Guest Review - Sweetly - Jackson Pearce

by Unknown 7:37 PM 0 comments

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

"Twelve yearsago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in theforest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, theyaren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twinsister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel findthemselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming aghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatierowner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preyingon Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival.But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, andstart fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as heis a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only whatthe witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates,the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love canbe as deadly as it is beautiful."

This is the Fairytale Retellings series but itdoesn’t matter too much if you haven’t read Sister Red (the first book) becauseit’s a whole new story, with new characters.

First things first, I know that the book is basedupon Hansel and Gretal but don’t let that put you off because it is very loosely based upon the original story,and Pearce definitely puts her own wonderful spin on it. Albeit, a strangelycreepy one.

It’s based in the modern day world, but once thecharacters actually get into Live Oak, which is so full of deception, itbecomes almost mythical and strange (whilst still maintaining a realistic edge)which I think makes the book captivating.

Unlike a lot of YA novels I found the leadgirl Grethen very easy to understand and instead of resisting temptation toscream at the character to stop making stupid decisions I found myself relatingto her very human feelings. Her grief over the past and her love for the peoplein the present are very believable.

And though the whole ‘falling in love’ bit ofthe book is quite sudden, it isn’t like whambam gooey love at first sight which I’m eternally grateful for.

The plot itself was very well written, lots ofnice twists and though you can almost guessabout one of the characters there’s a good old twist at the end that gives thestory an ending you’ll remember.

Good for older teens because it has quite abit of violence at the end.

Overall very good read!

Review by Megan - http://thenotsonormalone.tumblr.com/


Thank you so much to Megan for helping me out with this amazing guest blog! <3