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taliaissmart
This book serves as the perfect example of how NOT to write a fairy tale retelling. All of my favorite retellings have one thing in common: they stay true to the original story. Authors may recreate the identities of characters, modernize settings, and add depth to classic tales, but the bottom line is that the essence of the story remains.
I picked up Sisters Red hoping for the magic of a Red Riding Hood adaptation. What I got was a predictable paranormal YA novel with an inconsistent mythological backstory, boring and one-dimensional characters, plenty of slut-shaming, and plot holes galore. Aside from the red capes, the presence of wolf-like monsters, and a short cameo by a German grandmother, this book had nothing to do with Red Riding Hood.
Here are just a few of my frustrations with Sisters Red...
1.BORING AS HELL CHARACTERS
Scarlett March is scarred. Boy, oh, boy is she scarred. She's scarred. Scarlett never stops whining about how the only thing she'll ever EVER be able to do with her life is hunt the Fenris, because she has been scarred, so she's stuck. But she also seems to only enjoy herself at all when she's hunting and getting more scars. Or guilt-tripping her little sister into giving up her social life to hunt the wolves, which is a contradiction anyway because Scarlett's biggest fear is Rosie getting scars. Whatever. Boring.
Rosie March is lovestruck for the whole book, which she feels pretty guilty about, because she doesn't want to help her sister hunt 24/7, which sucks because Scarlett is totally obsessed with hunting and scars. Rosie is innocent in a way that I find pretty unbelievable. When she does show some level of sexual curiosity, it's watered down by the author or shut down by Scar(lett), who thinks that sexual attraction shows lack of dedication and/or is sad because she thinks that her scars are keeping her from love, which she doesn't actually want anyway.
Silas Reynolds is loved by everyone for basically no reason at all. Who is this guy? I'm bored.
2.NO BACKSTORY ABOUT THE WOLVES
Why the hell were the werewolves called Fenris? Did the author just pull this name out of her ass? I looked it up, and there's apparently a Norse myth about a wolf-monster named Fenrir, but Jackson Pearce never mentions this myth in her story. Why do these creatures even exist? Scarlett and Rosie go on and on about how since they know about the Fenris, they are somehow enlightened (Allegory of the Cave, btw, which the author brings up probably 100 times but never actually calls by its NAME). However, the March sisters actually seem to know NOTHING about the wolves. What's the deal with these packs? We know pretty much nothing about the enemy, which made it hard for me to really see the whole point of this lifelong, never-ending battle against them.
3. 1 MILLION PLOT HOLES
-Why doesn't anyone just tell the rest of the world about the Fenris? What is holding you back? Scars?
-If the presence of a Potential new Fenris is enough to get everyone super excited, that must mean there aren't opportunities to make new wolves all that often, right? SO WHY IS THERE A FENRIS LITERALLY EVERYWHERE THE CHARACTERS GO?
-All the packs seem to want the Potential, and DESPERATELY. But we see that wolves can somehow switch packs (who the hell knows how or why). If it's so easy to just claim wolves from other packs, why all the stress to get the new guy? Who cares?
-Fenris lose their souls. Okay. Does this mean they are also reduced to complete idiots? They are just ALWAYS making stupid choices.
-Fenris lose their souls. Okay. Does this mean they also lose their personalities and interests? This is implied many times. THEN WHY ARE THEY AT DANCE CLASSES AND BOWLING ALL THE TIME??
-What happens to people who see the Fenris and live? No idea at all.
-Are the police so incompetent that they react to tons of murders in which the victims are EATEN/TORN TO PIECES by doing absolutely NOTHING AT ALL?
-What do these idiot characters do all day when they aren't hunting? It is stated that one of the girls can't hold a job at a coffee shop because hunting is too demanding. Scarlett shouts at Rosie when she finds out that Rosie has spent approximately 1.5 hours in the past month taking classes at the community center. Why???? They hunt like maybe twice a week, and always at night. Yeah, that wouldn't work with a part-time job at ALL.
I could easily go on, but I've wasted enough time on this damn book already. Goodnight.
I picked up Sisters Red hoping for the magic of a Red Riding Hood adaptation. What I got was a predictable paranormal YA novel with an inconsistent mythological backstory, boring and one-dimensional characters, plenty of slut-shaming, and plot holes galore. Aside from the red capes, the presence of wolf-like monsters, and a short cameo by a German grandmother, this book had nothing to do with Red Riding Hood.
Here are just a few of my frustrations with Sisters Red...
1.BORING AS HELL CHARACTERS
Scarlett March is scarred. Boy, oh, boy is she scarred. She's scarred. Scarlett never stops whining about how the only thing she'll ever EVER be able to do with her life is hunt the Fenris, because she has been scarred, so she's stuck. But she also seems to only enjoy herself at all when she's hunting and getting more scars. Or guilt-tripping her little sister into giving up her social life to hunt the wolves, which is a contradiction anyway because Scarlett's biggest fear is Rosie getting scars. Whatever. Boring.
Rosie March is lovestruck for the whole book, which she feels pretty guilty about, because she doesn't want to help her sister hunt 24/7, which sucks because Scarlett is totally obsessed with hunting and scars. Rosie is innocent in a way that I find pretty unbelievable. When she does show some level of sexual curiosity, it's watered down by the author or shut down by Scar(lett), who thinks that sexual attraction shows lack of dedication and/or is sad because she thinks that her scars are keeping her from love, which she doesn't actually want anyway.
Silas Reynolds is loved by everyone for basically no reason at all. Who is this guy? I'm bored.
2.NO BACKSTORY ABOUT THE WOLVES
Why the hell were the werewolves called Fenris? Did the author just pull this name out of her ass? I looked it up, and there's apparently a Norse myth about a wolf-monster named Fenrir, but Jackson Pearce never mentions this myth in her story. Why do these creatures even exist? Scarlett and Rosie go on and on about how since they know about the Fenris, they are somehow enlightened (Allegory of the Cave, btw, which the author brings up probably 100 times but never actually calls by its NAME). However, the March sisters actually seem to know NOTHING about the wolves. What's the deal with these packs? We know pretty much nothing about the enemy, which made it hard for me to really see the whole point of this lifelong, never-ending battle against them.
3. 1 MILLION PLOT HOLES
-Why doesn't anyone just tell the rest of the world about the Fenris? What is holding you back? Scars?
-If the presence of a Potential new Fenris is enough to get everyone super excited, that must mean there aren't opportunities to make new wolves all that often, right? SO WHY IS THERE A FENRIS LITERALLY EVERYWHERE THE CHARACTERS GO?
-All the packs seem to want the Potential, and DESPERATELY. But we see that wolves can somehow switch packs (who the hell knows how or why). If it's so easy to just claim wolves from other packs, why all the stress to get the new guy? Who cares?
-Fenris lose their souls. Okay. Does this mean they are also reduced to complete idiots? They are just ALWAYS making stupid choices.
-Fenris lose their souls. Okay. Does this mean they also lose their personalities and interests? This is implied many times. THEN WHY ARE THEY AT DANCE CLASSES AND BOWLING ALL THE TIME??
-What happens to people who see the Fenris and live? No idea at all.
-Are the police so incompetent that they react to tons of murders in which the victims are EATEN/TORN TO PIECES by doing absolutely NOTHING AT ALL?
-What do these idiot characters do all day when they aren't hunting? It is stated that one of the girls can't hold a job at a coffee shop because hunting is too demanding. Scarlett shouts at Rosie when she finds out that Rosie has spent approximately 1.5 hours in the past month taking classes at the community center. Why???? They hunt like maybe twice a week, and always at night. Yeah, that wouldn't work with a part-time job at ALL.
I could easily go on, but I've wasted enough time on this damn book already. Goodnight.
