Red by Alyxandra Harvey

3 "Professor X Would Have a Field Day With You" Stars

 

Back Cover Blurb -

 

Bad girls burn hot…

Red is the color of Kia Alcott's hair.
It's her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble.
And it's the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start…just by thinking about them.

When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It's an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal…including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn't stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family…

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In this young adult novel, where Grimm’s Fairy Tales meet The Most Dangerous Game, we enter a world where fabled beasts and mystical creatures are a reality, but the most feared monster there is just might be the dark side of humanity. Kia is a special and dangerous young girl, but she soon realizes that there are far more dangerous things in the world than herself and if she isn’t careful, the dark creatures inhabiting the woods around her will be the least of her worries and trusting the wrong person can get her killed. No one is who they seem and everyone has their secrets, with twists, turns and surprises at every corner, Ms. Harvey takes her readers on a fun journey.

I really enjoy YA (young adult) books, especially when fantasy is involved, but some of the ones I read can come across as too immature or boring and some of the plots and story lines just too predictable and mundane. It’s a fine line that authors have to toe when writing this genre, because you have to keep it innocent enough with also keeping it enthralling, not an easy feat. Personally, I need some excitement in my reads and some intrigue to keep me interested and much to my pleasure, Red, did that for me. Some of the plot was very predictable and easy to figure out before their big ‘reveal’, but Ms. Harvey managed to throw in a couple of surprises I didn’t see coming and I absolutely delighted in that!

Now, where this one went wrong for me and kept me from giving it a four or five stars, was the lack of substance within the book. It needs to be said that I am an extremely critical reader and I want to love or hate the characters I am introduced to, I want to feel like I know them and I want to get lost in them, but with this book, I just didn’t. Of course at this point, it’s all personal preference and Red had all the makings of a great story, but I just didn’t love or hate any of the characters involved and never once did I forget that I was actually reading a book and get lost in it. I want to get lost in a book. I want a book hangover when I’m done. With that being said though and knowing this is primarily a YA read, I think that a good majority of readers will find this book enjoyable.

Overall, I would recommend this to those that are looking for a fun, easy read. It was definitely more entertaining than Twilight in my mind (but I really did not enjoy that book) and I think it would make a fun buddy read for parents and children (children of course being 13 and older, because there is some slight violence and smooching), but more critical readers be warned.

Happy Reading, until next time…

I would like to thank NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.