Thursday, June 12, 2014

Review: Red by Kate SeRine

Title: Red
Author: Kate SeRine
Series: Book One in the Transplanted Tales Series
Published By: Kensington (August 2, 2012)
Source: Purchased
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Rating 3.5 Stars

Book Description:
“My name is Tess Little. But everyone calls me Red.”

Once upon a time, a spell went awry, stranding Make Believe characters in the ordinary world. Since then, Tess “Red” Little—a/k/a Little Red Riding Hood—has worked as an Enforcer for the Chicago branch of the Fairytale Management Authority. But, consider yourself warned—she’s not just some waif with a basket of goodies. All grown up and with nothing to lose, a gun and combat boots is more her style. And Red’s new assignment threatens to be short on happily ever afters…

Someone is murdering transplanted Tales in gruesome fashion. The list of fictional characters capable of such grisly acts is short and includes more than one of Red’s old flames. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s another complication, in the form of sexy, enigmatic Nate Grimm, the FMA’s lead detective and part-time Reaper. Used to following her own rules and living life on the edge, Red has managed to avoid taking on a partner until now. But Nate’s dark side makes him perfect for a case like this. That is, if she can trust him. Because if there’s one thing Red knows for sure, it’s that believing in the wrong person can have big, bad consequences…









I love retellings and if you asked me why I wouldn't even be able to tell you except that maybe since the magic is gone from the reading the story the first time, I maybe hope to recapture that say magic from reading it a second, only this time having it be different. New surprises and twists and maybe even a new outcome. Same beloved characters in a slightly altered reality. 

I loved the whole theme of this one, fairy tales creatures and literary characters coming out of the pages and into the real world. The good, the bad, and even the ugly. 

I loved how they had to blend in and adapt. How they dealt with their fairy tale persona as well and who they were in the real world now, trying to act human while not being at all. 

Most of all, I loved Grimm. He was a kick butt character that I just couldn't get enough of. I wanted to know more about his mysterious past and how he came to be a reaper, I wanted to know everything about him. Sadly we really get very little history from him but bits and pieces here and there. 

Red, hmm, what to say about her? She is fierce and pretty kick butt (in most ways, definitely as an Enforcer, not so much in her real life) but like all the Tales in the story she has some serious issues and hang ups, even though I liked her, at times she was pretty wishy washy and that bothered me a little and I had a harder time connecting with her than I would have liked but I did eventually connect with her and grow to really like her.

There were some pretty fascinating crazy messed up characters in this and I loved that about this story. It was fast paced and action packed, it never lacked in the mystery department or in adventure and I will definitely be continuing on with the series.





*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

42 comments:

  1. ooooohhhh! Sounds fantastic. I LOVE retellings so much

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    1. I really do too for some reason, there is just something about them. :)

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  2. YEP. Grimm was awesome. Secondary characters were awesome. Premise was awesome. Red . . . not as much. I had written off this series after this book, but you've reminded me of how much I liked the other characters, and I considering giving it another go. Great review!

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    1. I hope you do because I tried the novella that comes after this and loved it. Of course, it didn't hurt that it was all about Grimm. ;)

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  3. I haven't heard of this before but I love the whole idea of fairy tale creatures coming out of the page. Retellings and re-imaginings of popular stories are always fun to read. Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. I hadn't either until recently, glad I could introduce it to you. :)

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  4. Aside from Red being wishy washy at times, this story sounds really fun! I especially want to meet Grimm and see how all the fairytale characters fit into our world. Thanks for putting this one on my radar Ali!

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  5. Yay, I'm, glad you had fun with this one Ali! I've had my eye on it ever since I realized it was fairytale characters with Grimm staring in this one.Thanks for reminding me to check this out further :)

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    1. Glad I could remind you, even though it isn't perfect, it really was a fun read and worth it.

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  6. It seems like everything here except Red was phenomenal! I agree with your reasoning about fairy tale retellings... I want the original with awesome twists that would make me fall in love with that tale all over again. Unfortunately, very few actually does the trick (have you read Tiger Lily? That one was AWESOME. And oh, there's the Lunar Chronicles, too. Can't forget that). In any case, wishy-washy characters totally annoy me, even though sometimes I'm like that in real life. Sometimes I just don't want to see it in books where characters are supposed to be the role models! Haha.

    Faye at The Social Potato Reviews

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    1. I hear ya and I do plan on checking the Lunar Chronicles out and I have heard good things about Tiger Lily too, I had completely forgotten about that one so thank you for the reminder!

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  7. I just got a book that sounds pretty similar to this one so I'll skip it for now because of that. But I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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  8. Hmm.. I bought this awhile back and then I read a couple of not so terrific reviews and now I have shelved it for awhile. It sounds like you liked it but weren't overly impressed. I agree I want exciting and fresh in a retelling.

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    1. Well you never know until you try it. I know Kim loves this series so hopefully you will like it as well. ;)

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  9. Oh Kindlemom this sounds fab. It's definitely going on my aching TBR pile
    thanks!

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  10. I'm happy to hear this one was a really good read for you! I have an itch for a fast paced- mystery like book so i defiently want to pick this one up!
    Lily

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  11. I haven't read a lot of fairytale retellings, but this sounds like a fun, entertaining book. And I love that she's Red Riding Hood.

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    1. It was entertaining even with the ups and downs it had.

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  12. I love the Red Riding Hood theme. Sounds good. Nice review!

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  13. This is a great series, the book after this is my favorite.

    P.S. New follower!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and for being a new follower!!

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  14. Oh I really enjoued this one. It was my fave book in the series. I'm curious to see what you'll think about them.

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    1. I do want to read more of them after having read this one. ;)

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  15. I'm usually a bit on the hesitant side when it comes to retellings, but as far as I can recall, I've loved the ones I've read. I do like the sound of this one because Grimm send pretty good.

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  16. I'm glad you liked this one. I love fairy tale retellings also. This one sounds pretty interesting! I like the idea of Grimm :) I'm sorry that Red was wishy washy... I don't like it when characters are like that. It makes it hard for me to connect with them. Thanks for your honest review!

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    1. Thanks Natalie, her character does get better in the next book. ;)

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  17. I do enjoy retellings too and I've read mixed reviews for this book, also because of Red's character but I heard the series does get better and I'm really curious about Grimm now! Awesome review, Kindlemom! Will def check this out :)

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    1. Grimm really does make it worth it plus there are a lot of great secondary characters as well. ;)

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  18. This sounds like something I would like,too. I'll check it out, thanks for sharing :)

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  19. This is such a fun series and yes Grimm is wonderful I hope you read the rest!

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  20. oh so it's like a retelling? I think I would love Grimm also <3

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    1. Not exactly a retelling so much as characters from stories coming to life and trying to live in the "real world" so to speak.

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  21. What? A little red riding hood with her as an enforcer and a character named Grimm. How did I miss this book! I need to have this book in my life! Going on my TBR as wel speak

    Great Review!

    Michelle @ Book Briefs

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