BOOK REVIEW: Red Riding Hood

Title: Red Riding Hood


Author: Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

Publisher: ATOM

RRP: $18.99

ISBN: 9781907410826

Release Date: March 2011

Pages: 352



Description:

A literary novelisation of the hit Warner Brothers film directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

A literary novelisation of the hit Warner Brothers film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and starring Amanda Seyfried.

Valerie is in love with the dangerous and unlikable Peter (a woodcutter, of course) but is betrothed to the rich hot blacksmith in town, Henry.

Their town has been terrorized by a wolf a wolf that appears only at the full moon and when Valerie's sister is brutally murdered the message is clear: she's next.

CLICK HERE FOR THE EXHILARATING BONUS CHAPTER OF RED RIDING HOOD. http://redridinghoodbook.com/RedRidingHood_extrachapter.pdf

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is twenty-two years old and is a recent cum laude graduate of Barnard College, the greatest place on earth. She is the recipient of the 2008-2009 Mary Gordon Fiction Scholarship Award and the 2009-2010 Lenore Marshall Barnard Prize for Prose. She grew up in Los Angeles and Mexico. She now lives in New York City and writes in Vancouver, BC. Despite what the book may say, she actually prefers wolves to people.

Review:



There has been so much hype about this book and movie lately that it is hard to not know about the story. One of the main issues I’ve seen floating around is that this edition of the book is missing the final chapter (which is now available online from here http://redridinghoodbook.com/RedRidingHood_extrachapter.pdf ). This wasn’t indicated on the blurb or cover of the book, so you don’t know about this until you’ve purchased the book.



Apart from this issue, the book is great. I really enjoyed the retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fable in a more dark and sinister adult version. The story revolves around a small town that is cursed with the presence of a beast that comes out every full moon. Until the last full moon, the townsfolk were able to keep the beast at bay by leaving an animal sacrifice out for the creature. The last full moon saw a young woman killed by the beast and the townsfolk bring in a priest to get rid of the creature.



There is romance in the book, but also a few extreme death and violent scenes as well. Overall this book was well written and a great read.