Genre: Middle-Grade


Friday, March 11, 2016

Blog Tour: Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff – Review

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I received this book for free from Random House Children's Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blog Tour: Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff – ReviewRed: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on April 12th 2016
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Middle-Grade, Retellings
Source: Random House Children's Books
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"Red is the most wonder-filled fairy tale of them all!”—Chris Grabenstein, New York Times Bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library.

Red is not afraid of the big bad wolf. She’s not afraid of anything . . . except magic.
But when Red’s granny falls ill, it seems that only magic can save her, and fearless Red is forced to confront her one weakness.

With the help of a blond, porridge-sampling nuisance called Goldie, Red goes on a quest to cure Granny. Her journey takes her through dwarves’ caverns to a haunted well and a beast’s castle. All the while, Red and Goldie are followed by a wolf and a huntsman—two mortal enemies who seek the girls’ help to defeat each other. And one of them just might have the magical solution Red is looking for. . . .

Liesl Shurtliff weaves a spellbinding tale, shining the spotlight on a beloved character from her award-winning debut, Rump. 

And don't miss Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk, "a delightful story of family, perseverance and courage"

RED Blog Tour Banner

 

Hello everyone!! I am honored to be participating in this huge blog tour for Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood. I adore fairy tales and I love retellings, so naturally I had to take part. This tour has been running for about a month and there is plenty more to come. You can refer to the tour schedule that will be at the end of this post. Don’t forget to check out the other stops for really great guest posts and fun things! For my post I am doing a review of this book.

This book was all sorts of fun. The characters were fantastic and the storyline was great. There was a bit of mystery to it as well as magic (of course), friendships, and adventure. This is Red Riding Hood like you have never read before and it was a delight to read. It had a lot of charm and heart and it’s a great read for both younger kids and adults.

Red is quite an interesting character. We learn a bit about her childhood before stepping into an adventure of a lifetime. Her grandmother is amazing at magic. She creates life and does such awesome things. She wishes that she could be as great as her. The only thing is, Red is scared of her magic and won’t use it. After almost killing her grandmother when she was younger (among other mishaps with her magic) she fears the ways that her magic can go wrong. When her grandmother gets sick she goes on a mission to try to find a way to help her. Along the way she faces many truths, makes some friends, and has to learn to not fear her own magic or that her grandmother may not always be around. She grows so much as a character and I loved watching her transformation.

Along the way she learns that the magical things that she is looking for to save her grandmother are not what they seem. Of course all of these powerful magic solutions come with a price, but is the price worth it to save someone that she loves? Not only are the magical items not what they seem, but either is anything else. Things she thinks to be true are not. Things she feared are the things that are the least likely to harm her, and the most unsuspecting people or things are what are the read dangers.

If you are looking for a great story of Red Riding Hood, this is the one. This book is rich with detail and an intriguing story that will keep you reading until the end. The friendships built and really finding herself were wonderful. Imaging all the places she goes and the creatures that she meets was so fun. This is a book that I will be reading with my daughter for sure. Being that it is a middle grade book, it is very clean and appropriate so it makes a great family book. It would be a great gift for anyone, including yourself. If this is your type of book, you should definitely read it. Even if it’s not your type of book you should because who doesn’t like fairy tales? Especially those with a fun twist.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other stops on the tour. The full tour schedule is below. Happy Reading!

 

RED: THE TRUE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD Pre-Pub Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, February, 1: Bookiemoji, Author Guest Post

Tuesday, February, 2: Seeing Double In Neverland, Review

Wednesday, February, 3: MundieMoms/Kids, Review

Thursday, February, 4: BookHounds, Author Interview

Friday, February, 5: The Lovely Books, Review

Saturday, February, 6: I’m Shelf-ish, Guest Post

Sunday, February, 7:  Kid Lit Frenzy, Review

Monday, February, 8: Mel’s Shelves, Review

Tuesday, February, 9: Once Upon A Twilight, Author Random Facts

Wednesday, February, 10: SciFiChick.com, Review

Thursday, February, 11: Swoony Boys Podcast, Review

Friday, February, 12: Bittersweet Enchantment, Review

Saturday, February, 13: WinterHaven Books, Review except 18

Sunday, February, 14: The Cover Contessa, Review

Monday, February, 15: Pandora’s Books, Review

Tuesday, February, 16: On Starships and Dragonwings, Review

Wednesday, February, 17: As They Grow Up, Review

Thursday, February, 18: Owl Always Be Reading, Review

Friday, February, 19: Such a Novel Idea, Playlist and Review

Saturday, February, 20: The Children’s Book Review, A Selfie and a Shelfie

Sunday, February, 21: The Mod Podge Bookshelf, Author Movie Cast

Monday, February, 22: Katie’s Clean Book Collection, Review

Tuesday, February, 23: Words We Heart, Review

Wednesday, February, 24: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers, Author Guest Post

Thursday, February, 25: Confessions of a Readaholic, Review

Friday, February, 26: Bookish Antics, Review

Saturday, February, 27: Bumbles and Fairy-Tales, Review

Sunday, February, 28: Valerie’s Reviews, Review

Monday, February, 29: Lili’s Reflections, Review

Tuesday, March, 1: To Read, or Not To Read, Review

Wednesday, March 2: Stories & Sweeties, Review

Thursday, March 3: Cafinated Reads, Review

Friday, March 4: The Book Monsters, Review

Saturday, March 5: Twinning for Books, Review

Sunday, March 6: Curling Up With A Good Book, Review

Monday, March 7: The Compulsive Reader, Review

Tuesday, March 8: The Reading Nook Reviews, Review

Wednesday, March 9: Resch Reads and Reviews, Review

Thursday, March 10: Beauty and the Bookshelf, Review

Friday, March 11: Xpresso Reads, Review

Saturday, March 12: Diamond’s Reads, Review

Sunday, March 13: Blissful Book Reviews, Review

Monday, March 14: Vi3tbabe, Review

Tuesday, March 15: The Book Cellar, Review

Audiobook Review: The Last Ever After (The School for Good and Evil #3) by Soman Chainani

Posted by on 10/08/2015 • 4 Comments

I am going to try to do this review with no spoilers for the previous books, but seeing as it’s the third and final book, no promises. You have been warned to continue at your own risk. I have to say that this series in general was fantastic and I was so excited for this last book. It totally lived up to my expectations! I have listened to the whole series on audio and it’s one of the best audiobook series. The narrator, Polly Lee, is the perfect voice for the story. She makes it very easy to tell between the characters, and brings a fantastic story to life. This book was full of all the build up off all the things that came before and all the new dangers…

Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

Posted by on 10/01/2015 • 2 Comments

This book was all sorts of fun to read. The characters were interesting and so was their story. What I love the most about middle grade books is that even if there is a bit of child romance, that is not the focus. Instead, the focus is more on what is happening or a building friendship. Initially I was thinking, “Oh boy, another ghost story.” but although it does have ghosts, it didn’t wear on me or feel like every other ghost book out there. There was a bit of creepiness to the story, and a lot of thrills. This is a great story for younger ones leading into Halloween season or anytime.

Pram is a very smart little girl who lives with her aunts. Her mother died when…

Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares! #2) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares! #2) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Posted by on 09/14/2015 • 1 Comment

I really enjoyed the first book, so I was eager to get to this one right away. Just when Charlie is finally happy with his family and life, things start to get weird again. Him and his brother Jack have sealed the portal to the nightmare realm, but now he has discovered that Jack has been visiting, and with the odd stuff happening in the waking world his little brother may become the one they blame. Things aren’t going so well with Charlotte’s business either, and they may lose their house.The purple mansion with the portal that they must protect. Charlie starts to discover that the weird events, and the pending doom of Charlotte’s store are connected. Now it’s up to him and Jack to save the nightmare world again,…

Review: Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Review: Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Posted by on 09/10/2015 • 4 Comments

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Review: Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

Review: Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

Posted by on 08/31/2015 • 5 Comments

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Review: Friends for Life by Andrew Norris

Review: Friends for Life by Andrew Norris

Posted by on 08/06/2015 • 3 Comments

This book was actually much different than I thought it would be. It was a much deeper and serious story than I had originally thought going into it. I thought it was going to be a cute MG about a boy who is friends with a ghost. In a way it is, but it’s so much more. He can see the ghost for a certain reason, and then other people can too. Jessica is actually visible because they need her help and she also needs theirs so she can move on. This was a fantastic gem of a story where I was expecting something cute. It really hit me right in the feels and I think it was wonderful.

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Review: The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Review: The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Posted by on 07/30/2015 • 4 Comments

Wow, this book was so cool!! The first 400 pages or so are all just drawings. Gorgeous artwork. It seems odd that it’s just picture after picture, but surprisingly, it tells an amazing story. I have never read 400 pages of a book so quick!! The first part of the book is set in a totally different time period than the second part. The second part of the book is set in 1990 I believe. This one is written, not told in pictures. It is not a seemingly different story as the synopsis explains. In fact, it is pretty easy to see how the two are related, but in a really interesting way. I loved discovering how the second story all fit with the first one and was drawn in….