Bibliography: Pearce, Jackson. (2011). Sweetly. New York: Little Brown Young Readers. ISBN: 978-0316068659
Plot Summary: As a child, Gretchen all but watched as her twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Brother Ansel could do nothing either. They kept waiting for the witch to return for them. Many years later, their stepmother kicked them out and they got in their car and drove, and drove and drove until it died outside of Live Oak, South Carolina. Young and beautiful, candy maker Sophia invites them to stay, then keeps finding tasks for Ansel to do to keep them around. The witch won’t find them here, or will she? Local Samuel tells Gretchen of something that lurks in the woods and makes young girls disappear after the chocolate festival. Could it be after her? But this time, Gretchen is not going to run, but stand and fight. The more Gretchen learns, the more afraid she becomes of discovering who the real monster is.
Critical Analysis: I actually liked this much more than Sisters Red. The problem I had with Sisters Red was that the book focused on the three characters and really no one else. This made it hard for the characters to grow or change, and in places was to be honest a bit slow and boring. Characters need other characters to interact with, they need to be out in the world. I think Sweetly expands the picture, adding more primary and secondary players to the mix. It feels more real, like a time and place and people that you might meet in the South. I also find this loss and fear to be more primal. The idea that something is lurking in the woods and the only reason it doesn’t have you yet is because it hasn’t caught you feels very much like an underlying theme from any number of traditional fairy tales. And while I see many call this a reconstruction of the original tale (Hansel and Gretel) for me it is actually much closer to a retelling or re imagining and that works for me.
Review Excerpts: “The story revisits several themes…including sibling bonds and betrayals, the loss of childhood innocence, and the sharp teeth of the big, bad world. Gretchen is a more nuanced character …and her relationship with Ansel doesn’t suffer quite as much from the trials they face together.”–Publisher’s Weekly
“This is more of a mash-up of the fairy tale and some recent best sellers than a reframing of the story in a deep Southern setting, and Pearce’s writing is too long on breathlessness and suppressed anguish and too short on actual plot. Will any of this pull readers in? Make them want to read 300 pages? Highly unlikely.”–School Library Journal
Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy. Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.
