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Oliver Twisted

by J.D. Sharpe (Goodreads Author), Charles Dickens

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 49 ratings · 20 reviews

“FLESH, the woe-begotten moaned at Oliver, baring teeth which were ragged and black.

“FLESH,” came another moan, and he turned to see two more woe-begottens behind. They began to shuffle towards him, barefoot – toes blue from cold, arms outstretched.

The world according to Oliver Twisted is simple. Vampyres feed on the defenceless. Orphans are sacrificed to hungry gods. An...more

Paperback, 274 pages

Published February 6th 2012 by Egmont Books (UK)

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Mar 13, 2012 Book Angel Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics-carnival

Review by Madison Year 9

As you would expect Oliver Twisted is the main character in this fascinating revival of the classic Oliver Twist. Oliver, an orphan, has to choose between to paths for his future: he can either choose good where he has to help diminish the devils that roam the world or evil and help the devils overrule the humans. During his journey to London his fate will be decided.

Oliver has had a hard start in life, pushed from place to place, being used as a food source for Vampyres,...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Joe Humphreys rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'll assume everyone is familiar with the plot of Oliver Twist so won't go in to the plot details of the Dickens classic on which Sharpe's gruesome reinterpretation is based. Suffice to say, the cover and tagline ('Please sir, I want some gore') pretty much sums up what Oliver Twisted is all about. I.e. the misadventures of Oliver as he lurches from workhouse to undertakers to London, with added blood, guts, vampyres, werewolves and 'woe-begottens' (what a fantastic, Victorian-esque way to descr...more I'll assume everyone is familiar with the plot of Oliver Twist so won't go in to the plot details of the Dickens classic on which Sharpe's gruesome reinterpretation is based. Suffice to say, the cover and tagline ('Please sir, I want some gore') pretty much sums up what Oliver Twisted is all about. I.e. the misadventures of Oliver as he lurches from workhouse to undertakers to London, with added blood, guts, vampyres, werewolves and 'woe-begottens' (what a fantastic, Victorian-esque way to describe your monstrous villians, by the way).

There is much to admire about Sharpe's horror tale. It cracks along at a fair old pace, barely pausing for breath as it speeds from one high octane set piece to another. The style of the book, written as it is for teenagers, is far less formal than anything Dickens would've churned out, and I for one am all for that: his trademark lachrymose sentimentality is notable by its absence here. Whilst Sharpe is broadly faithful to the original story, she deftly avoids falling in to the trap of being slavishly so. Without giving too much away, the fates of some of the central characters aren't the same as that in Dickens' tale. Again, this is a good thing, as it allows her room for manouevere.

Alas, for all its merits there are notable faults in Oliver Twisted as well. The novel is surprisingly short on humour, which as we all know is one of Dickens' strengths. If you're going to pay homage to the great man, then why not use narrative techniques that made the original story so timeless? As it is, the po-faced reference to some of the sillier fantastical elements (e.g. 'the Knights of Nostradamus'...I mean, really?) became wearing after a while. The bigger problem, though, is in Oliver himself. Whilst somewhat feisty, he still comes across too much like a victim. Without wanting to give too much away, he spends a lot of the second half of the novel being utterly useless. In this day and age, we want our YA heroes in horror novels to be butt kicking Valkyrie Cain's, not helpless wet lettuces.

Oliver Twisted is an entertaining and well-written read, but unfortunately isn't all it promised to be. As admirable as what Sharpe has done, the nagging suspicion that this sort of thing has been done before, and better, looms large over her book: witness, for instance, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Nonetheless, Sharpe is an author of some promise, and I sincerely hope she finds a compelling story to tell in her own right for her next effort.(less)

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Jan 15, 2012 SJH (A Dream of Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, young-adult

'Oliver Twisted' is one of the first offerings from Egmont's new young adult imprint Electric Monkey. Published to tie-in with the bicentenary of Charles Dickens, 'Oliver Twisted' puts a fresh spin on the Dickens classic while remaining true to the spirit of the original.

I'm a huge admirer of Dicken's work so I was immediately intrigued about this title. Much like the author JD Sharpe, I've always loved 'Oliver Twist' and enjoyed the story of an orphan boy whose life eventually takes a turn for...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, arc-or-review, read-in-2012, young-adult, shapeshifters, zombies, better-than-expected, fantasy, horror, vampires, if-i-were-a-boy

I am not usually tempted by books of this type - an idea taken from a classic book, but changed by a new author, adding new ideas. However, I was glad to see that this wasn't the original work with some new parts stuck in, but instead it was reworked and retold in a very original manner by an author who obviously loved the original characters.

As many of you will know, it was the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens this week, and so I thought, although it's not a traditional work of his,...more I am not usually tempted by books of this type - an idea taken from a classic book, but changed by a new author, adding new ideas. However, I was glad to see that this wasn't the original work with some new parts stuck in, but instead it was reworked and retold in a very original manner by an author who obviously loved the original characters.

As many of you will know, it was the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens this week, and so I thought, although it's not a traditional work of his, but rather a modern reworking, I'd pick up Oliver Twisted and see how it was. With it's great foundation and it's modern ideas, this was a fun read. Ashamedly, I haven't read Oliver Twist, but of course I am aware of the basic aspects of the story from other media, like most. From the altered name of this novel and it's very apt tagline 'Please, I want some gore', I knew that this was going to be a bit different from the original!

Our new story follows Oliver who is, as a lone orphan, travelling to London where he befriends Dodge and subsequently gets drawn into a world where he is used by Fagin in order to try and gain power for his evil brotherhood. The story is well written, thanks to a good basis and good original characters.

For our main character, Oliver Twisted, a new and very gory story including zombies, vampires, werewolves and soul stealers is created. Due to these creatures that are very popular at the moment in young adult literature, I think that this book will appeal a lot of young adult readers, especially those who enjoy the paranormal genre.
Characters that appear and that you may recognise include Fagin, Dodge, Bill Sikes and Nancy. These all possess the characteristics of their original personalities, but Sharpe has also expanded and added a new lease of life to them, making them react realistically to their new situations.

The writing was good - there was still reference to the old english writing style right at the beginning, but for the most part, the writing was modern and very easily accessible to middle grade children upwards. The book is extremely gruesome - the grotesque descriptions made me squirm several times but were very effective - I can imagine that a lot of children would love this aspect, but beware if you have a sensitive stomach! The pace of the story is very fluid and it does become quite action packed towards the end. This was easy to read and rather quick, too - so there's no excuse not to give this one a go.

I think that JD Sharpe does do justice to this book and is successful in achieving what she intended - a twist to Oliver Twist, turning it into a modern 'horror' story - something that will certainly appeal to the majority of older children and young adults today. I would definitely recommend this and hopefully it will encourage more people to read the original work too - I know I certainly will, and I would love to read more from Sharpe, too!(less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Darren Hartwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, adventure, horror

Confession #1: I am not a particularly big fan of Charles Dickens books. I know that by admitting that I run the risk of being burned as a heretic, but I have to be true to myself and my readers.

Confession #2: The only Dickens book I have read is Oliver Twist. I have read this one and a half times. The half was the abridged version when I was at school (Year 8 or Year 9 I believe); the other time was as an adult. I think I much preferred the abridged version.

Despite it being a great story, with...more Confession #1: I am not a particularly big fan of Charles Dickens books. I know that by admitting that I run the risk of being burned as a heretic, but I have to be true to myself and my readers.

Confession #2: The only Dickens book I have read is Oliver Twist. I have read this one and a half times. The half was the abridged version when I was at school (Year 8 or Year 9 I believe); the other time was as an adult. I think I much preferred the abridged version.

Despite it being a great story, with many fantastic characters that have become an integral part of our national culture, I simply did not enjoy the reading experience. It was simply far too wordy for my liking, and having slogged through it I didn’t have the motivation to try another of his many books. I’m sure it is to my loss, but c’est la vie.

If you are still reading this and haven’t closed your browser in disgust then please now let me tell you about Oliver Twisted, a book I found hugely enjoyable. I first heard about the book last year when I was at a bloggers’ event held by OUP. Jasmine Richards (aka JD Sharpe), one of their senior editors, told me about one of her own books due out in 2012, and I was sold on the idea immediately. Oliver Twist with vampires and zombies? Of course it appealed to me.

If you are a Dickens fan, and you are still reading this, perhaps now feeling more than a little horrified that someone has ‘messed’ with yet another classic by doing a “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” on Dickens’ much loved story then have no fear. I gave up on P&P&Z after only a couple of chapters – Oliver Twisted is infinitely better. First of all JD Sharpe is herself a huge, huge fan of the works of Charles Dickens and this is evident from the way she treats the well known characters that given a new lease of life (or in some cases death) in her version of the story.

Secondly, unlike P&P&Z where Jane Austen’s original words are used with various changes and additions, this is a rewrite of the Oliver Twist story. By this I mean that Ms Sharpe has taken the basic plot of the original Dickens story and turned it into an action horror story to rival the likes of Darren Shan and David Gatward. In this story Oliver’s mother dies shortly after giving birth to him, but her death is far from natural – she takes her own life rather than give into the change that she faces having been bitten by a woe-begotten (Victorian for zombie). We then see Oliver progress through orphanage, onto workhouse, and then into the employ of Mr Sowerberry before finally running away to London, with each of these episodes in his life twisted to make the storyline far more horrific than the original. Once Oliver arrives in London he goes on to meet all the familiarly named characters, although some of them are as you have never seen them before.

I’m not going to go into any more detail as I don’t want to spoil the reading experience for anyone. Part of the enjoyment of this richly imagined story is each discovery of what the author has done to tweak a well known character to make them fit her new vampire and werewolf populated Victorian world. To call the story a mash-up would be doing a great disservice to the author; I feel that she has managed to fuse the original story with her own twisted take on Victorian England in a way that Seth Grahame-Smith never even came close to, and in doing so has created a story that will have appeal to adult lovers of the original, and young readers who are yet to pick up a Charles Dickens novel for the first time. I am looking forward to passing this on to the English staff at school to see their reactions to it.(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 Vivienne Serendipity Reviews rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wonder what Charles Dickens would say if he knew Oliver Twist now lived in a world where vampires freely sucked the blood from the poor orphans!

The original Oliver Twist was always such a dark tale anyway, so I was rather intrigued to discover that JD Sharpe had made it even darker. Oliver Twisted is gloriously gory and I loved every minute of it. A rich atmospheric read, that will bring a classic tale into the hands of today's teenagers.

I love how the author has developed the characters. The...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This is new from the Egmont Press's new imprint for teenagers; Electric Monkey. I really, really enjoyed it. When I read the press release accompanying the book, I was a little doubtful: early nineteenth century realist/ protest novel mashed up with fin de siecle decadence and horror? But in fact, it works brilliantly. Dickens makes his poor law guardians hard, unimaginative and unfeeling men; Sharpe goes a bit further and makes them vampires, literally feeding on the poor and dispossessed. Oliv...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Electric Monkey is a new Young Adult imprint from Egmont Press that will be launched in February 2012 with three brand new titles. One of these is Oliver Twisted by J D Sharpe. When the author contacted me to ask if I would read and review Oliver Twisted, I was very unsure.
Marketed as 'supreme fusion of the eternal classic with horror Victorian England but not as we know it', this is so far out of my comfort zone that I was actually a little bit scared at the thought of it. Add to that the sugg...more

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May 13, 2012 Tom Harris rated it 5 of 5 stars

A dark, supernatural twist on a Dickens' classic, where vampyres, demons, lupine, witches and warlocks live amongst the good and evil of humanity. A world where Hell has literally come to earth.

At the centre of a prophecy, young Oliver Twisted faces two very different futures; to be a saviour and close the hell mouth or become the greatest evil the world has ever known. Battling this internal struggle, Oliver is pulled one way and then the other by the two warring factions - Brownlow and the Kni...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-debut-author, books-i-own-print, read-in-2012, for-review-read, signed, british-author

Oliver Twisted introduces us to an Oliver not quite like any we've seen before. He's still an orphan growing up in an orphanage but this is a world where vampyres snack on the children! After making the decision to go to London Oliver barely survives a woe-begotten (zombie) attack on the journey, it is only thanks to the help of Dodger that he arrives in one piece. But that is just the start of his troubles and if you thought the Bill Sykes and Fagin you've read about before were evil you haven'...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Kirsty (overflowing library) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-books, uk-author, signed

Oliver Twisted is a reimagining of Oliver Twist. It's set in Victorian England ut features Zombies and werewolves and soul stealing demons.

I must say I was worried that this book would be like those Pride Prejudice and Zombie books where the orignal books just has things added in but this certainly wasn't the case which I was pleased about.

Oliver is still the sad little orphan we have all grown up knowing about, even if like me you haven't read the book, but he's got these magical powers he hasn...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Alan Taylor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: wins, first-reads, signed

I was a little dubious by the concept and idea behind this book to start with and when I started reading it thought it was a little weird.

However, the further I got into the book, the more I enjoyed it, the merging of a classic tale such as Oliver Twist with vampires, zombies and other mythical beings has turned what was already a dark story into one even darker and unimaginable. It also raises the question of what next - what other classic tale could be given the same sort of macabre twist? The...more

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Apr 19, 2012 David Ebsworth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review by Hannah Davies (12)
Really enjoyed this. It's well-written and it hooked me so that I kept wanting to read more. It follows the style of Dickens - but it's not so difficult to understand. I like "Oliver Twist" itself AND I like this version. It's gory but not TOO gory. Great fun to read and I love the cover illustration.

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Apr 17, 2013 Emma Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

A really engaging and interesting read, can honestly say that I have never read anything like this before.

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Dec 26, 2012 Stephanie Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hade to read it for school and it was the best book i've read from school.

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Mar 16, 2013 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-fiction

Surprisingly good

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Apr 04, 2013 Cecilia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-read

Ungefär halvvägs gav jag upp den här boken. Den var så absurd och knasig, dessutom avskydde jag den allvetande rösten - orkade knappt med den! Men jag ger boken pluspoäng för kreativitet och att den lyckas följa originalet samtidigt som Sharpe lyckas skapa sin egen historia.

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Aug 27, 2012 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a goodreads win, and it was amazing. oliver twist with zombies warewolvs vampires and more.

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Jul 04, 2012 Empire of Books rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not really sure what to think about this. Idea is a good one but kind of lacked the justice it needed...

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May 17, 2013 Susanne Gruß rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: course-reading

okayish mash-up, nice touch that oliver is a little bit more ambivalent than in dickens's original

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May 20, 2013 Animeparty marked it as to-read

May 18, 2013 Kai rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 10, 2013 Atong marked it as to-read

May 09, 2013 Robin Graves marked it as wish-list

May 08, 2013 Michael marked it as to-read

May 08, 2013 Lucinda marked it as to-read

Shelves: horror, fantasy, zombies, vampires

May 05, 2013 Ashley marked it as to-read

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May 01, 2013 Becky Green marked it as to-read

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About J.D. Sharpe

JD Sharpe grew up in London, went to Oxford University, and for a whole summer thought about becoming a police officer and so worked at New Scotland Yard. JD finally decided that writing horror stories would be far more exciting, and creating villains much more fun than actually capturing them.

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