Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

The Grimm Diaries Prequels #4

by Cameron Jace

GET THE FIRST 6 PREQUELS for FREE here

What if all you knew about fairytales was wrong?

Book

Little Red Riding Hood's untold and true story. Why she was wearing a Red hood. Who her Grandma really was. What the wolf actually wanted. Where she fits in the Dreamworld. And what Ladle Rat Rotten Hut means.
Series

The Grimm Diaries are pages written in a Book of Sand, where each fairy tale character confessed the true stories once altered by the Brothers Grimm two centuries ago. To keep the truth about fairy tales hidden, the Brothers Grimm buried the characters in their dreams to never wake up again. But the curse was broken and they allowed to wake up every one hundred years.

List of the available Grimm Diaries

1 Snow White Blood Red
narrated by The Snow White Queen


2 Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder
narrated by Alice Grimm


3 Beauty Never Dies
narrated by Peter Pan


4 Ladle Rotten Rat Hut
narrated by Little Red Riding Hood


5 Mary Mary Quite Contrary


6 Blood Apples
narrated by Prince Charming

7 Jawigi
narrated by sandman Grimm

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Paranormal, Short Stories, Retellings, Fiction

49 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 21, 2012

About the author

Bestselling author of the Grimm Diaries and Insanity series. A traveller and collector of out-of-print books from all over the world, obsessed with the origins of folk tales and the mysterious storytellers who spread them. Many of his books made Amazon's Top 100 Customer Favorites in Kindle 2015 & Amazon's Top 100 kindle list. Cameron lives in Yerba Buena San Francisco California. When he isn't writing or collecting books, he is playing music or enjoys the silence.

Reviews

[Zuleeza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is also available on my blog, Qwerty

It puzzled me to actually admit this, but I think I'm kind of addicted to Cameron Jace's writing. Beyond all those spelling and grammar errors, awkward metaphors (I'm not any better myself to be honest), I get him as an author. I always read his books in a single sitting, and this didn't happen even for other novellas.

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (it's a very random title, until you pronounce it ;)) is miles better than Beauty Never Dies, I think. No more annoying characters, praise the Lawd. Plot-wise, not everything makes sense, even when you consider that this is a fairy tales retelling. One thing that bothers me is, how was this wolf-boy get caught by Ladle's witch grandmother? Granted she was a witch, but he isn't an ordinary boy himself.

Oh, I almost forgot to address the cover. Overall, I like it. If only, the model's hairs don't look too photoshopped.

[Franci · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best Little Red Riding Hood retellings I read in a long time.

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opět povedené a přečtené ve škole, protože tohle je jako droga - jakmile okusíte, už nebudete moci přestat! Svým způsobem to bylo trochu i strašidelné a tajemství, které si Červená Karkulka uchovává, bylo jako vždy šokující. Líbilo se mi to a to, jak Jace kombinuje pohádky se svou vlastní fantazií mě pořád udivuje! :3

[Lauren (Northern Plunder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was first posted on Northern Plunder, if you want to see more reviews please click here.

Meep, I adored this book so much. It definitely felt like one of the longer ones but it portrays Little Red Riding Hood as Death! Well, its actually her Mum to start with but once she reaches a certain age, Little Red takes over and this story follows her as she learns about what her Mum has been doing each night whilst she's been scared of Wolves and it also gets tied into Hansel and Gretal too. Ah I loved it, the development and interwining of each of the fairty tales is fun.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ja.
Nemôžem. :D
Úplne inak trhlé než tie predošlé trhlotiny
(také slovo nie je. Noa? Ja...potrebujem si trocha premyslieť ako to na mňa celé pôsobí. Všetko na čo sa zmôžem je, že ma to baví a stále sa iba spokojne usmievam. Jace má zjavne nekonečné množstvo nápadov ako využiť zdroje vo svoj prospech. A ako perfektne mu to zatiaľ ide!)

Zjavné je, že to bol zámer ale pri Čiapočkinej nevyváženej zmeske nálad a pri jej chovaní som sa cítila troška nesvoja.
Ako keď sedíte na rodinnej oslave pri hyperaktívnom mladšom decku a bojíte sa, že vám vrazí facku, keď zrazu len začne rozhadzovať rukami pokrytými koláčovým cestom, bohvie prečo s tým vôbec začalo...

A aj tak som ju mala dosť rada.
Hneď jak vyjde prevetrať si hlavu je s ňou sranda, že aj Alica z Krajiny zázrakov bledne závisťou.

Jej chytľavé (a minimálne znepokojivé) používanie anafor mi bude vŕtať v hlave ešte dlho.

"Chop. Chop. Chop.
I liked the sound of that."

___

S každým príbehom som prekvapenejšia a prekvapenejšia. A to je dobre. Lebo keď si pospájam, čo všetko sa v každom z nich stalo a ako to všetko vyzerá: Vytvára sa nám tu fakt pekná mozaika. Jujky. :33

Červená čiapočka uväznená v chalúpke. Po rokoch je nakoniec vypustená na nebezpečnú misiu.
Splní ju naša (mierne psychicky nestabilná, ale keď tak dlho žije zavretá nedivme sa) hrdinka?
Ochutnáme koláč s vínom?

Pripravte sa na:

1. Už spomínanú dvojku víno a koláče



2. Vlčie zavýjanie a úvahy, ktoré sa mi páčia.

“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On many things. And you know why? Because evil is a point of view.”

3. Nečakané zvítania po rokoch.

4. Hlasné predčítanie textu (je to sranda!)

5. Záhadu Cenu Matka roka získava...

6. Ak si to všetko, čo sa tam deje predstavíte, možno sa začnete maniakálne rehotať. Ono je to úplne na hlavu padnuté a pritom skvelé, šialená dokonalosť, pavučina nepochopiteľne brilantných vzťahov poprepletaná v známosti absolútne jedinečné. Milujeeem. Chramsty- chramst.



7. Napätie sa stupňuje. Tajomstvá sa odhaľujú. Počet mojich otázok narastá.
Chcem vedieť čítať Jaceove myšlienky.
Fakticky.
Veľmi.
Teraz sa budem trýzniť premýšľaním nad pavučinou, ktorú zo všetkého spomenutého splieta.
Btw. Spomínaná "pavučina" mi teraz príde veľká akoby ju vytvoril pavúk zo Zakázaného lesa.

A pavúk s spolu pavúčatami dačo chystá.

[Toni · Rating 1 out of 5]

These stories are just... I don’t know why I am even trying any more. It just gets more and more bizarre and itimidating...


Grammar & editing – do I have to mention this, yet another time? With the interjections every other paragraph it was almost like reading Old MacDonald had a farm:
And a woof-woof-woof there
Here a woof, there a woof,
Everywhere a woof-woof
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i oh!

We have here: Crash. Crash. Crash.; Tick. Tick. Tinnnnnn; Chop. Chop. Chop.; Glock. Glock. Glock.; Awooooooooo. Awooooooo.; Yum. Yum. Yum.; etc., etc.
One of the strangest things for me was that Ladle said once: I looked crazy and scary while I was just drunk and bothered. I saw the same thing happening in the previous prequel, with Peter Pan. How could the character know how she/he would look like? She/He can guess, but nothing more.
Another straaange thing: The squirrels laughed at me. Don’t be surprised, the squirrels laugh at her and the squirrels also talk to her. AWKWARD! I think she had some unhealthy relationship with her friends, the squirrels. I’ve come to think this is some kind of the Grimm Parodies, not Diaries.
Another thing I don’t like are all these pet names – we already have Hunchy for the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Draco for Count Dracula, but now it is Wolfy for the Wolf. Just hate it.
Also, we have some contradictions like this one: at first Ladle didn't tell her mother about the wolves, next thing you know her mother already knows about the wolves. Miracles happen every other page; and more messiness, unsorted ideas, scattered all over the place.
Then comes the ending… I guess it should be scary, but I just found it ridiculous. Ladle was so immature and childish through the whole time, but she accepts her destiny just like that. And the most disturbing part of all:

My squirrel friends arrived and walked next to us. We played with a couple of butterflies on our way, and we saved a rabbit stuck in a bush. The wolf told me jokes, and made me laugh.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella started off much better than the first three. The air of mystery surrounding this novella was much more inviting than in the others where the Dreamworld plot just confused me to no end. The whole aspect of the fortune-cookie-tree continually being thirsty for 'wine' was curiously intriguing.

I enjoyed the narrative. It was very different to the others and in my opinion much better. Maybe there's hope yet. However, it was not particularly reminiscent of a 15 year old. I will let that slide though, because it was enjoyable nonetheless. The mentioning of Red Riding Hood liking her meat raw was peculiar, I'm open to medium rare but that's as far as I would go and I don't understand it's relevance to the plot yet but perhaps we will find out later, (or maybe I just missed something; who knows?). I found the introduction of the red hood quite clever really and the meeting with 'Shew' brought on several questions, but not so much as to hinder the reading experience which was sadly the case in the first three.

The whole plot surrounding the title was quite funny and the author's presenting of 'Anguish language' did make me chuckle and I would say is probably the best part of this prequel. I wasn't aware that it had been used before until the Author's note but I'm glad I know of it now. The melding of fairytales which is actually the case in almost all these novellas was interesting but the plot started dwindling towards the end. I will continue with them but if I were to summarise, they all seem to be average at best, which is quite upsetting because I had high hopes for this one after the beginning.

[Kačaba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boží!

“Ok,” I said. “Here is the deal. As long as you don't try to eat me, I will not chop your head off. Deal?”
“The best deal ever. I guess this is how all relationships work. You don’t eat a piece of me, I won’t grab a piece of you.”

[Meghan K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Překroucená verze Červené Karkulky? Nebo snad ta původní, opravdová? Každopádně hodně zajímavý "retelling" :)

[Kerris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wau, takhle uz jsem se dlouho nezasmala :D

[Jinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Reviewing the prequels as a whole instead of individually*

I lucked out and discovered these prequels during the one-prequel-a-day freebie promotion (bummer, I missed the second book, I must have been having sex that day). What gems! They were strange yet fantastic twists to classic fairy tales. They were quick and enjoyable reads. The storytelling was imaginative with a touch of humor. I truly got a kick out of the takes and I think those who especially like fairy tale re-tellings will do too. Furthermore, these prequels did their job, now I'm pumped for Grimm Diaries!

This author is a gem as well. Apparently, the initial publication had many writing errors. He took these critiques (some quite harsh) and made the necessary changes. What a trooper. Certainly a sign of a great author in my book. Well done, Mr. Jace!

Prequels: Snow White Blood Red; Ashes to Ashes Cinder to Cinder (didn't read this one); Beauty Never Dies; Ladle Rat Rotten Hut; Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Jinky is Reading

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Source: Downloaded for free from Amazon.co.uk)

This was a clever retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, where a 16-year-old girl is sent into the wolf-infested woods to take cakes and wine to her grandmother. Things weren’t really quite so straightforward though!



7 out of 10

[Trinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars

I liked this book much better than all of the other ones in the series. I think that this version was so much cooler than the real version of Little Red Riding Hood. The concept was really cool and I just want to read the novel already! I loved the communication thong the wolf did, I would like the learn that language!

[Lissa Smith Reads'~A Bookaholics Bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated
3 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐
Kindle Unlimited Read
*2XRead

[Mauoijenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Red Riding Hood, an excellent choice and another great story from the Grimm Diaries Prequel.

[Michelle Mulder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Fairy tale based on little red riding hood, featuring Hansel and Gretel and Death.
Yes I know this is a weird combination.

Little red riding hood lives with a mother at the edge of the forest. Her mother goes out at night to work leaving Red alone at home with the wolves howling and looking through the windows at her. One day her mother send her to deliver some wine and cakes to her grandmother. But not everything is as it seems.

[Bea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, this was the last prequel for me.
While the teen in this prequel wasn't as obnoxious as Peter, the writing itself did nothing for me.
I hope the author will have an editor one day.
The writing is all over the place, way to repetive, but with no clear motive. The author tries to sound cool, or rather, desperately tries to make the characters sound cool, but fails in delivering.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (5/25/2020)! 🎁

[Ashley Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I literally fell asleep, on my lunch at work, while reading this. Not much going on in Red's head, that's for sure.

[Nessa [October Tune] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

I’m not sure why I started reading these prequels, but I think I was just really curious about this series. But I’d read very mixed reviews about it. Of course, I wanted to find out for myself if they really were as bad as everyone said, or as awesome as anyone said, and I must admit I have very mixed feelings about these prequels. This review is about the stories Beauty Never Dies, Laddle Rat Rotten Hut and Mary Mary Quite Contrary.

What I liked:

I kind of liked that all the characters were quite different from their Disney (or original Grimm) counterparts. They were all a bit darker, a bit scarier, and I liked that. I would have liked it more if the stories hadn’t been so strange.

What I didn’t like:

For example, there were characters that weren’t at all in Grimm’s fairy tales; like Peter Pan (who was written by J.M. Barrie), The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (who was written by Victor Hugo). It all felt a bit weird having those characters there as well. Also, all the characters sounded like teenagers. Of course, some of them were teenagers (including Peter Pan, who annoyed me deeply by spending several sentences describing how beautiful he was); and Laddle/Little Red Riding Hood from the second story sounded a lot like a little child to me, even though she was sixteen for most of the story. But yeah, if you are writing about grown-up characters, please write them like they’re grown-up and not teenagers.

And there were a lot of references to popular things, like Harry Potter (Peter kept calling Dracula ‘Draco’, like Draco Malfoy, and this one: “[...] reading Harry Potter book twenty-three – you don’t have those on earth, I know. You have to have a membership in Heaven to read those.”); and the above quote (Christoper Lee played Saruman in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit). Though I normally like references to things I love, it kind of annoyed me in these prequels. It was almost as if the author wanted people to like his stories by throwing in these random unnecessary references.

There were also some mistakes in these stories. The biggest one, one that really annoyed me, in Beauty Never Dies was that Frankenstein was mentioned several times. But of course, like most people they meant the monster, not Frankenstein himself (Frankenstein was the doctor who CREATED the monster, not the monster itself. I believe that monster had no name). As an author, you’d check these kind of things before publishing something, right?

Yes, I can safely say that I am not really a fan of these Grimm Diaries Prequels, though I will probably keep on reading all of them (all eighteen), just to see if there are some hidden gems in it.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 Stars)
"Laddle Rat Rotten Hut" is one of my favorites in The Grimm Diaries Prequels. The story is a modified version of Little Red Riding Hood and is told from Red's perspective.

'Ladle' lives in the forest with her mother. Everyday her mother leaves Ladle alone while she goes off to the forest with a basket of cakes and wine. When she returns, she gives wines to the fortune cookie tree better known as The Tree of Life. Each night wolves descend on the little cottage scratching at the window and howling at the door. Ladle is so very afraid but her mother promises her that once she turns sixteen all of that will change because the solves will be afraid of her.

On December 24th in the year Ladle turns sixteen, her mother finally explains that it is time for Ladle to accept her destiny. They read a name from the fortune cookie tree and are surprised to discover that the name belongs to her grandma. She is given the task to buy wine and cakes; then. take it to her grandma at her cottage hidden in the forest. Ladle has not seen her grandmother in over ten years. Her mother warns her not to talk to strangers and that it is very important that she completes her task.

She goes to the market where she meets a girl and a boy. They warn Ladle of the dangers in the forest but agree to meet her the next day. Ladle continues her quest into the forest by hiring a carriage to take her. However, the carriage is attacked by wolves killing the driver and one of the horses. When Ladle awakens she runs as quickly as she can into the forest towards her grandmother's house. On the road she hears a boy's voice reading in a strange language. She stops to talk to him and gives him one of the cakes. He has a secret that just might get Ladle into trouble.

Ladle finds breadcrumbs leading her to her grandma's gingerbread home. When she enters she sees a wolf in her grandmother's bed. She believes that he wants to kills her. I will not reveal any other information because I do not want to spoil it for you. However, I found the modified fairy tale clever and compelling. My only complaint is that the book seriously needed more editing. There were incomplete duplicate paragraphs that interrupted the flow of the book. There were also other spelling/grammatical errors. I hope that this gets revised at some point.

[Carmen8094 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladle rat rotten hut è il quarto tra i Grimm Diaries prequels di Cameron Jace, e, pur con le sue incongruenze, alcune scelte di cattivo gusto e dialoghi improbabili, è finora il migliore.
Il titolo riprende l'Anguish Language creato da Howard L. Chase, un linguaggio basato sul suono delle parole, piuttosto che sul loro significato. "Ladle rat rotten hut" sta per "Little Red Riding hood". E' infatti Cappuccetto rosso la protagonista di questa breve storia.

Cappuccetto è qui un'adolescente che vive in una casa alquanto isolata con una madre che serba ancora l'aspetto di una ragazzina e che ogni giorno si reca nel bosco con una bottiglia di vino e un cestino di leccornie.
Il nome della protagonista è così spaventoso che la mamma la chiama "Ladle", "Little" nell'Anguish Language, ma anche "mestolo" nel linguaggio comune.
Senza un solo amico o vicino, la piccola soffre molto la mancanza della madre, soprattutto a causa dei lupi, che sembrano minacciare la sua incolumità.
All'esterno della casa, quale unico esemplare, c'è l'Albero della Vita, che ogni giorno lascia cadere un biscotto della fortuna (ho già parlato di cattivo gusto?). L'unica a poter leggere il messaggio contenuto in esso è, però, solo la mamma di Ladle.

Al compimento del suo sedicesimo compleanno, alla fanciulla viene finalmente dato il permesso di uscire di casa, per portare i soliti dolci e vino nel bosco alla sua nonnina, che si rivela essere la strega di Hansel e Gretel che vive nella casetta di pan di zenzero.
Il mantello di Ladle è però bianco come la neve, non rosso come ci ha tramandato la storia. Il rosso, infatti, nel Regno del dolore (la cui regina è la madre di Biancaneve) è un colore proibito.
Il motivo per cui il mantello si colorerà, è molto originale, così come la vera identità di Ladle e di sua madre.

La storia avrebbe potuto essere molto carina, se solo lo stile fosse stato più elegante e la realizzazione più curata.
Come al solito, ho avuto l'impressione che ci fossero buone idee, ma mal realizzate. La peggiore è forse quella del ragazzo lupo, i cui dialoghi con la protagonista sono davvero pessimi.

http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/20...

[Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original Review posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts

Disclaimer: I received this copy from the author for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my review in any way.

*Formatting may be lost due to copy and paste.

I think Ladle Rat Rotten Hut had the best twist, and maybe also the scariest (though it wasn’t very scary), out of all the sequels I've read so far, even if it combines two of them (I thought there were 3). It was also a better job in combining multiple fairy tales than the last one I read. While staring at the title before reading it, I was extremely inquisitive why the author would use a strange title.

I never figured it out until later in the story, when Red goes on her first journey following her mother's footsteps and meets a wolf boy relaxing (so it seems) and reading a book. She later finds out who she really is, along what her mother and grandmother really are. I'm really surprised with what the grandmother really is, though that seemed to be hinted throughout the story. It didn't give it fully away until the second we actually do find out.

What I really liked was the creative way with the English language Mr. Jace uses throughout the story. But maybe I should also thank the original creator of it... which I'll leave anonymous for the rest of you to ponder on (unless you know it already).

[Tricia (McAllister) Houseman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This prequel is narrated by Little Red Riding Hood.
This story being telling you of a little girl who is terrified of the wolves that scare her each night. One night on the advice of a stranger, she take a bottle of her mother’s wine, drinking it, spilling the red wine on the sheet covering her from the wolves sight. Once she has had enough, or is actually drunk enough, she kneels on her bed with the now-red sheet covering her. This scares the wolves, but she does not know why. Only that she discovers the wolves are afraid of her.
Later, she is to take over her mother’s job, but she does not know exactly what the job is. Going into the forest, via a carriage, it’s attacked by wolves. The driver and one of the horses have been eaten by the wolves. Trying to follow a map, Little Red Riding Hood finds a boy in the forest, who teaches her a new language, “Anguish.” But the boys is not exactly who he appears to be.
Little Red Riding Hood also meets Hansel & Gretel, and informs them that they will be great individuals when they grow up. She also promises to meet them later so they can all learn “Anguish” later in the market place.

In this prequel, Little Red Riding Hood discovers who she truly is, as well as other interesting details. This prequel gives you a bit more info than the prior 3.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally featured on Bookluvrs Haven

Now this is more like it!



This is what I was expecting from this series. An original, well written fairytale twist... no... TWO fairytales that we all know so well. Little Red Riding Hood and Hanzel & Gretel... Those two stories will never feel the same after you read this.

Every twist and turn of this story was woven well together. It flowed and connected, and it FIT!


Thank you for the much better editing job on this one. The sigh of relief was long and heartfelt. I could finally just enjoy the story without having to re-read sentences and try to decipher misspelled, or misused words! It wasn't perfect by any means, but the discrepancies that I did notice did not deter me from continuing, and not a single eye roll or frustrated huff out of me this time.

And where does this author get his covers??!!! Though I may not have been a fan of every installment so far, I can't seem to stop talking about these covers!

Out of all the prequels so far, this is without a doubt, my favorite. It has been the most interesting, and better executed of all of them, and finally my interest is peaked. It won't feel like a chore to pick up the next one.

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood, who lives in a cottage with her mother, and is better known as Ladle. They have a tree outside their house that delivers a fortune cookie each day. Ladle thinks this tells her mother her fortune, but finds out differently later.
Ladle finds out accidentally to use wine to scare the wolves off. A girl knocks at her door, and tells her "Use the red, red wine.", and then flees. Ladle drinks the wine, and spills it on her white sheets, too. She uses the sheet as a hood, and sees that the red hood scares the wolves off.
On Christmas Eve, when she turns 16, her mother tells her that it's her turn to deliver wine and cake. The tree offers her Grandma's name.
To make a long story short, Ladle meets a wolf along the way and promises to return, but he runs ahead to her Grandma's. She find him there when she arrives, but he points out that Grandma is there and has just eaten 2 live children.
Ladle quickly figures out the truth. She then slices off Grandma's head, frees the children (Hansel & Gretel!) from her tummy, frees the wolf from the bed, and buries her Grandma.
---------
The wolf practically proposes. Well, not exactly. But, he does say that he wants to be friends now, and much more than friends later. They make a compromise, and agree to be friends.
---------
Little Red Riding Hood (Ladle) is Death (the Grim Reaper).

[Alpha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth prequel in the Grimm Diaries Prequels seems to show the improvement and progression Cameron Jace is becoming as an author. At first, I was confused on what the title meant until "Anguish Language" was explained. It is kind of like saying the words "Eye Yam Wheat Art Did Sofa King Read Art Did" but knowing that you are really saying to everyone "I am retarded. So f$@!ing retarded." to everyone else. So in prospect, this story is really "Little Red Riding Hood".

Like the title states, this story is about Little Red Riding Hood. However, there are other inclusions of other stories especially Hansel & Gretel and others. However, just the direction of making the series darker than it is as well as having them coexist with each other makes for a great concept that has endless possibilities. Finding out the reason why Little Red Riding Hood goes out and does what she does as well as her real name becoming known is quite entertaining and a spin I did not expect.

I would suggest this read to anyone who is enamored by Cameron Jace's spin on classic fairy tales especially those that were written by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, and others. I wonder if any of Aesop's stuff will incorporated in future prequels though they are more life lessons than full-blown stories.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (Grimm Diaries Prequel 4) continues Cameron Jace tradition of twisting the Grimm tales on themselves. If you have read his previous prequel then you are familiar if not fully understand of the world you’re about to inhabit. This diary entry is told from the point of view of Little Red Riding Hood.

There are several things that I liked about this novella. First was the unexpected treat of the Anguish Language. Second is this one relies on the stories told in the previous entries. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut like an inside joke to the Grimm Diaries’ devoted readers.

If you haven’t read the previous novellas a lot of the seemingly insignificant but actual significant moments will be lost on you. The mystery of Little Red Riding Hood’s true identity is perfectly played. Yet it still doesn’t top Sleeping Beauty’s identity.

Knowledge of the original Grimm Tales isn’t necessary but it’s a definite plus. It’s easier to understand when Cameron Jace throws the tale on its head. It’s those twists and reshaped reality that makes these prequels and, I’m hoping, the actual series a funny read.

[Amel Armeliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this prequel. Have to admit, these prequels kinda makes me addicted. After finished one I can't wait to start another.

In this prequel little girl that we've known as red riding hood inherited her mother's job when she was turned 16. Just like her mother, her first job was brought cake and wine to someone in the forest who's name written in the fortune cookie tree. For her first job, red riding hood or ladle (that's the way her mom called her), she has to brought cake and wine to her grandma.

Wore white hood (not red), ladle went to the forest and met a wolf that disguised as a boy and teaching her anguish language. After found her grandma's house she found out the wolf disguised as her grandma, but the wolf tied by her grandma and her grandma is the witch who's eating Hansel and Gretel. At that time, ladle knew that she was death and her job is to take her grandma's life. After chopped her grandma with her scythe and released both Hansel and Gretel (which are one of the lost seven), ladle went home with the wolf boy and there's a little romance between them, I guess.
Can't wait to continue to the next prequel.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Make it stop. These are getting torturous. For the first 3 paragraphs, I was fooled into hoping that this was where it was all going to come together in this series. Lil lady sporting the hood of Crimson had a distinct voice which had been lacking in the last 5 or so characters introduced to the series. Her odd habit of thrice repeating words was a delicious taste of the insanity lurking in a girl locked up by Mom for 16 years. And then it all fell apart...
What the what what? Early in the book Lil Red says that she hates that her mom calls her Ladle but toward the end of the entry she states that she hates her real name, well, which one is it? The story spins round like this over and over, I get the sense that the writer never bothered to proof his rough draft. There are a few tiny delicate sentences that stir the joy of reading but they are buried beneath so much sludge that I begin to feel like i am drowning in these stories and every time I make it to the surface for a breath, the Author is there to shove me below once again. This one gets the lowest rating yet for leaving me with the feeling of being toyed with.