A review by emleemay
Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold

4.0

You are the hunter, and this wolf, though he thinks he is the predator, is your prey.

[a:Elana K. Arnold|5772357|Elana K. Arnold|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1331582486p2/5772357.jpg] is one of my favourite writers of the twisted and disturbing. I eagerly seek out her new books and always find myself feeling a little shaken at the end. However, I've said before of [b:Damsel|36260155|Damsel|Elana K. Arnold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518818837l/36260155._SY75_.jpg|57912874] that it should have been marketed as an adult book, and I think that is even more true of this one. Arnold's novels get these gorgeous YA fantasy covers, but I think it leads them into the wrong hands.

In [b:Red Hood|43721070|Red Hood|Elana K. Arnold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561406538l/43721070._SX50_.jpg|68041410] I think this is even more of an issue. This is a fantastic, gory, messed up fairy tale, but it also doesn't fully work as a high school thriller, in my opinion. Though I will say the honest depiction of menstruation is definitely something teens are missing.

Sixteen-year-old Bisou Martel has pretty much given up on getting her period when it suddenly arrives at the worst possible time-- homecoming dance, when things are getting sexy in the back of her boyfriend's car. In a moment of panic, she gets out of the car and runs away into the woods. There she encounters a vicious wolf, and somehow kills it. The next day it all seems like a bad dream, but when the dead body of one of her classmates is found in the woods, Bisou has to wonder: is she responsible?
There is a tree at your back. It rises behind you like all of history—your history, the history of girls in forests, the history of wolves and fangs and blood.

It is a very loose Red Riding Hood retelling, which I personally prefer. I have no interest in reading the same story over and over again. It's also very chilling and creepy, even outright scary in parts. I love how Arnold uses fairy tales to tackle issues young women face like periods, relationships, toxic masculinity, and the threat of violence, without seeming didactic or preachy. [b:Red Hood|43721070|Red Hood|Elana K. Arnold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561406538l/43721070._SX50_.jpg|68041410] is searingly critical of rape culture and "incels", at the same time as celebrating loving, consensual sex and relationships.

The problem is, I think the conclusion - the "message" of the book, if you will - doesn't sit quite right for me. It is clearly supposed to be about sisterhood and female empowerment, but it comes across as an endorsement of
Spoilermurder
. I also feel that the YA label doesn't help. Would this have been as jarring as an adult novel about
Spoilervigilante justice
? I can't say for sure, but I feel like it maybe wouldn't.

I will still recommend this to fans of the dark, twisted and gory, but I will need to add a caveat that I don't fully support the message so no one thinks I'm a psychopath.

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