The Girl in Red

by Christina Henry

From the national bestselling author of Alice comes a postapocalyptic take on the perennial classic "Little Red Riding Hood"...about a woman who isn't as defenseless as she seems.

It's not safe for anyone  alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn't look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.

There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there's something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined.

Red doesn't like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn't about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods....

• ISBN10: 0451492285
• ISBN13: 9780451492289
• Publish Date: 18 June 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451492289

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .

Truly, there is a lot of hype surrounding this book. I saw it on several blogger friends' sites before I went ahead and decided I needed to read it too. And trust me, the hype is earned. This is one of the most brutally realistic-feeling apocalyptic novels I have ever read, and I have read quite a few! It flashes back and forth between Red's current situation, and how she got to the point where we begin the story. This decision by the author is extra great, because you really can see how and why Red transforms as she does since the plague first began.

It's an awful, dismal world that Red now finds herself in. Admittedly, those are my favorites to read about. Possibly because it makes ours feel like less of a dumpster fire? Though the thing that makes the world in this book so realistic is that it feels like it comes directly from said current dumpster fire. The government is basically awful and no one particularly wants to go to their "quarantine camps". People are legitimately killing survivors over their race, which... yep, I can see it happening here too. Red has a prosthetic leg, which of course makes people doubt her (which they really, really should not). More than that, she is a woman who is at times alone in the woods. And nothing has changed for women walking alone, either.

Red is very smart but she's not perfect, and that's the way I like my heroines. She's got flaws and she recognizes them and tries her best to overcome them in order to survive. You can see how hard she tries to survive- nothing falls into her lap, she works at it every minute of every day. It's exhausting, and the author does an incredible job of showing just how exhausting. How tired Red is of constantly being on alert, how desperately she misses the comforts of "before".  To me, that realism is the absolute cherry on the top of this already engaging and exciting book.

Bottom Line: I genuinely could see the apocalypse plague mirroring this book, which is both terrifying and impressive. The author does a tremendous job of making us love and care about Red, while being immersed in a world that will straight up horrify you.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of The Girl in Red through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Girl in Red is the latest warped fairy tale from the mind of Christina Henry. And man does it hold up to all of my expectations. As you can probably guess from the title, this is her own rendition of Little Red Riding Hood.
If you've ever wanted to see Little Red Riding Hood in a post-apocalyptic setting, then you're in luck! That's the core of this novel, though there are so many other layers to be found in this novel. It's rich and dark and so so delightfully disturbing. In short, it's perfection.
Red is just a teenage girl. One who has always been paranoid, prone to thinking ahead, and planning for the worst. Luckily all of those attributes made her more likely to be prepared to survive an apocalypse. Though maybe she wouldn't consider herself so lucky.


Warnings: The Girl in Red is an amazing novel, but it also covers some of the worst of humanity. There is a firm belief that the worst parts of human nature come out to play when shit hits the fans – and frankly I understand where that comes from. Also, this novel may not be best for anyone that has a phobia surrounding illness or disease. There are detailed accounts included, and it may be disturbing for some.
The Girl in Red was a whirlwind of a read. It's full of rich details and fascinating characters, all of whom support this amazing disturbing and detailed plot. I just couldn't get enough of it! To be honest, I was really quite sad when I hit the end of this book. Not because it felt incomplete, but because I just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.
This novel is a blend of so many different things. It's a post-apocalyptic story, of course. But it's also a tale of survival. A tale of learning to trust. A tale of grief, loss, and coming to terms with the past. In a way, it's even a redemption story.
This had to be one of the most chilling plots I've read in some time. The creeping feeling that comes from reading some of the details...it was almost too much at times. It was fascinating to see Red try and uncover the truth behind what was happening, while also keeping herself alive along the way.
I love that Red was such a realistic character. Yes, she's missing part of her leg. No, that doesn't slow her down. She's survived against all of the odds, doesn't that say enough about her and her will to live? She's so impressive, but she's also very human, and thus flawed. She's not perfect, but she is compassionate, determined, and so much more.
Another element that I loved was the decision to flip back and forth between two points in time. It really helped balance out the pacing. Plus it kept the tension building, allowing for Christina Henry to stop before a major revelation and jump to something else for a bit. Sometimes it made me want to pull out my hair – but it certainly kept me reading!
Part of me is actually sad that this story is complete. I understand why this one couldn't become a series, but in a way I would have liked to see exactly that. There were just so many elements in this story that I loved so much. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing what Christina Henry comes up with next!


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Beth C.]

A place where big bad wolves aren't wolves, the axeman isn't the axeman, but Red Riding Hood is still Red Riding Hood. Where the world is dark, people are dying, and grandma's house is both more AND less than the traditional fairy tale.

I LOVED Henry's re-imagined take of Alice in Wonderland, struggled with Lost Boy, and haven't read Mermaid yet. But I was absolutely excited to read this one, and when given the opportunity to read an arc, I snagged it. I started it yesterday, and just finished it, and it was EXCELLENT. Henry is quite good at taking old stories and turning them inside out AND upside down, all at the same time - keeping the base elements, but in such a way that the story is simultaneously recognizable and not.

The Girl in Red will join the Alice Chronicles as top reads, and I highly recommend it for anyone into dystopian, remakes, or light horror.