RED: THE TRUE STORY OF RED RIDING HOOD, Liesl Shurtliff

I’m starting to realize that I’ve read and reviewed a fair number of fantasy books inspired by the Little Red Riding Hood story, and more are on the way. So either this cape-wearing girl is just really popular, or my repertoire is too narrow, and what little readership I have will soon be sick to death of her. In my defense, two of those stories were about the same Red Riding Hood from Once Upon A Time, just as this Red is the same character featured in Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin. For both girls, the second book is their true debut as protagonists, so technically I’ve only reviewed two Red Riding Hood stories, right? (Not for long—be on the lookout for Sisters Red.)

In my further defense, I had to give Red a try after enjoying Rump so much, even if part of that enjoyment came from my attachment to the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale—and a certain TV show’s rendition of its titular character. But Shurtliff’s smart and fun writing styles played no small part, so Red deserves as much consideration. 

ONCE UPON A TIME: RED’S UNTOLD TALE, Wendy Toliver

Hey, what’s black, white and Red all over? It’s ABC’s latest attempt to hold on to audience interest in their fairytale franchise—and it’s not too shabby, if I may say so. Certainly a step up from how our beloved Red Riding Hood was utilized in Shadow of the Queen.

Unlike previous addends to the OUAT lore via printed media, Toliver’s novel takes us back to an earlier period in Red’s life, filling in bits of backstory and fleshing out her relationships with Granny, childhood hunk-friend Peter, and other members of her village. It also has a YA flavor, but not to an irritating degree. It follows several tropes of coming-of-age stories without becoming too cliché. You have romantic and sexual awakening, school bullies, weird dreams the hero doesn’t understand but have something to do with finding her true self—yeah, that does sound more overdone when you break it down, but Toliver’s easy, fluid yet intelligent writing style articulates the understandable trials of entering adulthood and makes them feeling organic and visceral to her (well, ABC’s) characters.