Red by Kate Serine

Transplanted Tales, Book 1

Synopsis: “My name is Tess Little. But everyone calls me Red.”

Once upon a time, a spell went awry, stranding Make Believe characters in the ordinary world. Since then, Tess “Red” Little—a/k/a Little Red Riding Hood—has worked as an Enforcer for the Chicago branch of the Fairytale Management Authority. But, consider yourself warned—she’s not just some waif with a basket of goodies. All grown up and with nothing to lose, a gun and combat boots is more her style. And Red’s new assignment threatens to be short on happily ever afters…

Someone is murdering transplanted Tales in gruesome fashion. The list of fictional characters capable of such grisly acts is short and includes more than one of Red’s old flames. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s another complication, in the form of sexy, enigmatic Nate Grimm, the FMA’s lead detective and part-time Reaper. Used to following her own rules and living life on the edge, Red has managed to avoid taking on a partner until now. But Nate’s dark side makes him perfect for a case like this. That is, if she can trust him. Because if there’s one thing Red knows for sure, it’s that believing in the wrong person can have big, bad consequences…

Review: I heard a lot of things about this book since its release, I must say that my wonderful bloggers friends Marcela, Melissa and Julie wrote some sublime reviews about this one. They really made me want to discover the series and therefore this first volume. I needed a little time to read it due to lack of time and I really regret for not having done it before! And after reading it, I can say that I’ve immediately started the second one.

I must admit that before my review I would like to say that it is rare for me to like remakes of fairy tales. It is always very difficult to surpass the stories we all know. And it is true that I have been disappointed more than once, I had even given up hope of being amazed by a story like this one. But I was completely wrong and this book showed me how some authors perfectly mastered these stories and how they came to write real gems.

So now let’s talk about the story because it is what is the most interesting here! We discover Tess, also called Red, a young woman far from the naive little girl from the tale as we know it. After many adventures she became an investigator, working for a special branch dealing with characters from fairy tales. But maybe I should start with the world that Kate Serine has created so that you can understand how she got there. Indeed, these characters live among ordinary humans who are unaware of their existence. Appears here our heroine who takes care of this beautiful little world and who tries to bring law by any means. But her life will change dramatically when she had to team up with Nate Grimm or called Death, to investigate the murders of many fictional characters. Red is very talented in her work and is determined to find the culprit at any cost. But when she realizes that all the suspects are her former lovers, she is not very happy. Especially when the name of Seth appears, the man who broke her heart, the wolf of her youth. And even if she is convinced of the innocence of them all, she will need to investigate and to face her former lovers to find the truth.

I was completely swept away by the story, it was a wonderful surprise! Tess is a character I loved to understand and discover. She has everything for the perfect Urban Fantasy heroine: she is courageous, determined, dynamic but also full of fragility and weaknesses buried deep within herself. She shows a side of herself to each, but only a few people knows who she really is. It was really interesting to see all these persons around her, all the characters from the stories we love. We can thus have Dracula, Elizabeth Darcy and her husband, Seth the werewolf, Granny, and many others for our pleasure. But Nate is the one we really love! This character is the most intriguing. He is full of mysteries and contradictions. We know that he hides many things from Red, but he will be there for her no matter what happens and he will try to protect her as best he can. We hope to learn more about him and it will be the case as we progress in the story. The relationship we have between them both is really cute and I enjoyed seeing it grow and evolve little by little.

The plot is also full of suspense and I was eager to know who the culprit was. I must say that our doubts are always changing and it’s difficult to know who we can trust. Kate Serine perfectly knows how to lead her story and her characters. I look forward to learn more about each of them and to discover new ones. This book is filled with lovely ideas and if you are a lover of tales and urban fantasy, do not hesitate because you won’t be disappointed. This story is unique and this time it’s a perfect mix!

5

mellianefini

13 thoughts on “Red by Kate Serine

  1. This sounds excellent! I actually love fairytales retellings 🙂 I love the TV-show ‘Once Upon a Time’ where especially the female characters are very far from the meek princesses they were in the actual fairytales.

    Great review 🙂 More series to add to my TBR 😉

    Have a wonderful weekend, Melliane.

  2. Happy you loved this! Kate is really awesome and her fairy tale take is superb! Wait til you read The Better To See You, you’ll fall even more in love with her world and Lavender is a great heroine!

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