Cloaked - Little Red Riding Hood in the Wild West

Little red riding hood
(Not the real cover.)  You can check out
the cover art and pre-order the book here!
Little Red Riding Hood meets classic Western - what a cool idea!  I was excited to read Cloaked, because I love LRRH, and fairy tales and Westerns are two of the best storytelling genres out there.  Since LRRH already has some Western elements (woods and wolves!), I was curious how the two would merge in this retelling.

The story begins with Mary Rose O'Brien boarding a stagecoach to visit her grandmother.  Mary Rose is extremely nervous because she's never met her grandma Jubilee before, yet her parents are hoping that, by making a good impression, she will mend the long rift between Mary Rose's father and Jubilee.  To make matters worse, her traveling companions are a rough-looking laborer and an over-friendly bookkeeper, and she is not sure she can trust either of them.  Mary Rose is hoping for some adventures at her grandma's Wyoming ranch, but when she arrives, she has no idea just how exciting life there will be.

Right off the bat, the narrative pulled me in with its concise, descriptive writing and easy tone.  It felt almost like watching an episode of The Virginian (my favorite classic Western show).  The light humor was enjoyable, and Mary Rose is a likeable heroine from "back East."  She's kind of the quintessential Awkward Girl, but she's no Mary Sue, either, as she has to strive to fit in at a new place and win Jubilee over.  I liked the back-story Kovaciny created for the two of them; it gave LRRH an additional obstacle to overcome, while their friendship was just a given in the original tale.

Though Mary Rose is a well-rounded character, I would have liked to see more character development for Linden and Small, instead of having to take them as "bad guy" and "good guy" at face value.  Also, there was more romance in the story than I was expecting, and as it went on, I wasn't sure if I was really the intended audience.  (Nothing against romance, I'm just more into adventure plots.)  On the plus side, it challenged Mary Rose to be brave and stand up for herself.  This would be an excellent read for young girls, with a message of following your intuition and trusting to God instead of Prince Charming.

Overall, I enjoyed Cloaked and would recommend it to anyone 10+ looking for a fun, romantic Western tale.  This is the first book in the author's Once Upon a Western series, and I look forward to reading more!

I received a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Loving - A Ramble on Chapters 1–2.1

Image
This month, Cleo is hosting a readalong of The Art of Loving (1956) by Erich Fromm and On Friendship by Cicero. It's a sequel to the Four Loves Readalong - which feels recent but was actually back in June(!!).  Fromm and C. S. Lewis were contemporaries (and Lewis's book was published just four years later), so it adds interest to see how their perspectives correspond or differ.  I'm also looking forward to Cicero, as I haven't read many ancient classics. You can find the full schedule on Cleo's post.  I felt the need to break down my check-ins a little more, so this one will cover the first 1 1/3 chapters. Chapter 1, "Is Love an Art?" Fromm opens with his short but pithy thesis - that love is not just a flurry of feelings, but an actual scientific art, like music or medicine, which must be learned and practiced. He posits three interrelated societal problems.  First, culture is overly focused on the state of "being loved," particul
Read more

Septober, Octember, Nowonder...

Image
WHERE did October go??  Two weeks since my last post, can't believe it. Book-wise... I did finish The Art of Loving and need to write up my final post this weekend.  For a short book it was quite a journey, and thought-provoking - I'm grateful Cleo hosted it as a readalong! Also in non-fiction land, I read Permanent Record , Edward Snowden's new autobiographical memoir.  I knew very little about him previously, and it actually blew me away.  It might be because I'm a millennial: I saw bits and pieces of my own life experience in his, and it was kind of surreal reading it in book form.  Of course it focuses on his path from dutiful employee to whistleblower, which was fascinating from a psychological and technological perspective.  Definitely recommended. The one classic I read was Macbeth .  To be honest, I found it massively underwhelming, which is probably just me.  I may try to share some thoughts about it. I am still reading Moby-Dick for Brona '
Read more

Autumn Plans

Image
It feels as if my reading has been slipping by the wayside, but that's not really been the case.  Most of the books I've read this summer just haven't blown me away, so it's been a bit of a disappointment. Reading status update on a few of the better ones: Tesla biography - I do like this book, a beautiful balance of academic and popular science.  It's very Educational, so it's taking me a while to get through it. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Reading this for the 3rd or 4th time.  It is my favorite thing to read when I really want an escape.   Nostromo - Still chugging along, now in part 2.  New characters, new goings on.  I'm surprised actually at there being new characters; not sure where Conrad is taking it. Moby-Dick - Still participating in the read-along, but very much behind schedule. Brave New World - Started strong, then realized I needed a break from dystopian.  Will continue shortly. Psalms - Finished them!  Now re-reading Prov
Read more