Cloaked (Once Upon a Western)

Title: Cloaked

Series: Once Upon a Western (Book #1)

Year: 2017

Author: Rachel Kovaciny

Summary: Little Red Riding Hood... re-imagined.

Mary Rose feels uneasy around Mr. Linden from the moment she meets him on the stagecoach ride to her grandmother's ranch in Wyoming Territory. But he works for her grandmother, so that means he's trustworthy, doesn't it? Everyone else seems to view him as honest and respectable, and Mary Rose wonders if she's overreacting.

She tries to ignore her suspicions until one night, she discovers his real reason for being at the ranch. Now, if she's going to save her grandmother—and herself—she's going to need to run faster than she's ever run before.

Review: This review was originally written for publication on Fairy Tale Central. Click here to read the full review.

After reading and really enjoying Rachel's 12 Dancing Princesses retelling, Dancing and Doughnuts, I knew I wanted to read the rest of her fairytale retellings. Cloaked is the only other in her Once Upon a Western series, other than a couple of short stories. I love that she's focusing on fairytales that aren't your everyday retellings. I mean, one of her short stories is a retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. When was the last time you read a retelling of that? And Rachel's doing it all completely without magic -- another thing that majorly excites me.

I've found that Little Red Riding Hood isn't the most popular fairytale to retell nowadays, but interest in it is definitely growing. However, many of the authors retelling it have gone the magic route, creating werewolves and curses and otherworldly creepiness. Rachel's Cloaked is a breath of fresh air in the midst of all those retellings.

Mary Rose (and yes, it's Mary Rose, not just Mary) is off to visit her grandmother. She's excited about the opportunity to get out of the big city and meet a real, live Indian (and maybe a real Western criminal), but she's also nervous since there are many years of tension between her grandmother and her parents. She's determined, however, to enjoy her visit and learn to ride -- no matter how uncomfortable a certain employee of her grandmother's makes her feel.

Advisory: Some mild peril and action. A few characters receive injuries (such as one getting bashed in the face with a lamp), but everything is clean and not too graphic. The climax does involve the woodcutter's axe from the original fairytale, but everything again is not terribly graphic.

Light romance. One character makes some romantic advances on Mary Rose while she's at the ranch, but nothing goes very far (other than one forced kiss). She's disgusted with the attempts, but often wonders if she's reading too much into some of the things he says and does. I realize that this type of romantic advances can suggest something dirty, but I thought the author handled it very well and was able to keep things pretty clean.

Again, click here to read the full review on Fairy Tale Central. And be sure to check out the rest of this month's fun posts on the fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Related Review: Read my review of Dancing and Doughnuts (Once Upon a Western #2) here!

Girl in the Red Hood (Classical Kingdoms)

Title: Girl in the Red Hood

Series: Classical Kingdoms (Book #4)

Year: 2015

Author: Brittany Fichter

Summary: After her father moves the family to a village deep in a sunless forest, Liesel is bitten by a wolf, and unbeknownst to her, marked for a terrifying destiny. Befriended by a mysterious boy in the woods soon after, however, Liesel finds herself falling in love with the one person in the world who can save her from that awful end or doom her to it. In this retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Liesel must decide whether to accept her fate for the sake of those she loves, or fight for the freedom to choose her own way.

Review: I was pretty excited to get into this book since this was my very first "other Fichter" novel. I've published two books now under my maiden name "Fichter" and -- lo and behold -- there's another Fichter out there publishing stories, too. What's even more uncanny is that we both focus a lot on fairytale retellings. Most people can't even pronounce "Fichter" properly, let alone know someone by that name, so finding another author who shares that name was just the bomb diggity. However, I should probably call her the "first Fichter" since she's been at this publishing game (and fairytale retelling) a lot longer than I have.

Anyway, this book impressed me. Little Red Riding Hood is a tough fairytale to retell, mainly because it's so short. There isn't a ton of material to work with. But Brittany has fleshed it out into a fabulous story that's sure to keep you up late into the night!

Liesel wants nothing more than to stay with her grandparents and parents on her beloved mountain. However, when a mysterious sleeping illness strikes her mother, her father will stop at nothing to cure her. His passion overcomes common sense with the promise of a new healer in a small forest village. He moves his family immediately there, no matter Liesel's pleas and her grandmother's warnings.

Once there, however, tragedy begins to strike in more ways than one, and Liesel finds herself an outcast. Her only friend is the mysterious boy in the woods, a boy named Kurt who is as interested in the stories of magic and adventure from her grandmother's book as she is.

Brittany did an amazing job keeping a lot of the original fairytale elements intact. Throughout most of the novel, Liesel wants nothing more than to go back through the woods to her grandmother's house. She does indeed deliver a pie to a shut-in at one point. There are lots of wolves. LOTS. There's the signature red cape -- which I must park on for a moment. A lot of times, authors just fling the red cape out there because that's the signature look for Red Riding Hood (plus, it's in her name). But they really don't ever give her a reason to wear red. As Kurt points out, red is pretty much an impractical color to wear in the woods since it stands out so much. However, Liesel's cape is something she values from her mother, and the vibrant color becomes almost a running joke throughout the book. Which I greatly appreciated. There was definitely thought put into that red cape. I approve.

The relationship between Liesel and Kurt was fun. I really liked how they built a solid friendship together while they were young, a foundation that was what really got them through the tough times as they got older. They are not without their bumps and thumps, but I never once thought the drama got out of hand. It was believable. Liesel learned how to trust Kurt, yet at the same time, she was hurt when she realized he was keeping secrets from her.

And Johan. I wanted so much more of Johan. He was fun, but his story really touched me. I won't spoil it.

Advisory: Fantasy violence/scariness. Obviously, this tale has a lot of wolves in it. Brittany doesn't outright call them "werewolves" but they're very much in that vein. While in human form, they understand their curse and the implications, but fear transforms them into their wolf forms. While in the wolf form, not many are able to control what they do (some, like the epic Johan, can); however, they are not the gory, bloodthirsty werewolves of legend. They will kill, but only when prompted to attack. There are some intense moments in the book, some wolf attacks, but nothing is terribly graphic or violently out of hand. I thought Brittany handled the scary element well for the tone of the book. Just enough to give you some shivers, but not enough for a nightmare.

Light romance. I really appreciate how real the relationship between Liesel and Kurt felt. Brittany was extremely careful in creating them as a couple, and the description of their relationship is very clean. A few times, some darker things/married couple issues are hinted at, but they fit well into the tone of the book. I was impressed with how it was all handled.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Fun Note: September is Little Red Riding Hood Month over at Fairy Tale Central! Pop on over to check out more reviews of LRRH retellings and other cool posts!

Strands of Bronze and Gold (Strands)

Title: Strands of Bronze and Gold

Series: Strands (Book #1)

Year: 2013

Author: Jane Nickerson

Summary: The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

Review: To be honest, I'm not as familiar with the original Bluebeard tale as I'd like to be. Bluebeard's always been one that just didn't speak to me. *shrugs* However, from what I know of the tale, Nickerson turned out a really cool retelling with plenty of the original elements intact.

Sophie Petheram with the beautiful red hair is now the ward of one of the richest men in Mississippi. She's always loved fine things, and now she's getting to live her dreams of luxury in the extravagant Wyndriven Abbey, a building that was originally built and furnished in Europe, but her godfather paid to bring over and rebuild in America. Bernard de Cressac, at first glance, is all kindness and generosity, paying for new wardrobes and finery -- whatever Sophie wants. Even though he's older, she quickly fancies herself as being able to think of him more than just her godfather. On top of that, it appears that de Cressac himself may be thinking more of her than just his ward.

But all too soon she begins to learn the secrets of the abbey, and the red-headed ghosts haunting the halls may have more purpose there than she originally thought.

I liked how real Sophie was. She had realistic, everyday struggles, particularly in trying to figure out what she thought about things. She has a Jane Bennet-esque innocence where she wants to believe the best of people. I loved that she was well-read, and made quite a few references to famous literary works -- including several fairytales.

I really loved Gideon. It was so refreshing to see a pastor in this kind of book who wasn't portrayed as a selfish or inconsiderate man. He was thoughtful and kind, and it was really neat to see his behavior and beliefs on courtship so starkly contrast de Cressac's.

Advisory: Although this book is written as a type of horror/gothic style, it isn't overly scary. It reminded me a lot of Northanger Abbey and Catherine Morland's romantic and gothic tendencies. Sophie does see ghosts and speaks to them, but they don't appear hugely haunting and terrifying.

Some violence/blood. Different characters are injured or killed, and dead bodies show up at one point. Again, I didn't find it all overly scary.

The big caution for this novel is its romantic/sexual content. As de Cressac makes his intentions of passion known, he is not always clean in his advances. That leads to much touching and several kisses, but Sophie is appropriately disgusted by his behavior as they are not married. She does manage to discourage his passion so it doesn't go all the way. For some readers, it may be too much, so I would advise a good deal of discretion. Although it is portrayed as evil/not appropriate, it's still a big part of the novel.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars