Review Detail

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy is a super cute, fun take on Hansel and Gretel.

First of all, Hansel and Gretel is my favorite fairytale so I had pretty high hopes for The Sinister Sweetness and Loftin didn’t disappoint. I love the idea of using school breakfast and lunch to fatten kids up. Not to mention the never-ending bowls of candy and two snacks a day. It’s so much more relevant than a house made out of cooky (I kid you not, that’s what it said in an old H&G version I once read) just randomly sitting there in the middle o the woods. I’d be all over a heaping plate of my mother-in-law’s vegetarian meatballs with mashed potatoes and gravy if it was just plopped in front of me with the encouragement to “eat, eat, eat!” Yeah, I’d like to think I’d be as plucky and brave as Lorelei, but I don’t think I could possibly resist all my favorite foods.

Though I loved the story over all, Lorelei’s refusal to think Principal Trapp could be bad drove me nuts. It got to the point where I actually started rolling my eyes at the story. I know there was the fact that her mom was gone so she was looking for another loving mom-like figure, but still.

The Nutshell: If you want a quick, fun, fairy-tale like middle grade, then The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy is for you. Loftin does a good modern take on Hansel and Gretel that’s definitely worth the read.

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