katiedoodle's review against another edition
4.0
This book was surprisingly good. I sometimes get a little hesitant about fairy tale retellings because I expect them to be a little too hamfisted, but this had a very loose connection to Little Red Riding Hood, allowing it to really be its own story.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, particularly the use of narrative interjected occasionally with stream-of-consciousness thoughts from the protagonist. It felt realistic and helped me connect with her.
I do have a couple minor gripes with the protagonist. She is a serious know-it-all, and I understand that this is kind of addressed at the end as something she needs to work on, but it felt a little like it was hurriedly tacked on. The fact is that Red is correct about most things throughout the story, although she really shouldn't be, in my opinion. She strikes me as so over-the-top paranoid about every possible obstacle that it would be unreasonable to expect any of her misgivings to play out in most circumstances. And she has such an in-your-face attitude about it that it got a bit exhausting at times. My irritation with this is bolstered by the fact that she seems to be informed largely by being genre-savvy. She is pretty smart, so it feels like she should know that things don't just happen like they do in the movies. It's not a big deal but I think a little more reflection on her part demonstrating that this isn't super helpful might have been nice.
Relatedly, Red is also framed as a character who is kind of quirky because she... likes movies and books. Or at least her brother seems to think this is weird and gives her no end of grief for it. Not that unreasonable for a sibling to do, but kind of hard to believe that anyone would find it out of the ordinary to like two of the most popular forms of entertainment. And not even obscure stuff, but mainstream stories like Alien and Silence of the Lambs.
Despite this, I found Red relatable overall. There is depth to her character. She is smart and organized but her plans don't always pan out, and she sometimes lets her pragmatism get in the way of understanding others' emotions. She is willing to protect herself, but she doesn't enjoy violence and reacts with disgust when it is necessary. Yeah, her hubris annoyed me, but she feels like a real person, and her interactions with different characters were pretty believable.
Based on this book, I think I would read more from this author in the future.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, particularly the use of narrative interjected occasionally with stream-of-consciousness thoughts from the protagonist. It felt realistic and helped me connect with her.
I do have a couple minor gripes with the protagonist. She is a serious know-it-all, and I understand that this is kind of addressed at the end as something she needs to work on, but it felt a little like it was hurriedly tacked on. The fact is that Red is correct about most things throughout the story, although she really shouldn't be, in my opinion. She strikes me as so over-the-top paranoid about every possible obstacle that it would be unreasonable to expect any of her misgivings to play out in most circumstances. And she has such an in-your-face attitude about it that it got a bit exhausting at times. My irritation with this is bolstered by the fact that she seems to be informed largely by being genre-savvy. She is pretty smart, so it feels like she should know that things don't just happen like they do in the movies. It's not a big deal but I think a little more reflection on her part demonstrating that this isn't super helpful might have been nice.
Relatedly, Red is also framed as a character who is kind of quirky because she... likes movies and books. Or at least her brother seems to think this is weird and gives her no end of grief for it. Not that unreasonable for a sibling to do, but kind of hard to believe that anyone would find it out of the ordinary to like two of the most popular forms of entertainment. And not even obscure stuff, but mainstream stories like Alien and Silence of the Lambs.
Despite this, I found Red relatable overall. There is depth to her character. She is smart and organized but her plans don't always pan out, and she sometimes lets her pragmatism get in the way of understanding others' emotions. She is willing to protect herself, but she doesn't enjoy violence and reacts with disgust when it is necessary. Yeah, her hubris annoyed me, but she feels like a real person, and her interactions with different characters were pretty believable.
Based on this book, I think I would read more from this author in the future.
jessie85's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
aparker89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Ms Henry does it again! Red Riding Hood is just trying to get to grandma's house but many obstacles stand in her way: a pandemic, the loss of society, no easy method of transportation and so much more... Will she ever make it? Or will one of the wolves get her? This is one adventure you won't want to miss!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Abandonment, Biphobia, Bullying, Death of parent, Body shaming, Confinement, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Slavery
reading_beyond_the_book_cover's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely loved this book. I need to read more from this author. Fast paced, engaging plot, and excellent character development in under 300 pages.
I hybrid read this. You can never go wrong with audiobooks narrated by January LaVoy.
I hybrid read this. You can never go wrong with audiobooks narrated by January LaVoy.
strdust's review against another edition
3.0
This is a red riding hood retelling, set in a post-apocalyptic world where there's a pandemic going on (sounds familiar?) and everyone dies because of the Cough (and tapeworm monsters apparently, don't know where that came from). The story focuses on the main character Red who has to survive and arrive at her grandma's house safely.
Overall I enjoyed it, it felt like a typical fun, fast-paced end of the world story. However some things kinda annoyed me like the fact that Red really hates guns and refuses to use one then proceeds to hurt people with a friggin ax like?? Also the ending just felt super rushed and rather flat to be honest, I wish there were more.
Overall I enjoyed it, it felt like a typical fun, fast-paced end of the world story. However some things kinda annoyed me like the fact that Red really hates guns and refuses to use one then proceeds to hurt people with a friggin ax like?? Also the ending just felt super rushed and rather flat to be honest, I wish there were more.
yanners's review against another edition
1.0
If I came out of this knowing anything, it’s that our eccentric little sweetheart Red is an axe-wielding maniac with a paranoid personality disorder. She’s marketed as some savage killer/badass know-it-all but the only vibes I’m getting from this is hyperinflated ego stemming from the fact that she thinks watching the Walking Dead means she’s naturally more adept at survivor than others.
The context was really weird because it was some hybrid of Alien and the Walking Dead and there were a butt ton of fillers at the front which I didn’t really see the point of. It would’ve definitely been better if Red could’ve at least met with more disaster because her life is as easy as:
1. Meeting people who help her bathe and everything
2. Meeting soldiers who aren’t irritated by her overconfidence and actually play along
3. Meeting other humans but killing them in cold blood even though she’s slight and should’ve be struggling to even lift that axe
The whole ‘I’m trekking across the country to get to Grandmother’s house’ is really discordant and out of place and it seemed as though the last paragraph was just rushing to end it there and then so that it had at least some form of semblance of the original Red Riding Hood.
I’m not trying to disparage this story but it’s just that RRH had a lot of potential as a retelling and this just didn’t do it justice for me :(( 1.5 stars
The context was really weird because it was some hybrid of Alien and the Walking Dead and there were a butt ton of fillers at the front which I didn’t really see the point of. It would’ve definitely been better if Red could’ve at least met with more disaster because her life is as easy as:
1. Meeting people who help her bathe and everything
2. Meeting soldiers who aren’t irritated by her overconfidence and actually play along
3. Meeting other humans but killing them in cold blood even though she’s slight and should’ve be struggling to even lift that axe
The whole ‘I’m trekking across the country to get to Grandmother’s house’ is really discordant and out of place and it seemed as though the last paragraph was just rushing to end it there and then so that it had at least some form of semblance of the original Red Riding Hood.
I’m not trying to disparage this story but it’s just that RRH had a lot of potential as a retelling and this just didn’t do it justice for me :(( 1.5 stars