Review: Red's Untold Tale

Red's Untold Tale 
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher, Titan! 

It's Wolfstime, the foreboding period around each full moon when villagers must protect their homes and families against the giant, ferocious wolves that roam the forest. On the day Red turned thirteen, Granny gave her a special red cloak upon which a spell had been cast to protect Red from wolves.Red is now sixteen and is desperately trying to fit in among her peers, save Granny's failing bakery business, and, of course, protect herself from wolves. Her crush on Peter and her determination not to let the mean girls sabotage her blossoming romance cause Red to make some questionable choices.Will these choices let the wolves in? Will Red pick the right battle? Will her skills be strong enough to keep her alive?

Once Upon a Time is one of my favourite shows okay. It cheers me up, it makes my day, it has stunning costumes and I'm not gonna lie, I would trade a spare organ to get to be in it. Red is one of my favourite characters from the show, she's not in it enough in my opinion, and so getting to read this...to learn more about her and her background? Amazing. 

Red's Untold Tale is a fast paced, quick and easy read, that's also kind of heartbreaking if you've watched the show and know what happens to Peter. Honestly I loved the romance and friendship between he and Red and it makes the scenes from the show so much more heartbreaking and it made reading the book a little bit of a sad experience at points! They where so adorable together and it gave me the warm and fuzzies when I was watching it all play out. 

I felt for Red a great deal. She's lost her parents and it's just her and Granny. They're struggling to pay taxes, to bring in money, to get the business back to being a success and Red is doing everything she can to help Granny. She's also being bullied by the nastiest character I've met, Violet. Her and her friends are not only messing with Red but they're messing with Granny's business too and Red hasn't told anyone and no-one notices, I was a bit disappointed in Peter for that actually! I came to dislike Violet with a burning passion, but Red did the right thing in the end, although I was disappointed there was no apology to her. 

The narrative smoothly switches between time periods taking us from Red's present to different periods of her past...when she received her cloak for example. You end up getting a lot of glimpses in to Red's background and childhood. We also get glimpses of some of Red's Wolfstime dreams, and if you've watched the show...they're mighty interesting too. I loved seeing Red become the hero of the book, seeing everything she faced and her struggles. It was brilliant to see how she got to the place she is in the show, to see her become more fleshed out. 

Red's Untold Tale is a fantastic addition to the OUAT world, it takes a fan favourite character, and gives you more information on her, brings her more to life, and expands on her past and her relationship with Peter, both making the show more interesting and more heartbreaking if you watch it again after having read this. After reading this, I need to get my hands on the other OUAT companion books, if they're as good as this one is! 

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