SWEETLY review

Today I finished two wonderful books: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Both were wonderful in their own, unique ways (obviously they were totally different, one being a YA about werewolves and candy, and the other about racial complexities in 1960's Mississippi, but I loved them both). Today was a good day for me, since I usually don't finish more than one book in a day. But I was torn between wanting to finish them both ASAP, so I spent the past week going back and forth between the two, and both made me cry. I only cry when I really love something. This review is about Sweetly since it is a newer, less-read book, and I want to get the word out about how enchanting it is-- yes, that's right, I said ENCHANTING.

Jackson Pearce, the author of Sweetly, is the author of two other published books, As You Wish and Sisters Red. The latter is the first book in her fairy tale retelling series. Sweetly is not a sequel of Sisters Red, but a companion novel. There are some of the same elements in the two books that tie them to the same world, but you are fine if you haven't read one before the other. 

Sweetly is an imaginative retelling of the fable, Hansel and Gretel. Gretchen and Ansel are brother and sister whose family was torn to shreds the day that Gretchen's twin sister vanished in the forest behind their house while the trio was searching for the "witch" that lurked in the trees. The young siblings ran for the lives as they were chased by someone with yellow eyes, only to find when they got back home that Abigail, Gretchen's twin, was gone. 

After both of their parents eventually succumbed to the grief of the loss, teenaged Gretchen and Ansel find themselves searching for a new life on the opposite side of America, in an attempt to start over on the coast of North Carolina. Their Jeep breaks down in the small town of Live Oak, and Ansel takes a job as Sophia Kelley's handyman so he can pay for the repairs. 

Sophia is a young, beautiful woman who took over her father's chocolatier after he was brutally killed by wild animals. Gretchen and Ansel both soon become enamored with her, and they stay in Live Oak a little longer than originally intended. They move in with Sophia, who quickly becomes like a sister to the emotionally battered Gretchen. But Gretchin begins to wonder about the secrets Sophia is keeping from her after finding a hidden picture of Sophia and her unmentioned sister. Why would she not tell Gretchen about her missing sister when Gretchen herself had confided the long buried mystery of her own vanished twin sister?

Not to mention that almost every person in Live Oak blames Sophia for the eight girls that have gone missing after attending her annual chocolate festival. And then there are the sea shells that keep appearing on the front porch, which send Sophia into panic every time a new one shows up. Gretchen knows there is something strange going on, but her brother is falling in love with Sophia and she is just so darn charming that Gretchen can't help but love her too.

But Gretchen is still struggling with the fate of her long lost sister, and she can't understand why she survived when her exact replica was taken. While walking alone in the woods behind the chocolatier, she encounters the "witch the yellow eyes" that snatched her sister all those years before, but is saved by hunky Samuel who shoots and kills the monster. Samuel informs her that the so-called "witches" are really Fenris; men who turn into wolves and prey on young girls. Literally. 

Gretchen then vows that she will not let another girl vanish the way her sister did, and she convinces Samuel to teach her how to shoot a gun. Samuel has his own scars, since one of Live Oak's missing girls was his girlfriend. But unfortunately, Samuel has always know about the existence of the Fenris, and that his love will never be found. Samuel and Gretchin form the shared bond of lost loved ones while Gretchen learns to protect herself from the dangers of the forest. 

After uncovering some dark secrets that Sophia has gone to great lengths to hide, Gretchen realizes that Sophia's chocolate festival may not be as innocent as it seems, and that the people of Live Oak may be right about her. 

Gretchen has to take a painful journey in becoming the person that she truly wants to be, but she learn things about herself that she has wanted to know since the day her sister vanished in the forest. Sweetly is a haunting, beautiful tale that will leave readers wanting more (and craving chocolate!). And Jackson flawlessly sets up the premise for the next companion book in the series, which will be a retelling of The Little Mermaid.

Overall, I loved the book, and will definitely read it again soon. 

Now for my favorite part of a review: the thing I learned. Before today, I have never in my life heard the word "squickable". Gretchen tells Sophia to leave out all things "squickable" when Sophia is dishing about a date that she and Gretchen's brother went on. I immediately looked up the word in my dictionary app on my iPhone, and came up with nothing. So I googled the word and found that Urban Dictionary defines it as "disgusting and thoroughly unpleasant". I am not sure if it is an ACTUAL word, or slang, but I like it. Squickable. Hmmmm.....