Red Death (Red Death, #1)

by Jeff Altabef

[layawaydragon]

Trigger Warning Icon Young Adult Icon Apocalypse Icon Dystopian Icon paranormal Romance Icon Others Icon ’Clean’ Icon
Insta-Love Icon Not For Me Icon Problematic Icon Status Quo Icon

Red Death instantly grabbed my attention and didn't let go. Sounds corny and cliché, I know but that's the best way to describe it. It has classic dystopian elements and is a great recommendation for fans of the genre. You'll see some events coming in the beginning as it's all set up and follows the typical dystopian path. If you're an avid fan of the genre, you'll be able to spot more. For me, the characters and action made up for when I was being able to see what was around the bend.

There’s multiple POV’s that switch around and eventually converge. It saves on having to give back story once the paths cross. This is done very well. There’s no way to mix them up and was one of the best parts for me.

It’s full of action and adventure. Once Aaliss and Wilky get out with the soulless it picks up even quicker. I loved Aaliss in the beginning and the end, but in the middle, she’s dragged down by insta-love.

Can’t say I like or dislike Wilky as he isn’t a real person. He’s a plot device, trope, and stereotype. He’ll be catatonic and then pop up with whatever his companions need. If you’re sensitive to autistic portrayals in fiction, I’d steer clear. It’s highly annoying at the very least.

Piers, the oldest brother to Aaliss and Wilky, and Eamon, the brother to the king of the Butcher tribe, are the second-best characters. Eamon suffered the same fate as Aaliss with the middle drag. Piers however started meh and got better all the way to the end.

The rest of the cast is women, young and old, and a couple of Bad Guy villains. Not much time is spent with the Painted Ones, which I’d really like to know more of, or the tribe to the north of them or the rest of the damn world.

Now that the players are introduced and in place, the sequel will have war planning and Eden’s inhabitants to deal with. How it’s going to work out, I don’t know exactly.


Keep in Mind:
--Highly religious, would call it Christian fiction
--Dystopian world building in the past but the present focuses on paranormal souls and visions to move forward
--Small map is included to visualize the travels but there are no identifying marks where this takes place in the U.S.A.
--No idea about the rest of the world either.
--Plenty of graphic violence – fighting and murder but barely any romantic touching.
--Instalove
--Felt long in the middle
--What kind of fucking name is Wilky? Especially given to the autistic presenting kid? There’s no reason or meaning given, it just is. Also, he’s Magical™. And calling him “strange” makes it more problematic, not less.
--Appearance descriptions are mostly about faces, hair and eye color. The skin tone isn’t described but the people of Eden are white. There are several tribes of Soulless outside of Eden, but again skin tone isn’t described. I always buck the “white as default” bullshit in my mind’s eye but doing that in Red Death makes Wilky a white savior to native tribes. *sigh*
--Attempted Rape Scene early on. It doesn't get far beyond threats.


I did enjoy the ride, the actual characters are solid, and the plot has plenty going for it but it is problematic in several ways, the mystical religious part lowered it in my esteem (I’m not Christian so I would’ve skipped it had I known), and the instalove was annoying at first.

While I wouldn't say I regret reading it as it was easy, quick, and fun to read at the time but I wouldn't have chosen to promote or read it if other reviews had included this information.

It sucks not being able to recommend it more because of its issues as I'd get over the unexplained paranormal parts for the cast and plot but the more I think about Red Death the more uncomfortable I get with continuing the series.