Fathomless - Jackson Pearce

Fathomless - Jackson Pearce
(Fairytale Retellings #3)

Grade: YA
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant - until Celia meets Lo. 

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea - a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid - all terms too pretty for the soul-less monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality. 

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her... and steal his soul. (Description from Date a Book)

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Fathomless had an extra edge before I even started the book. Not only did I love the previous fairytale stories Jackson Pearce has written, but The Little Mermaid is my personal favourite fairytale - so I was SUPER excited to see how Pearce would twist the story and make it her own. And let me tell you I LOVED IT!

We start the book being introduced to the Ocean Girls. If you know Jackson Pearce's previous books well, the Ocean Girls are not new ideas, but we've never actually seen them before. Transformed into something that can live under the water, something dangerous - not quite a mermaid, but closer to a siren, luring men into the waves with the hope they will love them enough to return their souls and let them be released from the ocean. But you can't make a boy fall in love with you with just a song...and so, the Ocean Girls chose to fade away under the water, forgetting their past lives, hoping an angel will return and take them to a better place.

Enter Lo, our main Ocean Girl. She's conflicted. She loves her life under the water and after a failed attempt at taking a human boy's soul she's content to let her life fade away. I was so curious about Lo's life. She is obviously the Little Mermaid in the story, especially when she later attempts to move around on land, with pain shooting up from her feet - almost like crushing glass with new step. But she's torn between accepting her life now under the water, and trying to regain the memories of her life before becoming and Ocean Girl, her life as Naida. The conflicting people within her made for some interesting twists. You never knew which personality will take hold or what memories she'll discover.

But she has help with that, Celia Reynolds. I knew before starting the book, that Celia was part of the giant Reynolds clan, my favourite family in Jackson Pearce's series! Celia is a triplet, and unlike the males in her family, she doesn't seem to be aware that there are dangerous and supernatural beings in the world. Her sisters, Anne and Jane, believe they are the only ones which weird and secret talents - the three sisters can see the Future, Present and Past. Celia, gifted with the power to see the past, believes her talent is useless. What good is seeing the mistakes and troubles of the past? You can't change what happened before. But she can help someone who forgets to remember. She can try to help Lo remember Naida. I felt bad for Celia, she seemed so alone, despite having sisters around her all the time. Not quite like Anne and Jane, Celia stands apart and when she meets Lo, she starts to find herself as Celia and not just as a sister. I loved her trying to help search through Lo's memories and I loved how much she cared.

Like all good stories, there's a complication in the mix: a boy, Jude. Lo and Celia help save Jude from drowning, and it starts a snowball effect of drama. Jude falls in love, both girls feel a connection to him and both look for something beyond their lives when they're with him. Lo, desperate to find a way out of her ocean life, hopes that Jude might fall in love with her and release her from her water prison. Celia wants to be normal and finds a way to block the past while with Jude. But secrets and lies plague their separate relationships and that can only lead to trouble. The secrets churned me up a bit. Some I could understand keeping, others made me mental. I just wanted everyone to be happy in the end. These hopes for a new life and the mix of secrets caused a massive twist at the end - I totally didn't see it coming - but it was good. I loved it.

Amazing retelling of The Little Mermaid - definitely a favourite. Can't wait for Cold Spell. I hope there are more retellings after this one, because I enjoy them too much to let go.

4.5/5 stars


Kim
(also posted on Goodreads)

Sweetly - Jackson Pearce

Sweetly (Fairytale Retellings #2) - Jackson Pearce
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 stars

As a child, Gretchen's twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch's forest threatening to make them disappear, too.

Years later, when their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They're invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.

Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past -- until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel. He tells her the witch isn't gone -- it's lurking in the forest, preying on girls every year after Live Oak's infamous chocolate festival, and looking to make Gretchen its next victim. Gretchen is determined to stop running and start fighting back. Yet the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.

Gretchen is certain of only one thing: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry. (Description from Goodreads)

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Jackson Pearce has captivated me again with her fabulous fairytale retellings! I love that she seems to pick the less obvious tales - not that people have never heard of Hansel and Gretel (or Little Red Riding Hood) - but they're not the first ones people draw from. Sweetly is exactly the sort of story I adore.

For brother and sister, Gretchen and Ansel, life has always been about living in the shadow of tragedy. After losing Gretchen's twin sister in the woods by their house while they were just little kids, nothing in life has seemed stable. When their stepmother throws them out when she's no longer legally required to look after them, it becomes just another twist in their existence...until they stumble upon the little town of Live Oak and their world is turned upside-down. I loved how the beginning was set out, there was the obvious 'witch' talks and a modernised "bread crumb" trail of lollies and a desperate need to stick together - as all Gretchen and Ansel had were each other.

I thought Gretchen was a really nice main character. While she was a tad timid at first, used to hiding from her past, she grew into herself so much. As someone who has always sort of believed in the supernatural, she accepts the twists and turns she comes across almost too well - but it is fiction and it didn't bother me much. I loved that she adopts a take-charge attitude as the story continues. She discovers there's a mystery in Live Oak where teenage girls are going missing each year and Gretchen decides she doesn't want to just sit back and watch it happen again - she doesn't want to be one of the missing. I love the change you see in her.

I know you're all wondering: So where's the witch with the gingerbread house, liquorice windows and chocolate doors? Well she certainly turns up, but not quite in the way I expected. We meet Sophia Kelly soon after Gretchen and Ansel arrive in Live Oak. Sophia's a mysterious young lady who runs a chocolatier out of her house, but it's obvious she's keeping secrets from the rest of the world. Flitting between emotions and desperate to host a chocolate festival for the young girls of Live Oak, Sophia confuses you from start to finish. I'll admit I had no idea what to feel when it came to Sophia. I was convinced she was the evil witch one minute, and worried I was judging her too harshly the next; like I was trying to force her into the role of the witch because I knew the story of Hansel and Gretel demanded the witch with the lollies would be the enemy. I liked that this storyline was unpredictable that way. In Sisters Red there were obvious plot twists that jumped out at me from the start, and while I did pick some of the direction for Sweetly, Sophia remained a mystery to me the whole book.

One of my favourite parts of reading Sweetly was seeing the connections to Sisters Red. We haven't left the Fenris (werewolves) behind, they're still there, still attacking girls and still causing a lot more trouble than you'd like. And even better, there's even a Reynolds boy on the scene: Samuel Reynolds. No actual mention of Silas or Papa Reynolds, but when he says he comes from a family of woodcutters and hunters you're pretty sure he's part of the same bunch. I loved it! Samuel is an incredible love interest (because you know that's what he'll end up being instantly) He doesn't fall immediately in love and he doesn't spend every waking moment trying to convince Gretchen she should stay in the pretty-girl world and let the man look after her. There is no one man who saves the day, this is definitely a Girl-Power book - but with a nice supporting role for Samuel. He was written in a way that let Gretchen shine while he stands by her in everything she does. It was perfect.

I really loved this book and I'm desperate to get my hands on the next one: Fathomless (and not only because it's a Little Mermaid retelling - my favourite fairytale)

5/5 stars


Kim
(Originally posted on Goodreads)

Sisters Red - Jackson Pearce

Sisters Red (Fairytale Retellings #1) 
                                                   - Jackson Pearce
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 stars

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?
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Fairy tales and myths keep popping up in stories these days. It seems to be popular to retell an old story in new ways. But I'm certainly not going to complain. When a friend of mine told me that 'Sisters Red' was an amazing story, I knew I had to get my hands on it. She was right. The addictive adventure and adorable romance was perfect. I'm so happy I read this book.

Scarlett and Rosie March are sisters who are so connected to each other that it's like they share the same heart, despite being born a few years apart. After an attack from a Fenris (more commonly known as 'werewolves') leaves the March sisters without their grandmother who looks after them, the girls end up beaten, broken and - in Scarlett's case - damaged; but not without the strength to keep fighting. Scarlett takes it upon herself to train with every last breath in her body to be strong enough to defeat any roaming Fenris that visit their town of Ellison. Scarlett feels it is her duty to protect Rosie; while Rosie will do anything to support Scarlett, as she knows she owes her sister her life, even if she feels that there should be more to life than hunting. I adored Scarlett and Rosie's relationship. We get to see inside the mind of both March sisters throughout the story, switching first person point-of-view for each new chapter. The unwavering faith and love they had for each other; that despite what happens in the world, they'll always have a sister to rely on. It was incredible.

'Sisters Red' is a re-imagining of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, a story most people have heard of but probably haven't explored in greater depths. I think that's part of the reason I loved it so much, because it not a tale I've searched for in the past. The wolves in 'Sisters Red' are fairly common in existence, but not common in knowledge. If it hadn't been for their grandmother's death at the beginning of the novel, Rosie and Scarlett would never have been aware of the Fenris. There's a mystery to the Fenris, they are hunting something - someone - the next possible addition to the wolf ranks: The Potential. They're so rare, there is no way of actively tracking them; but Scarlett will stop at nothing to make sure this person does not become the next soulless Fenris. The storyline was fairly predictable. The signs and hints that were thrown into the mix early on weren't hidden too well and I guessed most of what was coming next. But it didn't make me love the book any less. I sometimes really enjoy predicting where a story is heading too next. I feel pretty good about myself. I loved the action and excitement that came with hunting wolves and searching for the mystery Potential. It was very addictive.

What made this book even better was the romance. Another part that could be labelled as predictable, but only because the blurb gives it away. Childhood friend and neighbour, Silas Reynolds joins the sister team as another hunter, but he's not just hunting wolves; he's also hunting Rosie's heart. I adored the Rosie and Silas scenes and I kept holding out for more of them. The heart flutters, the accidental touches, the stolen moments when it was just the two of them; it all made my heart melt and break. These two caused a lot of emotional torture for me, but it was worth it.

I feel like the ending was a little rushed, but that's probably because I loved it too much to let the story end.

Incredible and powerful words. I loved every moment. Jackson Pearce, you rock!

5/5 stars


Kim
(Originally posted on Goodreads)