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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Gem More Grim than Grimm, May 31, 2010
This review is from: Candy Houses: Grimm's Circle, book 1 (Kindle Edition)
The Grimm brothers have nothing on Shiloh Walker, who tells a mean tale. Literally. This grim twist on Grimm is original, unique, and interesting, and Walker has penned another dark, rich novella to start an exciting new series. So much urban fantasy and paranormal romance is based around the idea that there's always a kernel of truth in all folk lore and fairy tales, and Walker not only embraces that ideology, she slams into it, tackles it to the ground, and hog ties it until it does her bidding!
In Candy Houses, Greta and Rip are known to children everywhere as Gretel of Hansel and Gretel fame, and Rip as in Van Winkle, but neither one of the fairy tales and folk lore that surround them do more than glimmer at the truth. Greta, as she prefers to be called now, and Rip, didn't get anything resembling a happily ever after like the stories say. They got an immortal upgrade and were given wings, becoming a member of the Grimm, a group of guardian angels that are here to help humanity and save them from the myriad of dangers from other realms, demons, and other assorted nasties. Their wings are more metaphorical than actual, of course, but their skill is unmatched, and they're very hard to kill. They have to be. It's a dark, often lonely, deadly life that takes its toll on its warriors.
Greta and Rip worked together about a hundred years ago and after a night of passion that rocked both their worlds, Greta fled, and hasn't been able to stop thinking of Rip ever since. And Rip knows that he may not survive another encounter with Greta, the woman he loved and lost after far too brief a time all those years ago. Could the fact that they've ended up in the same city at the same time, fighting what turns out to be the same fight be a good omen for them both? Perhaps Happily Ever After isn't out of the question after all?
Candy Houses manages to develop both Greta's and Rip's characters with a surprising level of depth and complexity as well as provide a truly taut and tense plot that moves quickly even as it offers a lot of world building and mythos creation to start this series. I'm impressed again at Walker's ability to use what length allowed in her novellas to provide such a full reading experience, and I think the twist on the fairy tale idea is brilliant.
The only caveat (IMO) was the final conflict at the end. With all the development and mythos explanation, Candy Houses is still limited to a novella length story, and there seems to have been a sacrifice made. There were motivations and explanations that didn't get explained, and the conflict with Big Bad ended up being a lot of hype with little hazard. It was a little of a letdown. Still, points for everything Walker manages to accomplish in this nifty little novella and I've already downloaded No Prince Charming: Grimm's Circle, Book 2 so I can continue with these dark and delicious fairy tales.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The start of a great new series by Shiloh Walker, March 20, 2010
This review is from: Candy Houses: Grimm's Circle, book 1 (Kindle Edition)
Shiloh Walker is here to give the Brothers Grimm some competition. In her new series, Grimm's Circle, Walker creates a cool new world in which guardian angels are more human than ever before, and we get to see the truth behind the fairy tales.
The first book in the series, "Candy Houses", tells the story of Greta and Rip. You've read about them before- Gretel of Hansel and Gretel fame, and Rip Van Winkle of the long, long nap- but never like this. They have both become Grimms, sort of combination paranormal-superhero-guardian angels. Their role is to protect people from monsters and demons. As Rip explains it, there must be balance; if there's evil there's also good, and visa versa.
"Candy Houses" is a novella, approximately 100 pages in .pdf form. I am the first to admit that I'm normally not a fan of short stories when it comes to romance or mysteries. Those are two genres that need time to develop in order to gain the realism or depth that makes them interesting. However, Shiloh Walker has converted me. The romance didn't feel rushed or fake; it was actually sweeter and more believable than many I've read. The writing was, as always, excellent, the plot engaging, and the characters well developed.
There are thousands of fairy tales out there, and I don't doubt that fans will be clamoring to see Walker put her unique spin on their favorites.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shiloh Walker does an amazing job reinventing this classic fairy tale character, March 27, 2010
This review is from: Candy Houses: Grimm's Circle, book 1 (Kindle Edition)
Overall, Candy Houses is an amazing story, and while it is an ebook, it is totally worth the effort of getting and reading it. There are not very many books that make me instantly want to get a sequel enough to preorder it, but as soon as I heard No Prince Charming was going to be released, that's exactly what I did. In fact, I can tell you exactly how many novels I've preordered in the past two years, because I've only done it twice. Seriously, Candy Houses is a fabulous and everyone should be reading it at some point.
To read my full review, please check out Literary Escapism.
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