GOOD TUESDAY

 Good morning all , the heat has broken here for now hope you are keeping cool . Today I have a story retelling by Pam Funke and her book INTO THE WOODS , 

                            BOOK BLURB

 "Never in all my days did I think I would have to return to the woods of my nightmares." ~Gretel After saving her brother, Hansel, when they were young, from the evil Lucretia Thunderbane, Gretel never thought she would one day have to return to the dreaded wood, Bialowieza Forest. Oma Leiderhosen warned Awodiya to stay out of the woods behind their quaint German house in Stuttgart, Germany. But like most children, she did the opposite of what she was told. Awodiya knew she shouldn't have followed that kid into the forest but she never knew her Opa's tales were true. Oh how she wished she had listened to her grandmother now. Trapped inside the house of Die Hexe in the center of the forest, Awodiya learns a part of the tale that was never included in Opa's stories. Was it true? Would her mother come to rescue her?

                        MY REVIEW 

       Hansel and Gretel have all grown up and living in America . Gretel and her daughter Awodiya have moved for a new job after loosing her husband . When she gets a call from her brother saying their father had a major accident and is in the hospital in Florida. Then they are heading to their homeland Germany to bury him . When old tales come true and we find out about the witch in the forest and her gingerbread house . Awodiya found out that story is real the hard way . Will Gretel be able to rescue her daughter . 

 This is a retelling of Hansel and Gretel and its pretty good . The characters are well written and complex . Awodiya has moments where she comes off as a little bit on the bossy side and she thinks she knows everything . Usually she is a sweet girl going through so much at the moment. Gretel I think is suffering a bit of ptsd . She really goes through a lot through out the book.  The other characters in the book are all well written and complex . 

   This is a fairy tail that is updated for today , the author did a pretty good job with the story and using Gretel and Hansel as adults . The author also adds a bit of religion to the mix . I really liked the story but I just felt that there was some things that were started and really not finished through out the book . The story also just had an abrupt ending, I felt like there really wasn't a completion to the story. Don't get me wrong I liked the story and the author's way of writing . She can spin a great story , so if you want a good retelling of a fairy tale . Check it out and add it to your summer reading list.