Why Not Me?

Why Not Me? by S.J. Maas

A short story retelling of Hansel and Gretel through the eyes of the Witch.
Banner Credit: Melissa

Rosie Thinks: This story is truly amazing. As it says in the summary, this is a twist on the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, with the witch's life as the focus. By reading the summary, I thought that it would be a fairly light read about how the witch wasn't actually evil etc, but I was wrong. This is a dark story, but I absolutely love the way S.J.Maas has taken you into the mind of the witch and examined the workings of her mind. The story is pretty much a recounting of the witch's life, starting off with the crazy crone who raised her to how she began to feel that eating children would bring her closer to God and that it was the right thing to do.

One thing I love in stories is when the author has managed to make the villain into a three dimensional character - i.e., he/she has reasons for their actions, not just because they're pure evil. This is done perfectly in 'Why Not Me'. I actually felt sympathetic towards the witch, regardless of her terrible actions at times.

Despite the fact that I was sickened by parts of this story, I couldn't stop reading. S.J.Maas' writing is beautifully descriptive and fluent, portraying the scenes and emotions with ease. I found it interesting that, looking back on it, not one scene break was used by the author. This shows how fluid her writing is and that the entire story flowed, rather than being disjointed or interrupted. I will honestly never think of Hansel and Gretel the same after this amazing retelling!