Rosie and Silas to figure out who that Potential is, but as the two sister's interests to hunting differ, can they also save their relationship?

I have to admit I've seen Sisters Red on Amazon a few times but I wasn't totally sure if I would enjoy it or not and I wasn't planning on buying it at all. After reading it, I know realise that is a huge mistake and had the publisher not offered it to me to review, this fantastic book would have totally passed me by. Thankfully I was offered it to review because after re-reading the synopsis I decided it was worth the plunge so when it arrived a week or so ago I gave the prologue a quick read. It intrigued me so as soon as I got the chance to sit down with it properly I decided to go for it and read it.

When I was offered it to review I was told that Sisters Red, whilst being about werewolves and sisters who hunt wolves, is also a modern spin on two classic fairytales: Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood. I struggled a bit with wondering where Snow White comes into play but the aspects from Little Red Riding Hood are apparant right from the off; the red cloaks used by Scarlett and Rosie as well as the fact that in the Prologue Rosie says the man at their gate has "weird eyes" and he replies "All the better to see you with, my dears", in homage of course to the big bad wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. I used to - and still have - a huge book of fairytales and most kids know the basics of all of the fairytales and I have to admit I do enjoy when a book uses aspects from fairytales, particularly if it's done well. With Sister's Red, I think Jackson has done a fantastic job at using aspects of Little Red Riding Hood without overdoing it and I loved all of the nods to what is probably the most popular fairytale around.

At the moment any sort of mythical creatures appear to be in vogue; vampires, werewolves, angels, et al, I'm fairly sure it'll be dinosaurs or something next. Although I must admit, I myself haven't read many werewolf tales and Sister's Red is probably one of my first. The first chapter of the book (after the Prologue) sees Scarlett killing a wolf and I have to admit it wasn't what I was expecting, because it was rather... let's just say the killing of a wolf doesn't make for nice reading! However it's easy to see why Scarlett does what she does especially after she lost her eye in a horrible Fenris attack. I thought that was how the book was going to progress with Scarlett and Rosie hunting out Fenris in their small town along with childhood friend Silas. However it soon becomes apparant that there's a reason for the Fenris to be hanging around, they're scenting out a Potential (someone with the mark of the Fenris but who has yet to transform) and so the three decide the best way to carry on hunting the Fenris and to find the Potential is to head to Atlanta and start hunting there. One thing I wasn't expecting from the plot was a romantic storyline but we do get one, and I admit that after a while I saw it coming and waited in expectation for it to unfold between Rosie and Silas.

Surprisingly I found myself really loving both Scarlett and Rosie. What they do isn't pleasant, but it's necessary to stop the Fenris from killing innocent people. I could see also just how close Scarlett and Rosie became after the original wolf attack that killed their grandmother. They only had each other and when they describe each other as each having half of a whole heart, it's an apt description and their love for each other shines off the pages. I could feel Scarlett's desire to avenge her grandmother's death as well as the injuries she suffered and I could also see why Rosie felt that because Scarlett saved her life she felt she had to carry on hunting. It's clear that both sisters have totally differing views on hunting out the Fenris and I could see both of their points. Silas, a childhood friend of the pair, acts as kind of the middle man. He's Scarlett's hunting partner but he and Rosie seem to have a connection. I loved Silas, he seemed to balance the two sisters out well and the growing interest between himself and Rosie made for fantastic reading.

The book is written from both Scarlett and Rosie's points of view, swapping chapters between the two. It was easy to differentiate between the two, and I enjoyed seeing their lives from both of their perspectives. Sister's Red is really well written, it was such an easy read and I flew through the pages. There are a few twists and turns as the book heads towards the end although I must admit I did figure out who was the Potential, which was mildly unfortunate. I thought I'd been thrown off the scent but it turns out I was indeed right. It did however make the book unputdownable and I managed to read the entire book in three sittings (only stopping to walk the dogs)! I really really enjoyed Sister's Red and it's definitely one of my favourite reads of 2010 and is a really great take on Little Red Riding Hood. If you liked that fairytale, you will love this as well as all of the nods towards the great fairytale. Pick it up, you might be surprised!