Paul's April Book - Sweetly

Paul's Review

Title: Sweetly
Author: Jackson Pearce
Year Published: 2011

Synopsis: Sweetly is a modernization of Hansel and Gretel and a companion book to Sisters Red.

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

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner 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, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the 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 can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

Why?: Paul and I read Sisters Red, and when this novel came out, Paul bought it. Since he finally decided to read it and make it his April book, I get to read it too!

Expectations: I expect this to be an interesting retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story. Set in the same world as Sisters Red, so maybe an appearance from Scarlett, Rosie, or Silas? I hope so!

Judging a book by its cover: The cover has trees in the shape of a face (probably a witch's) and a small little house in the middle of it. I assume that the kids wander into the woods and see a cabin, only to be taken hostage by the witch.


--Ashley