Review: Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright

Title: Red Riding Hood
Author: Sarah Blakely-Cartwright, Catherine Hardwicke (Introduction by), David Leslie Johnson
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 352
Release Date: January 25th 2011
Series: -
Where I Got It: Chapters

Synopsis: The blacksmith would marry her.
The woodcutter would run away with her.
The werewolf would turn her into one of its own.

Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henry, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.

After her sister's violent death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the Wolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But now no one is safe. When an expert Wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them--it could be anyone in town.

It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of the creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the blood moon wanes...or everyone she loves will die.

Based on a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson.

Sarah Blakely-Cartwright

Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is the recipient of the 2009 Mary Gordon Fiction Scholarship Award and the 2010 Lenore Marshall Barnard Prize for Prose. She splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Review

I read this book on February 1st 2012.

I liked reading this thrilling and romantic book that would have left me guessing until the end, if I hadn't seen the movie first. But after seeing the movie and loving it, I really wanted to read it too. So I did. The ending in this book was horrible. You had to go online to read the rest of the story which I thought was very stupid to do because some people don't have internet. Imagine having to wait a week to finish a book when you could have finished it in a shorter time. Like a weight on your shoulders. Valerie was one of the few characters that I had a love hate relationship with. She wanted to run away with Peter, but it seemed like she had the hardest time going through with it because she didn't want to leave her family behind. Henry was trying to marry her because it's one of those times. But again, she seemed like she was trying to decide between the two. Regardless of the love hate relationship and kind of love triangle, I liked this book very much (aside from the ending). I recommend it to those who love thrilling and romantic story's and fairy-tale retelling's.

Ages: 14+

Grades: 8 and up