Review of Wolves and Paths by Holly Hook


Synopsis (from Amazon):
Red only knows life under her oppressive grandmother. She can’t even go on trips, participate in Halloween, or eat meat. Come on! She’s almost an adult! And rebellion just makes her worse.

So against her judgment, Red sneaks off with her boyfriend to Disney World. It could be worse, right? But maybe her grandmother was onto something because the trip lands them all in another world: Fable, where fairy tales are real and things go bump in the night. And now her grandmother is captured by an evil wizard named Alric.

Now Red is center stage in a tale she must complete to save her grandmother. But Alric is determined to rule Fable by making all the famous fairy tales fall—and Red is his first target. It’s time for Red to break her chains and face her fears. But she’s soon to learn that even the most famous fairy tales are not always what they seem…

Review:
This was a very interesting twist on Little Red Riding Hood, while incorporating a bit of the original fairy tale’s parental failing. In the original, Red is allowed to wander in the forest, not protected from things that could potentially hurt her, warnings given but without reason. In that regard, this story is the same, that Red is not given reasons for what she must do, and because of that, she rebels. The lesson that seems to blare from both versions of the story, the original and this, is that without knowing the logic behind WHY, most will go off and do whatever seems fun/like a good idea at the time… even though it might (usually) cause trouble.

Red is refreshing and not at all just a damsel in distress. Her loyalty runs deep and her feelings make her a quite relatable character. I loved this version of Red Riding Hood, and while I have read books with a similar twist, this one was done quite in depth considering all of Red’s grandmother’s rules.

Star Rating: 

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