Reviewed by Kelsenator on
The characters were pretty interesting. Gretchen is terrified of forests and dark areas, ever since her twin sister never made it out of one when they were kids. She blames it on herself and even though she tries to move on she always remembers that incident. Her bother Ansel is very supportive of her and will do anything to protect her. When they both get kicked out of the house by their stepmother, they go on a road trip and end up in Live Oak. It’s a small place but there’s much more going on there than you’d think.
Sophia, the candy maker, lives in a small place in the woods, away from most other people. They end up staying with her and doing small chores at first until they decide to stay. After a while Gretchen can tell something is up. Many girls have gone missing in the years past and it’s getting close to the time when Sophia hold her party yet again, and it doesn’t help that people in town blame Sophia for their daughters leaving town.
I liked how Gretchen got stronger and willing to face her fears as this book went on too. She became strong because she didn’t want to be that scared little girl anymore and so she could protect everyone, especially so no more girls would go missing in a town that’s already falling apart.
I was actually expecting this book to be a little different than it was. Let’s just say the witches aren’t what they seem and there’s links to the first book Sisters Red. I was kind of disappointed in that aspect of it, I was hoping it would be completely separate and a lot darker like the first book was. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked this book, I think my expectations were just high and I thought it was going to be different, closer to the original Hansel & Grethel fairytale. I did like where the author took it, but it wasn’t what I assumed.
Recommended for those that like fairytale retellings!
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 8 September, 2012: Finished reading
- 8 September, 2012: Reviewed