Name: juliana's review of The Shrike & the Shadows by Chantal Gadoury
Item: The Shrike & the Shadows
Rating: 5
Author: juliana

Chantal Gadoury

A. M. Wright

The village of Krume is plagued by a haunted wood and a hungry witch. It’s been that way for as long as Hans and Greta can remember, though they have never seen the witch themselves; no one has. When men start to disappear once again in the cover of night - their bloody hearts turning up on doorsteps - the village falls into frenzied madness. Hans and Greta, two outcast orphans, find themselves facing accusations of witchcraft and are met with an ultimatum: burn at the stake, or leave the village forever. With nowhere else to go, they abandon their only home. As they venture into the strange forest, their path is fraught with horrific creatures, wild and vivid hallucinations, and a mysterious man tied to the witch's past. The Shrike is watching, just beyond the deep darkness of the woods.

The Shrike & the Shadows

Solange Bello

juliana

this dark and enchanting retelling had me on the edge of my seat!! this is a Hansel and Gretel retelling escalated to 100 and is wickedly beautiful! a must read if you are a fan of books like to kill a kingdom and a curse so dark and lonely. 5/5 stars absolutely!!!

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

I recieved an e-arc copy of the book from the authors in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Shrike and the Shadow is a new adult retelling of the story of Hansel and Gretel. I will be honest, I’m not a big fan of the original fairytale, but since this was a new adult twist, and having already read other books by Gadoury, I decided to give it a try nonetheless. Sadly, the experiment didn’t work for me.

Issue number 1: The lack of trigger warnings. It is not the first time I am contacted by Parliament House or its authors, and once again there were no warnings about explicit mature content. Personally, I don’t have an issue with them, but I know that many readers do, and they have a right to be warned—especially when approached for a review—about similar content. So for anyone who might want to give The Shrike and the Shadow a try, trigger warning!!! There is an attempted rape scene very early on in this book, as well as gore and sex (though frankly I’m a bit less adamant about pointing out this sort of content).

That being said, issue number 2: The pacing, which is incredibly slow. There are 30 chapters, and the better part of half of them are used to set up Hans and Greta’s escape into the woods. I do appreciate the care with which the authors represented the bigotry of a medieval small village, but at a certain point I got a bit tired of reading about the misogyny and zealotry and wanted to proceed with the story. Another thing that I thought slowed down the pace were the many flashbacks, which were at times hard to pinpoint as such.

Issue number 3: The characters. Throughout the entire book, I found it impossible to relate or get attached to any of them. The one who left the biggest impression was Hans, and it wasn’t the best. I didn’t appreciate his cocky attitude, the way he used and discarded women for his pleasure and the way he treated Greta was just annoying to say the least. On the other hand, Greta was an extremely weak character, hardly ever standing up for herself and incapable of taking care of herself. My dislike of Greta as a character made it hard to feel anything for her love story, which I found to be rushed and quite strange. Greta feels like a child most times, while, despite appearing young, her love interest is in fact older than her—which shows in the way he acts and thinks. 
My dislike of the characters extends to the Shrike. I cannot understand this villain or her motivations. She was just evil for the sake of being evil, and crazy for the sake of being crazy.

Issue number 4: The magic. I can accept that in a fantasy world, sometimes something is magical because you need it to be. But my issue with the magic system in this book was that it seemed to have no patters and no rules. For the majority of the book, we’re led to believe the woods are magical because of the Shrike. Toward the end, we learn that the Shrike was actually a product of the woods, but how or why the woods have the power to change a person is never explained, nor is it ever explained how the Shrike’s magic works.

In short, I didn’t like this book. I feel like these are issues I could have had with any book, but my dislike of the original fairytale definitely didn’t help. However, if you’re a fan of Hansel and Gretel and want to try a retelling of this fairytale, you could give this book a try and see if you enjoy it more than I did.

Sheila Goicea

I received an ARC of this book via the publisher, The Parliament House, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review.



All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication. 

Content Warning: Death of a loved one, Murder, Gore and graphic injuries, Body Horror, Attempted rape, Premarital sex, Cannibalism

  ”We must all of us be cautious of the woods. The Shrike comes for all young boys and men now. Don’t speak to strangers! And don’t leave the path.”

The Shrike and the Shadows is an incredibly dark story, highlighting the dangerous paths that lust can lead one down. A Hansel and Gretel retelling, it draws inspiration from horrors like The Blair Witch Project. The tale is definitely tailored to mature readers, as there is a lot of sexual and horror content that is not suitable for young readers.

It is disturbing what the mind will believe once it has been deceived. Hans and his sister Gretel have always looked out for one another. Being twins naturally blessed them with a special connection. Their life in Krume, however, has never been very pleasant. Living on the outskirts of town near the woods, they haven’t managed to keep out of the town’s gossip and prying eyes. 

  ”Make no mistake, Hans--the Shrike is evil.”

Despite the poison the town harbors, Hans loves having dalliances with some of the women there. Living alone with his sister is a lonely existence for a young man. So, he sneaks away to indulge in his escapades whenever able. Gretel, none-the-wiser, stays at home, refusing to go into town. The villagers had not taken kindly to them after their mother passed years ago, and their father in recent years. When their mother was found in the woods mangled, the villagers began whispering that she was a witch and deserved her fate.

The town’s cliche hypocritical “religious leader” only makes matters worse when he tries to blackmail Gretel after she refuses his sexual advances. 

  ”But there is a kind of evil that is shrouded by what should appear as good. There are men like Father Emory who play their part. Suck the trust from those around them. Fill the minds of men and women with lies. And they are often the first who are willing to cast the first stone of condemnation.”

Hans stands up for his sister, but his devotion to Gretel comes into question by one of his lovers and makes him doubt his decisions of commitment. Ultimately, this is the moment where selfishness infiltrates Hans and begins to turn his focuses on his personal desires instead, and is the beginning of the downward slope for his character. 

When a man comes up missing from town, the superstition of the Shrike (the witch of the woods) reignites. Coupled with the recent allegations of Father Emory against Gretel of being a witch herself, the twins are forced to flee town. In a place where men and boys aren’t safe, Gretel fears for her brother’s safety, and that he will become the next target of the terrible Shrike. 
What Gretel doesn’t realize is that Hans’ demeanor is slowly shifting, as the Shrike has already begun the process of seducing his heart to her will. 

Following the path through the treacherous woods to find a new life for themselves, the twins are accompanied by Brugg, their long time friend and mentor of sorts. The woods, however, has different plans for them. Death follows in their wake and a shadowy figure with unclear intentions joins the twins on their journey. With a harrowing past, this character may be the savior that holds the twins together. 

This gripping, horrifying Hansel and Gretel retelling certainly makes one question: how far will one go in order to fulfill their own desires? Hans' character especially undergoes this transformation, from the loving brother to a bitter, resentful "protector" of Gretel. Complex, and not always likable characters gives this already edgy story even more bite. Heartache, betrayal, and revenge weave a tale that is dark and gruesome to teach its readers how selfishness comes at the heavy toll paid with other’s trust and dignity. As to the overall rating, this story's reliance on the amount of gore and disturbing content ultimately placed it on a lower rung for me personally.

Vulgarity: Moderate.
Sexual content: Markedly- including explicit sex scenes and disturbing sexual rituals.
Violence: Markedly.

My Rating: ★★★

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Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by The Parliament House. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Another retelling that I wasn’t sure about but this was a little bit more obvious than the others! I haven’t had much Hansel and Gretel retellings in the book world so this was really fun to find and listen to.

In this novel, we have a Shrike – which feeds on men and has never been seen before by anyone in the village. Hans and Greta are orphans and haven’t had an encounter with the Shrike before. However, things are starting to get worse as the hearts of the men that disappear have been turning up on doorsteps and somehow Hans and Greta are being accused of witchcraft.

Yes, of course, blame the orphans because they don’t have any adults to help stand up for them, but whatever.

I think our narrator Haugen did a great job with this novel. I think it worked out that we had a neutral narrator for this. I think that out of all of the characters that we got to see, I think Greta was my favorite character. I’m kind of bummed that this was just a standalone but sometimes it works out so much better for certain stories.

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia

I received an eARC of this book by the authors in exchange for an honest review. Every opinion is my own.

The Shrike and the Shadows is a New Adult retelling of Hansel and Gretel, set in the village of Krume and the surrounding woods that house the terrible Shrike, a witch that steals men and only returns their hearts. It is dark and twisted, a read I would recommend to people who enjoy seasonal reads for Halloween, or creepy reads in general. It isn’t for everyone due to the amount of blood and gore, and readers who don’t enjoy reading about sex (definitely not my case) might not want to pick up this book. I do wish I had been given a trigger warning for sexual assault when I’ve been contacted for this book, since it’s one of the few things I really can’t bring myself to read. It is very early on in the book, and it was a rather unpleasant surprise. 

I enjoyed the eerie atmosphere of the book, as well as the complex sibling relationship between Hans and Greta. However, I did find the first part of the story to be a little slow. Furthermore, I couldn’t entirely connect to the characters. The only one that left a lasting impression on me was Hans, simply because I have many opinions about him. He clearly cares for his sister, but at the same time, he’s selfish and uses her as an excuse not to marry any of the other girls of the village. He has his fun and then abandons them, and everyone is quick to blame Greta for it, not him. He feels bad about it, but then again he says some harsh things to his sister, who ultimately pays the price for his mistakes. He’s complex and often times I wanted to slap him, but it made for an interesting character. Greta is a saint, no doubt, but her strength is often overshadowed by her childishness. She cries a lot, and I do understand that the situation is dire, but there’s just too much of it and it makes it difficult to like her. Then there’s Barin, whose sole role, in my opinion, is to be the brooding and mysterious love interest for Greta. The result, however, was that he was the least interesting of the characters for me. I didn’t feel any chemistry at all between him and Greta, and I felt like their romance didn’t add much to the story. The Shrike made for a creepy villain, but we know very little about her. 

I was also a little confused about the ending. It felt sudden and unresolved. I think this was supposed to be a series, but now that Goodreads doesn’t show it as such, I’m having some doubts that this book will have a sequel. If that were the case and since this is an eARC, the ending of the finished product might be different.

Overall, I recommend this book to people who enjoy dark retellings. The original Hansel and Gretel isn’t all rainbows and butterflies either, so fans of the original Grimm version might enjoy the adult take on this story.

Manon van Heumen

This was such a breather for me. Despite the heavy themes it touches upon, it was a quick and easy read for me. I loved the fact that this was a Hansel and Gretel retelling, something you do not see often. I could connect with the characters, and the fact that it was slow for me, didn't bother me at all.

Jess Ostrander

Thank you to netgalley and The Parliament House for an e-arc to review! I got to read a preview of chapter one, and was hooked from that, so I was very excited to receive the galley to review!

The Shrike and the Shadows is a dark and spooky retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story. We enter the village of Krum, which is plagued by a witch (The Shrike) who steals away men and boys in the night and brings back their bloody hearts in the morning. The town lives in fear of the Shrike and the haunted woods. Hans and Greta, outcast orphan twins, live in Krum. Their mother was killed in the woods when they were young, and their father died of sickness some years later. They try their best to make a life in Krum, but face lots of rejection and fear from the townspeople. Some believe they are cursed due to the way their parents died. The town's priest, Father Emory, fuels the suspicion and scrutiny around them. 

While the Shrike is our main villain, Father Emory is quite the villain himself. I won't elaborate much due to possible spoilers, but I hated him from the beginning. He eventually declares Greta a witch, and leaves the twins the choice of leaving the village or being burned at the stake. Hans and Greta must flee into the woods, where they find many terrors and trials. 

Hans really is not a likeable character to me. He's a bit of a womanizer and he also takes advantage of Greta. The plot revolves a lot around Greta trying to save Hans, but honestly, at many points I wished she would just stop trying and let him deal with the consequences of his own stupidity. Greta was a decently likeable main character. I wanted her to succeed and also get away from Hans and just live her own life. She starts off pretty weepy and a bit weak; but she definitely gets stronger throughout the story; but there's still a lot of reliance on the men of the story to save her. In the next book, I hope we see more growth for Greta! I love her story with Barin though, and he might be my favorite character in this book! He's far more likeable than our two MCs. 

The plot is a bit slow to start with, and a touch confusing in some parts. I want more info on the Shrike and why she does what she's doing. Why does she return the hearts? Why does she only take men? Maybe we'll get more next book. Overall, it was a good book! I got hooked pretty quickly and wanted to know more. I loved Barin, he's honestly my favorite character. I'm definitely going to read book two, because I do want to know more! If you like darker, adult retellings, or just want a quick, spooky read, I would say check this one out!

Solange Bello &
The Shrike & the Shadows by Chantal Gadoury

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Solange Bello &
The Shrike & the Shadows by Chantal Gadoury