Book Review - Cloaked

I volunteered to receive an advance copy of Cloaked by Rachel Kovaciny available for pre-order on Amazon, and to write a review of the book on this blog, and on Amazon. According to the author's recent blog post, the book is already on Amazon's top seller list. 

The author makes no secret of the fact that this western story is based upon the old story of Little Red Riding Hood. As the characters are introduced in the book, the reader should immediately understand their roles from the traditional tale. The characters remain true to those roles. I liked the fact that the author didn't twist the characters into something either unrecognizable, or repugnant to the spirit of the familiar story.

The story moved along rapidly in getting Mary Rose from back east to her grandmother's ranch out west. Once she arrived at the ranch, the pace slowed; the reader is treated to some character development, lots of horse riding lessons, Jane Austen references, and the beginnings of a potential romance. This was my least favorite part of the book. However, I expect the target audience will enjoy this part of the book.

Things pick up by chapter thirteen. The action begins in earnest, taking us to the conventional, exciting climax. Naturally, there is a happy ending. 

This is a good, clean story. The reader knows the path that the story will take. There are no surprises along the way; the story has been neatly expanded and transplanted from old Europe to the American west. The author's prose is clear, and direct. The tale is well-told.

I think the target audience for this book, teenage girls, and mature women looking for a good read, should find this a solid four-out-of-five-stars story.