Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Bookish Review: Sweetly

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce is a follow-up to her lovely YA novel Sisters Red. It;s not really a sequel, because it is not the same characters, but it is another twisted fairytale. Pearce's website is calling it a "companion novel," so let's go with that. When they are children, brother and sister Gretchen and Ansel venture into the woods with Gretchen's twin...but only Gretchen and Ansel make it out of the woods. Gretchen saw the eyes of the "witch" that snatched her twin and grows up wondering why she wasn't taken, too. Gretchen and Ansel are scarred by the loss and watch their parents completely fall apart as a result. Once Gretchen turns 18, their step-mother kicks them out of the house, and they drive cross-country in search of a new start. When their car breaks down in a small South Carolina town, they are taken in by the lovely young Sophia Kelly, who runs a chocolaterie in the woods. But something is not quite right, and Gretchen fears the witch may lurk here, too.

It's another fun fairytale twist, and very enjoyable. Fans of Sisters Red will enjoy this one, for sure.

I received an ARC of this book at a conference this spring. The book is available in HC this month.

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