Review: The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais

Lose yourself in in the dark forests of Amelie Flechais' spectacular artwork. A young wolf, on a journey to bring his grandmother a rabbit, is charmed by the nice little girl who offers to help him... but nice is not the same as good. A haunting fairy tale for children and adults alike.

-- Goodreads.com description --

I received an arc copy from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to read this unique book.

The Little Red Wolf is a fairy tale retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. As you can guess from the title, a wolf is now the protagonist. It's a wonderful retelling with gorgeous illustrations by Amélie Fléchais. The illustrations alone make this book worth your while. They are so colourful and enchanting, I could look at them all day.

The fairy tale itself is a beautiful retelling and it turns known truths upside down. It's a story about how each of us can perceive things differently and how this impacts our actions.

Even though I enjoyed this book, I wish it had been longer. I felt the characters could have been developed more. We do get a glimpse of what they are really like, but I need more to fully appreciate a character.

Why should you read The Little Red Wolf? I believe it's the perfect book to share with your children (on Halloween). The illustrations are by far my favourite part about this book. They are glorious and so vivid! I wish I could frame them all!

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday: Fairy Tale Retellings I've Read or Want to Read

There is a first time for everything and this is my first top ten Tuesday, which is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week bloggers share their lists on the given topics. Upon reading today's list on the blog of Peace Love Books, I couldn't resist and I joined for the first time. I'm so excited, so let's start!

Fairy Tale Retellings I've Read (in no particular order):

1. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

2. Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

4. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

5. Cress by Marissa Meyer

6. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

7. Fables Volumes 1-20 by Bill Willingham

8. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

9. Ember by Bettie Sharpe

10. Beauty by Robin McKinley

My favourite books are by Rosamund Hodge, Marissa Meyer and of course, Naomi Novik!

Fairy Tale Retellings I Want to Read:

1. Winter by Marissa Meyer

2. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

3. Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

4. Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

5. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

6. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

7. Splintered by A.G. Howard

8. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

9. Entwined by Heather Dixon

10. The Little Android by Marissa Meyer

As you can probably already tell, I'm a huge fan of fairy tale retellings, in fact, it's my favourite genre at the moment. The books highest on my tbr-list are all fairy tale retellings: Winter, Crimson Bound and the Wrath and the Dawn and I absolutely can't wait to start reading them!

I really enjoyed my first Top Ten Tuesday and I hope to join the following Tuesdays as well, so look out for that!

What are your favourite fairy tale retellings? I'd love to know, so don't hesitate to leave a comment!

Gilded Ashes (Cruel Beauty Universe) by Rosamund Hodge

A romantic and fantastical reimagining of the classic Cinderella tale,Gilded Ashes is a novella by Rosamund Hodge set in the same world as the author's debut novel, Cruel Beauty.

Orphan Maia doesn't see the point of love when it only brings pain: Her dying mother made a bargain with the evil, all-powerful ruler of their world that anyone who hurt her beloved daughter would be punished; her new stepmother went mad with grief when Maia's father died; and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother's approval, yet she always spurns them. And though her family has turned her into a despised servant, Maia must always pretend to be happy, or else they'll all be struck dead by the curse.

Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn't believe in love either—not since he discovered that his childhood sweetheart was only using him for his noble title. What's the point of pretending to fall in love with a girl just so she'll pretend to fall in love with him back? But when his father invites all the suitable girls in the kingdom to a masked ball, Anax must finally give in and select a wife.

As fate would have it, the preparations for the masquerade bring him Maia, who was asked by her eldest stepsister to deliver letters to Anax. Despite a prickly first encounter, he is charmed and intrigued by this mysterious girl who doesn't believe in love. Anax can't help wishing to see her again—and when he does, he can't help falling in love with her. Against her will, Maia starts to fall in love with him too. But how can she be with him when every moment his life is in danger from her mother's deadly bargain?

HarperTeen Impulse is a digital imprint focused on young adult short stories and novellas, with new releases the first Tuesday of each month.

-- Goodreads.com description --

After I read Cruel Beauty I needed to read something short and this novella seemed like the perfect choice. A choice that definitely did not disappoint! I enjoyed it even more than Cruel Beauty. The reason for that is most likely because the story progressed a lot faster since it's a novella. And that was exactly what I was in the mood for. Since my mind still lingered in the Cruel Beauty universe I couldn't have picked anything else that would have suited me better. What I loved the most about Gilded Ashes was probably the fact that it was short and the action parts followed each other quite quickly, if you can call them 'action' parts. I have to admit Cinderella isn't one of my favourite fairy tales. I always thought she was kind of boring. However, since reading Cinder and Gilded Ashes I already like her a lot better.
I like Rosamund Hodge's writing style and originality. You never know how her stories will end, even though they're based on famous fairy tales. I love the fact that they're so much darker than their originals and I'm looking forward to reading Crimson Bound, her next book that comes out in May but I'll probably will have to wait a while before it comes out in paperback.

I highly recommend this original retelling of Cinderella if you enjoyed Cruel Beauty or Cinder by Marissa Meyer than this is a must read for you! 

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

-- Goodreads.com description --

First of all, the cover is absolutely stunning! I actually regret not buying this book in hardback, but well, I'll survive. As I'm sure is quite evident from my many blog posts, fairy tale retellings are kind of my thing. I love Once Upon a Time and The Lunar Chronicles are one of my favourite young adult series! So it must not come as a surprise to you that I needed to read this book. And I wasn't disappointed. I didn't really know what to expect from this one, though. I've read some very good reviews and a heard it being described as a quite dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast. To say that I was intrigued is quite the understatement. Since I found out about this book, I've been pining for it. And now I've finally read it. Let me tell you, I could not put this book down! And since this was not the best of times to be so engrossed in a book, I still couldn't care less. I needed to finish this Cruel Beauty. So I did.
There are quite a lot of mythological references in this book, which I loved, since I'm currently taking a class on classical mythology (which is actually my favourite course this semester) I was able to understand all the details and references with ease.
I adored this book and I give it 4 (almost 4,5) out of 5 stars. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of fairy tale retellings. Don't hesitate to pick it up!