A (YA? Adult?) retelling of Hansel and Gretel, a fairytale I personally know from childhood but haven’t really seen much of in terms of retellings. There isn’t really much I feel I can say about this book as it didn’t grip my attention, despite the first half showing some promise however the inclusion of the sex scenes just seemed really inappropriate considering there’s an evil shrike running loose ripping out men’s hearts......time and place my friends, time and place. Even big reveals for other characters were not exciting....literally just me going ‘so that happened huh’ *flips page*. I’m really disappointed I couldn’t enjoy this as I think Hansel and Gretel are a retelling which hasn’t really been touched upon and could have had great potential.

A dark and gritty Hansel and Gretel retelling? Yes please! I had no expectations going into this story at all and coming out I was amazed! We follow Hans and Greta who deal with a lot of dark and heavy topics such as grief and also accusations of witchcraft. They must choose to die at the stake or leave their home venturing into the home of the Shrike who has been terrorizing their village for as long as they can remember.

The Shrike & The Shadows mostly takes place inside this dark and terrifying forest which was really atmospheric and tense. As we follow Hans and Greta through their journey through their forest you could feel the claustrophobia and the tension that the forest creates. It was definitely spooky to read.

Throughout this story I really enjoyed the exploration of Hans and Greta's sibling relationship. It was very interesting seeing their dynamics change and how all the trials and tribulations that they have gone through and how it affects their sibling bond.

I really loved this story and will definitely be looking out for book two! If you love dark, gritty, gruesome and graphic fairy tale retellings this book is for you!

Hans and Greta meet the darkness of a riveting story of gore, werewolves, obsessive women, and dark magic. Holy moly, this is a thriller about the darkness within the woods around the small town that is the hunting ground of the Shrike. The Shrike that kills men and young boys, taking their bodies and leaving their hearts for their families. I used an audible credit, and oh my goodness—the narrator made this dark, fantastical retelling of the classic fairytale an epic ride.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves retellings and dark magic. This is going to be a trilogy that is going to be awesome!

Sadly,I did not get the chance to download it before it was archived (October 16th) ,so unfortunately I could not read it

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was good but not an absolute page turner. I enjoyed it as I do enjoy most retellings but nothing super stood out to me as any different from any other Hansel and Gretel retelling.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The Shrike and the Shadows is a dark-woods blend of fairytale and horror, suitable for adults… provided they have strong nerves and strong stomachs! Expect sex, violence, cannibalism and floppy headed corpse puppets.

The story follows siblings Greta and Hans as they are forced to leave their little village and flee into the witch-haunted woods surrounding, as Greta is accused of witchcraft thanks to the lustful actions of the men around her. Ironically, of course, Greta’s banishment sends the twins straight into the domain of the REAL witch… the legendary Shrike who craves men’s hearts (and other parts).

The obvious fairytale comparison here is Hansel and Gretel, as this forms the core of the plot and the two main characters, but the author has cleverly woven elements from Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast and The Ice Queen (the original versions, red in tooth and claw, not the pretty Disney tales) into the story too.

The underlying themes here deal with carnal desires and ‘beastly’ appetites vs. purity, loyalty and the moral desire to do the right thing. The author shows that a supposedly religious individual might be willing to sacrifice his morals to sate his lusts, while a literal beast can hold true to deeper values.

A couple of things didn’t work as well as I would have liked in the story. Hans is quite an unsympathetic character throughout, and his actions are just as bad as some of the villains’ in places, so Greta’s insistence on justifying and defending him becomes pretty tiresome after a while. Similarly there is quite a lot of repetition in him leaving her, and her chasing after him. Personally I would have been glad to see the back of him!

The story ends on a complete cliffhanger, ready to lead straight into a sequel and I can only see the tone and content getting darker and more adult based on what has unfolded so far. So, if you fancy a journey through the dark woods with no breadcrumbs to guide you to safety, then The Shrike and the Shadows might be for you. Just be sure to keep hold of your heart…





Please, not Hans, she thought, begging softly to herself. Not today.
She ran to the front door of their home breathlessly. Her trembling hands yanked on the latch as she swung it open, revealing nothing but a dirt path. What she thought would be waiting, was nowhere to be found. Which meant that Hans was safe—for now. She grasped at her stomach, the knot of sickness that had taken her unclenching itself. Greta could have wept, but another scream broke out across the early morning, like a crack of thunder just before a storm.
Only, this time, it was followed by a wallowing cry.
Shackles of worry wrapped themselves around Greta, wrenching her away from the perfect illusion of safety they had grown into. A scream like that could only mean one thing, and she was certain of it.
The Shrike had come again in the night.

– Chantal Gadoury & A.M. Wright, The Shrike and the Shadows


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

3.75 stars.

Now the whole time I was reading through this, I honestly thought it’d be a standalone so it affected my opinion on the book a bit. Nevertheless, the writing style is phenomenal and I love it so much! It’s dark and the vibes, especially from the forest, it set in from the very first chapter captured me instantly!

A lot of things happens in the book and it has a great pace but sometimes the pacing is too fast that there's no time for the suspense to settle in much since the Shrike would attack and out of nowhere just stops immediately and the characters just run for it. This cycle repeats itself a lot until the end.

Most of my issue with the book is with the characters and their actions, mostly with Greta. She falls down a lot, instant attraction and obsession to Barin with the too many moments of “just met Barin but believes everything he says.” Hans with criticizing Greta for her attraction while he slept with all the girls in town and his constant lust.

Besides that, I wanted more out of the Shrike rather than popping up here and there and wished there was more information about her (this is my only issue when I thought it was a standalone). I wanted to know more about Greta’s vision (but they ended so abruptly and never happening again) as well as Han’s nightmares.

Overall, this is a really good Hansel and Gretel retelling regardless of my issues with the book. The writing style is amazing and I loved all the psychological and dark stuff going on and can’t wait to read the next book especially after that ending!

Trigger warning: sexual content, violence, attempted rape and gore.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this new adult Hansel and Gretal retelling. The authors put a really cool twist on the tale. I do wish that the ending wasn’t as rushed. I’m not sure if this is the first in a series or a standalone. If it is a series then I will definitely pick up the next one.

Thanks to The Parliament House for the ARC!
I apologize that I wasn't able to post my feedback before the pub date, but I'll definitely do it now.
This was a good read! It was much different than what I expected, but I enjoyed it a lot. I've always been a fan of Hansel and Greta, so it was interesting to read this new version. I'm looking forward to the next book!

I was quite surprised by this book. After reading a few pages I wasn't sure if I was going to be into it but the further I got in, the more I enjoyed.

I had to DNF this book.
I do love retellings and I try to read as many as I can, but this one wasn't my cup of tea.

Had to DNF because of multiple bad reviews I've recieved. I feel like this would be enjoyed by others, but this one is not for me.

A good retelling of Hansel and Gretel that really brings out the darkness of the original fairy tales. I think this book will appeal to fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik and The Bear and the Nightengale by Katherine Arden.

This fairy tale retelling is definitely more adult in tone than the original. The Brothers Grimm version was violent and disturbing and likely to give children nightmares as is the case with most of the Brother’s stories and this retelling maintains that gruesome sense of twisted horror. To spice things up a bit it includes moderately graphic sex scenes. You might think that this would add some lightness or erotic enjoyment to a rather dark story but the sex felt nasty, and not even slightly titillating. While Greta’s love interest, Barin, had some potential for sex appeal it was never developed in a truly satisfying manner. There was no joy in this book. It was unrelentingly bleak and I truthfully had a difficult time getting through it. Greta and Hans weren’t fleshed out enough for me to care very much about them. Greta was a weak doormat to her brother and Hans was completely insufferable to the point that I just wanted the witch to eat him. The character I cared the most about was Greta’s baby lamb at the beginning of the story. This is a hard one for me to rate because while I appreciate that it was attempting to do something different with a familiar story I didn’t enjoy the one dimensional characters, the awkward writing, or the weird sex scenes interspersed within a very depressing tale. It gets points for trying but unfortunately for me it wasn’t a success.

Thank you to The Parliament House for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc! Three Stars - This was an interesting take on Hansel and Gretel and an adult retelling of the classic. I didn't connect with the characters like I was hoping I would. Overall an interesting concept but I wasn't fully invested in the protagonists and would have liked things to take a different route. However, on a positive note, the cover is beautiful and that was what caught my eye from the start!

I was intrigued by the idea of a darker re-telling of Hansel and Gretel, and I liked the mystery of the witch in the woods picking off the villagers.

Unfortunately, the characters were not very likable and the book didn't really get interesting until the 75% mark. Hans was a complete womanizing jerk who was unhealthily possessive and verbally abusive to his sister. Greta just took whatever he dished out, too scared and dramatic to handle herself; she was a complete damsel in distress, always looking for a protector.

The first 3/4 of the book was so slow and repetitive, with nothing really happening except the twins wandering around aimlessly in the woods, hallucinating and arguing and making hasty, stupid decisions that don't make sense, considering the dangerous circumstances they were in. And they didn't learn from their mistakes.

The last 1/4 of the book was better, revealing more about the Shrike's origin (even though it is still a mystery), and the character Barin was more involved. He is really the only one with redeeming qualities, although his interest in Greta is kind of weird, with him being at least twice her age (she's 19).

Overall, this book definitely has a dark horror vibe, but I couldn't connect with the characters and the story was just too slow and meandering for me. 2.5 stars.

Initially captivated by the beautiful cover, I soon found The Shrike & The Shadows by Chantal Gadoury and A.M. Wright lived up to the darkness it promised. This is a version of the Hansel and Gretel tale , but with more of a horror twist. It tells the story of Hans and Greta, twins who grew up in a forest that is home to an evil witchlike being known as the Shrike, who lures young men away to their deaths, leaving behind only the bloody hearts she has torn from their chests. When a local clergyman finds his advances towards an unwilling Greta repulsed, and the Shrike starts to strike again, he is soon able to convince the villagers that Greta is a witch and must be banished to the woods for their safety. Unwilling to send his sister to certain death, Hans goes with her, but he may be in greater danger than she is, as he has been marked by the Shrike, and only the love and determination of his sister was able to save him the last time, now they are heading into her territory with only what they can carry, and it seems likely they are headed to their deaths.
This book is definitely somewhat of a slow starter, it does take some time to get going, but once it does, it really picks up the pace. The characters of Hans and Greta are somewhat frustrating, Hans because of his attitude to Greta , and the way he treats her, and Greta because she never seems to learn from her mistakes. The most interesting aspect of the entire book was the character of the Shrike, and I really liked her back story. The scenes with her were some of the best written and most disturbing in the book as a whole. There is quite a lot of sexual content, including an attempted assault and between that and the horror elements I would suggest that this book is aimed at the older end of the YA market. The writing itself is not particularly polished or memorable, and while it seems a little rougher in the earlier section of the book, it does get better as the book goes on.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the Publisher, all opinions are my own.

DFNed at 20%. I found it slow and it didn't keep my attention. There's potential but a faster plot would help.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

DNF at 20%. The Shrike & The Shadows was just so slow, nothing interesting was holding my attention to want to continue with this book.

Oh I don't think so.

Did not finish, unfortunately. I probably shouldn't have read other reviews going into this, because if I am being completely honest, I had extraordinarily low expectations for this and fully intended on marking it DNF before I even started, which isn't really fair. However, going into this knowing what to expect, encountering exactly what I was told, and also being told that it doesn't really stop throughout the whole book, allows me to prohibit myself from wasting time on something that I ultimately would set down and never pick up again.

In other words, there is far too much fondling of breasts in this book for my comfort. Not just that, but it seems clear to me that there's a weird connection between Greta and Hans that goes far more carnal than I care to investigate. I had to remind myself that they are TWINS. Maybe I don’t understand the twin connection, but yikes. Not to mention the sexual assault by a priest within the first ten pages. No warning, just your friendly Father figure coming by, claiming that God sent him by to satisfy your needs.

Anyway, I am sorry that I went into this with prejudice against it. It does have a pretty spooky/medieval vibe to it, so great if you are into that. The writing doesn’t seem very deep however, so good if you just want ambiance but bad if you want actual substance to your stories. The cover is gorgeous though, I will give it that. I almost wouldn’t be upset at it sitting on my shelf. Thankfully, however, I have an eBook, so a quick delete will do just fine.