RUMP, JACK & RED

I came across the Liesl Shurtliff fairy tale retellings on Amazon one day. I bought Rump and Jack, and put Red on my wishlist, so this was early this year, as Red released in April.

I read Rump pretty quickly and enjoyed it. I love clever takes on fairy tales and I really liked Rump and Red. I honestly read it so long ago now that I only have vague memories, but the most important thing is that I did enjoy it.

Jack, on the other hand, took me longer. I believe I started it right after finishing Rump, but I only got a chapter in before I set it down. I guess I wasn't ready for the fairy tale 'verse again that soon.

When I got Red in April, I hadn't gotten any farther in Jack, so I picked it up again and this time I made it several chapters in. I got to the part where Jack first makes it into Above, and then I got sidetracked again.

It was actually only a few days ago that I picked Jack back up and this time I made myself finish it! It was quite good, although I think it's the weakest of the three. Annabelle, Jack's little sister, is my favorite character. Shurtliff did an interesting job of blending Jack's tale into the world of Rump. I never expected Jack and his world to be the little people! The "giants" are in the world that Rump takes place in, which is set in the sky above Jack's world, which is much smaller. The king and queen from Rump are major characters in Jack, as well as the queen's brothers. Rump is not seen again, only briefly mentioned by the queen. The story is solid, just not as good as Rump.

Then there's Red. I got a couple chapters into this yesterday, then got distracted by the newest Monster High book. I picked Red back up tonight and couldn't put it down. This is hands down the strongest, most meaningful of the trilogy, and it's actually one of my favorite fairy tale-related books ever. Shurtliff seamlessly blends all sorts of tales into one big adventure: Red Riding Hood, of course, but also Snow White and Rose Red, the other Snow White, Goldilocks, and Beauty and the Beast. There are also other magical creatures like pixies, tree nymphs, water sprites and dwarves. It's just so good!

If you like creative fairy tale-inspired stories, definitely read this series. I would recommend doing them all in order. You don't have to read Rump and Jack to appreciate Red, but you will get the little nuances better if you read them in order. And I give Red one of my highest possible recommendations!