Red Hood's Revenge (Princess Series, Book 3)

Red Hood's Revenge (Princess Series, Book 3)
Jim C. Hines, 2010


Premise: The famed assassin, the Lady of the Red Hood (aka Red Riding Hood), comes to Whiteshore with a challenge. She plans to lure Talia back to her ancestral kingdom, where darker plans are afoot between the fairies who put her to sleep and the family who stole her throne.

Side Note: What is Talia doing
with her foot? That... isn't standing.
It might be modern dance.

I didn't like this one quite as much as its predecessors - The Stepsister Scheme and The Mermaid's Madness - but it was still an enjoyable read.

There was a lot of expansion of Talia's (Sleeping Beauty) backstory and her kingdom here, and it was interesting, but didn't completely come to life to me. The way the human and fairy societies intersected around tradition and religions almost worked, but I just didn't find it fully coherent, or all that compelling.

I did like the Temple of the Hedge, a monastic healing order that grew from the desire to ease the suffering of the princes who died (horribly) trying to reach Sleeping Beauty. I also really liked the character and story of Roudette (Red Riding Hood) and her interactions with Talia were fantastic.

There were plenty of bright spots, and it's still overall a good book, but this installment fell a bit flat for me.

3 Stars – A Good Book