Book Review: Scarlette by Davonna Juroe

Scarlette

Davonna Juroe

Request Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers or author to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with). 

Publication Date: October 12th 2012

Publisher: BumbleB Media, Inc

Pages: 325

Genre:  Fairytale, Paranormal, Historical, Young Adult

Find the Beast ~ Find the Cure

Scarlette, an 18-year-old peasant, lives under a dark threat. A nightmarish creature lurks in the surrounding forest, killing the villagers one by one. When Scarlette's grandmother survives an attack, Scarlette learns that her grandmother hasn't suffered the bite of just any normal animal.

Now desperate, Scarlette searches throughout her province to find a cure. But there are those who want to keep their pasts hidden. As she begins to uncover the dark secrets of her village, Scarlette is befriended by a local nobleman and a woodcutter who share a gruesome history with the beast. To save her grandmother, Scarlette must unravel their mystery and solve an age-old crime. But as she pieces together the clues, Scarlette finds herself torn between the two men, both of whom want to be more than friends and hold the key to the cure.

What if Little Red Riding Hood was Real?

Based on both the Grimm and Perrault versions of Little Red Riding Hood and set against the terrifying, historic Beast of Gévaudan attacks, this dark YA retelling blends two epic legends, giving the fabled girl-in-the-red-cloak a new, shockingly real existence.

EDIT: The original review was written and posted before the new beautiful cover that now graces Scarlette. I'm quite happy to see that the cover is now worthy of the writing inside.

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There are a lot of books out there that have gorgeous covers and are professionally published, but when you read them there just isn't much substance and enjoyment to them. Then there comes a book that has a cover that makes you want to pass over it because something seems off and less professional about it or you see an easily spotted photoshop filter.

I'm sorry to say that Scarlette by Davonna Juroe has one of those covers, and I'm sorry to say that because what's inside the cover is so well written.

Scarlette is an adaptation of Red Riding Hood based in the historical events of werewolf paranoia in France. When Juroe sent me an e-mail asking if I would review the book, this is what caught my attention first because I wondered if she could pull it off, because in my opinion if she could it would be amazing. So the verdict? She pulled it off indeed. There is a good balance in this book of historical, character development, intrigue and paranormal. In fact one thing I really enjoyed was the fact that Scarlette just outright rejects any paranormal explanations for most of the book (it's not like the supernatural occurances are smacking her in the face, especially in the beginning).

I also really enjoyed Scarlette's character. She is called naïve by many characters, but honestly as the reader, knowing what she knows, she reacted to everything in a very realistic and level headed way. She does do some dumb things, but compared to the popular characterization of eighteen year old heroines in books with paranormal elements, it's a lot less and it's nice that she's less dramatic about it.

Throughout the book, I found myself making a lot of guessing about who could be behind everything and how everyone connects and then found myself revising the guesses over and over again. The answers are not as obvious as they seem and I found myself surprised a lot by the twists.

The ending was a bit rushed as a warning. There was so much build-up that the final climax ended up being too much too fast and the wrap-up felt short. That was really my only thing in the writing that kept me from giving it a higher rating. Though I will say that I like the way the aftermath connected with the historical fact about the whole situation.

I honest to god almost stopped guessing because I was pretty much wrong most of the time! There was a long time that I had believed that Louis was the wolf, but then I changed my mind when I learned he was the benefactor! I honestly did, and then for a while like, Scarlette, I thought it was her boss, and for a long time in the beginning I thought it was her mother.

As soon as Scarlette found the cross though, I knew she had to be a witch, though Jeanne and Marie's connection to Scarlette's mother and to Francois completely took me by surprise.

Something I found interesting is that another book I was reading parallel to this, and based in a dystopian futuristic world had an almost similar theme going on with the main character trusting a character because they have no reason not to, but as a reader we know that they are bad because of reader's intuition and our habit of trusting the cute, rebellious boys as opposed to the very helpful and understanding ones.

Finally I wanted to touch upon Scarlette's mother/daughter relationship, because I found it very interesting. The mother ended up being such a complex character. At first it just seems like she hates the world, and is an abusive mother, but soon I get an image that she honestly loves her daughter but due to the bitter world she had been in and the trials and troubles she had put herself through trying to create the monster in defense of a friend and ally who had died, she became obsessive about it. I really wonder what kind of woman her mother had been originally, before she had had her rift with Marie, before Scarlette was born and the witch was burned.

Scarlette is a book that combines historical events, paranormal (from a historical point of view) and a classic fairytale. If you like books that keep you guessing with mystery, I recommend this book. It is definitely one of my favourite retellings of the fairytale.

4.5 Bookmarks

Extras

One of the most interesting parts of this book is the fact that Juroe put a lot of research into it involving the historical "werewolf" attacks in France. She's written at least a couple of posts about information she had found:

http://www.davonnajuroe.com/2010/10/what-if-little-red-riding-hood-was-real.html

http://www.davonnajuroe.com/2010/03/fab-facts-werewolves-peasants-and.html

Finally, TODAY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH the book is being offered for free on Amazon, so if you have the slightest interest due to my review, go go go go here and I hope you enjoy!