Book Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Sunday, May 12, 2013



A re-telling of Hansel and Gretel, Sweetly starts of with a young girl disappearing from the woods while exploring with her twin sister and brother. Their story? A witch took her. It's more than ten years later, and the remaining siblings are thrown out of their home by their stepmother after both their parents die, leaving them with a car that breaks down close to the sleepy, almost deserted town of Live Oak. The siblings end up at a chocolatier, living with a beautiful young woman, Sophia, who charms them with her chocolates and her happy attidute. But Gretchen still fears the witch that took her sister...

This is the second novel in the author's Fairytale Retellings series. I loved this book from the beginning. I would recommend reading the first novel, Sisters Red first, though it isn't necessary. I just like how it all ties in together. 

This is my second book from the author, and I can really see how her writing evolved. If Sisters Red was great, this was amazing. She weaves the story in such mysterious ways, you just cannot stop reading and keep turning page after page right to the end. It's amazing how a person can create a world using words, but everything on these pages came alive in front of me. The characters and the places are so vivid, they're just begging to take advantage of your imagination and manifest in it. 

The beautiful writing, the amazing characters and the haunting, mysterious story, are many, but not all of the attributes of this beautiful book. It reminds me of the chocolate covered lemons that are mentioned in the book – so sweet and delicate to look at, but when you bite into them, a certain sourness comes through. Which is exactly what can be said with this novel, which mixes sweetness and goriness all within the same page. 

I would recommend this to anyone really, especially readers who have liked this author in the past and people who like mysterious reads. I do have to say I was going to give this book 4 stars right up to the end, because I had a problem with it that I've had with Sisters Red before (I gave that one 4 stars, but I still loved it so much, it ended up as one of my favourites). The conclusion was just not what I was hoping it would be, there wasn't an element of surprise, it was all very expected. Which does take off a star for me, but does not take away from the greatness that is this book. HOWEVER! The book ended with an awesome twist that reminded me of biting into a chocolate covered almond – you get that unexpected crunch that makes it all the more special (notice all of my chocolate-y associations? Yeah, it's basically because I've been craving something sweet ever since reading this novel). All in all, an amazing, five-star read that you need to pick up ASAP. :) 



Share your opinion:

  1. I loved reading Sisters Red so I'm definitely going to be picking this up, it's sounds really interesting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I loved it too, but this one is even better. You're going to love it! :) x

      Delete
  2. Joj, kako lepo je prebrat, da še kdo rad bere, se mi zdi, da nas je vedno manj. Si me navdušila za knjigo, tako da je na moji wishlist :)) Te lahko vprašam s katere strani naročaš knjige? Jaz drugače razmišljam o nakupu Kindla, ti ga imaš? Hvala! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hej, midve si pa deliva ime! :) Knjiga je res zakon, tako da jo priporočam, kar se pa naročanja knjig tiče, zame nič ne premaga strani The Book Depository, ker ma zastonj poštnino po celem svetu. :) Knjige pa pridejo večinoma iz Avstrije, Nečmije, pa UK, tkoda te tut za carino in davke nima nč skrbet. ^^ Joj, Kindle... Js sm načeloma fuuul proti tem elektronskim bralnikom. Pač sem old school in zame nč ne premaga občutka prave knjige v rokah. :) Ga ma pa moj fant (mislm da Kindle Paperwhite) in je ful zadovoljen. Ti lahko dam kontakt, če bi rada slišala kej več. :) xx

      Delete
    2. Hehe, a ti si tudi Živa? :)) Hvala za stran, jaz sem do zdaj naročala večinoma kar preko Amazona. Še večkrat pa sem zagnjavila atiju, ki dosti službeno potuje, da mi je iskal knjige v brezcarinskih prodajalnah na letališču, ampak mislim, da me ima počasi dovolj :D Jaaa, jaz sem ista, ampak vem, da ima Kindle ful prednosti in tudi ceneje pride vse skupaj... Ampak knjiga je le knjiga. Se še nisem čisto odločila, čeprav sem že pred dvema letoma dobila za rojstni dan od staršev predlog, naj si ga izberem in mi ga bosta kupila, ampak kar odlašam in odlašam :D Joj, to bi bilo super. Jih je toliko na tržišču, da sem čisto zmedena :D

      Delete
    3. Ja, redko znano dejstvo o meni. :P Hello Živa, nice to meet you, I'm a Živa too. :D O ja js sm tut ful knjige po letališčih kupovala, pa vsakič ko sm šla v kšno tujo državo, hehe. :) Sam TBD res zmaga, tut cene so najbolj ugodne, pa vse knjige dobiš... Probi kej naročit, sam te opozarjam, da te hitro zasvoji! :P Ja, sej res cenej pride, sam js mam tok rada mojo knjižno omaro, včasih po pol ure buljim vanjo. *blush* Tko da se res nočem odrečt pravim knjigam. Če maš pa opcijo da ga tko dobiš, pol pa go for it... Sej tiste knjige k so ti res všeč si lahko še vedno kupiš v tiskani obliki. ^^ Evo, pišeš mu lahko na mejl tomse.tilen@gmail.com, js mu bom pa povedala, pa se bosta pol zmenila. :) x

      Delete
  3. Očitno mava poleg imena res dosti skupnega, jaz sem tudi ponosna na mojo omaro. Ampak je tudi to eden izmed problemov, ker mi zmanjkuje prostora, čeprav imamo doma knjižnico, ampak je moja mami ista kot jaz (midve :P) in jih počasi nimamo več kam dat :D

    Najlepša ti hvala, ful si prjazna :)))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe, zakon! :D Dej, a maš Goodreads? Tle ob strani je moj link, če klikneš na moje ime me lahko dodaš (če ga nimaš si ga morš narest, like, yesterday! :P).
      Pa ni problema, sm ga že nagnala odpisovat. ^^ x

      Delete
  4. Očitno ni poslalo mojga komentarja... Sem si naredla, fuul nora stran! :D Hvala še enkrat, ful se je potrudu :))

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment - I try to reply to everyone!