Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (It's nice and spooky.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 30, 2010
Publisher: Razorbill
Page Count: 300 p.
Henry Whelp is the son of the Big Bad Wolf, who is doing time for killing Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. Henry doesn't know why his dad did it and he desperately doesn't want to end up like him. Henry's been stuck in a reformatory for animalia inside Dust City. Dust city used to have real fairies, with real fairydust, but since the fairies vanished all that's left is black market dust. When someone ends up dead unexpectedly at the Reformatory, Henry is brought into question. Henry goes to see his dad and find out the truth of what happened that faithful night and what happened to all the fairies.
This was a very interesting novel. I loved all of the fairy tales that were woven into the story. Each character was really a fairy tale character, and it was fantastic. Henry and Fiona as well as some of the other characters seemed a little unrealistic at times. Of course, they are wolves and such in a fairy tale city, so they aren't very realistic to begin with, but sometimes they just felt a little awkward or off. Maybe it is just me. Besides the characters sometimes being a little out of character this was a really fascinating read. It is a new look at the old Red Riding Hood story, from the Big Bad Wolf's side of the story. This novel really talks about how things aren't always as they seem. There is a definite "big brother" feel to the novel, that there is this big company that sort of controls everything and everyone. If you are a big fan of fairy tales, make sure you read this book it is a great edition for fans of the genre.
First Line:
"Once upon a time, fairydust came from where you'd expect."
Favorite Line:
"Earthwood Cemetery is an oasis of green at the heart if the city."
Henry Whelp is the son of the Big Bad Wolf, who is doing time for killing Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. Henry doesn't know why his dad did it and he desperately doesn't want to end up like him. Henry's been stuck in a reformatory for animalia inside Dust City. Dust city used to have real fairies, with real fairydust, but since the fairies vanished all that's left is black market dust. When someone ends up dead unexpectedly at the Reformatory, Henry is brought into question. Henry goes to see his dad and find out the truth of what happened that faithful night and what happened to all the fairies.
This was a very interesting novel. I loved all of the fairy tales that were woven into the story. Each character was really a fairy tale character, and it was fantastic. Henry and Fiona as well as some of the other characters seemed a little unrealistic at times. Of course, they are wolves and such in a fairy tale city, so they aren't very realistic to begin with, but sometimes they just felt a little awkward or off. Maybe it is just me. Besides the characters sometimes being a little out of character this was a really fascinating read. It is a new look at the old Red Riding Hood story, from the Big Bad Wolf's side of the story. This novel really talks about how things aren't always as they seem. There is a definite "big brother" feel to the novel, that there is this big company that sort of controls everything and everyone. If you are a big fan of fairy tales, make sure you read this book it is a great edition for fans of the genre.
First Line:
"Once upon a time, fairydust came from where you'd expect."
Favorite Line:
"Earthwood Cemetery is an oasis of green at the heart if the city."
I really enjoyed your review! And you cleared up something for me, because I kept reading the synopsis and thinking, "wait a second, these are wolves? Like actual animals?" and it seemed a little strange, so I'm glad you mentioned that they're *actually* wolves. This still looks good, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! I <3 fairy tales!
ReplyDeleteFrom the cover I would've never thought this would be that kind of story. If they changed it, I'm sure those into fairy take re-tellings would be more prone to picking it up. Sounds curious though which makes me curious hehe :D
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