Review: Sisters Red

Title:Sisters Red
Author:Jackson Pearce
Source: Library
Rating:  Four stars-I'd take this book for coffee
Audience: Teen/adult crossover
Genre: Fantasy (urban)
               *Fairytale Adaptation

Summary from Goodreads:
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

My Thoughts:

This book was not perfect, but I loved it anyway.  I was drawn in by the awesome cover and immediately arrested by the harrowing relationship between Scarlett and her sister, Rosie.  The problem for me was that Scarlett really carried the story, yet it was divided equally.  I could have done without seeing through Rosie's eyes while she made origami or took dancing lessons.  She didn't strike me as a complex character despite the outrageous circumstances.

"I follow, always, because it's the only time when our hearts beat in perfect harmony, the only time when I'm certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are one person broken in two.” 

Scarelett, however, was beautifully developed.  If I could go back and time, she'd be second on my "Character's I'd Trade Places with for 24 hours" list.  I found her drive to kill the wolves both admirable and disturbing, the way she deals with her scars fascinating, and her desperation to hold onto her sister heartbreaking.  

The atmosphere in this story was really dark and menacing, which of course I enjoyed.  The imagining of werewolves was AWESOME.  You will not be falling in love with these creatures, and if you did they'd rip you apart.  Were it not for the strong element of human romance, this story would be solid horror.

"It was him, the salesman, but it was also...not.  He still had shiny blond hair, but now it was speckled across his body like patches of disease.  His eyes were enormous and hollow, his mouth twisted and stretched as if his fave ad been pulled apart at the corners, revealing rows of long, pointed fangs.  His back arched as if it were broken, hunching his shoulders and turning his feet it.  And his feet...the horrible claws were as long as fishing hooks and left deep gashes in the floor-boards as he inched closer to the girl