The ‘world’ was interesting. Just what would life be like in the shadow of Olympus? What would it take to survive weather conditions on Mars? The answering inventions are quite clever and fun. The author does a great job of making it very futuristic but also keeping it understandable for the target age group.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like the heroine. I think Collins was trying to portray Belle as being very spunky and courageous, but she came across as just plain rebellious. She routinely disobeys her parents, authorities, or any adult in the general vicinity. It’s not that she’s just impulsive or thoughtless. She often takes the time to think about what she is going to do, and then she always decides that she is wiser than her parents so that she can act as she wishes. She even convinces her friend to lie to her parents. Beyond a lecture, and finally a grounding, there are never any consequences for her actions. In, fact she is constantly getting praised for what she does.
The main lesson is the evils of racism. I wouldn’t have guessed how that got settled. That was unique and would have been good, if it hadn’t relied on Belle, once again, disobeying and breaking her word.
There were a few other things that bothered me as well, some more than others. The acceptance of some of the more radical environmental theories as facts was annoying. The family unit of one or heroines best friends made me very uncomfortable. The author may not have meant anything weird, but having three parents living together is just a bit confusing and unsettling.
Because of the age of the target audience and the behavior encouraged by the heroine, I cannot recommend this book.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Capstone. No favorable review was required. These are my own honest opinions.

Redworld Year One was a solid middle-grade sci-fi read. The author does a great job of keeping the writing on a level her readers can understand. With relatively few words, she builds a bare minimum type world on Mars that makes sense. The book is divided into parts that feel like their own individual mini books. The author refreshes the reader's memory in each part. This reinforcement can come in handy for those with wandering attention spans, but it doesn't feel forced. 

I liked the interactions between the characters. Belle and her companions aren't an interesting group. Belle is the immediately easy to relate to. She is also the eyes through which readers experience other races. I appreciated the way the author slowly brings readers to the understanding that even though people might look different, they're still people. Even though in this book, the others are decidedly alien, its a lesson easy to apply to 'real' life. 

There aren't many illustrations in the book, but the ones that are present help to enforce the emptiness and desolate atmosphere on the partially terraformed Mars.I liked also the letters at the end of each chapter that sum up the major events of that chapter. Its a good way to reinforce what readers just read, and it's done casually enough that they might not even realize that's what's going on.

Overall, Redworld Year One is a good science fiction book that strikes exactly the right chords for the intended audience. It's well written, easy to read, and imaginative. I can't wait to read more from author A.L. Collins!

Redworld is a fun adventure for late elementary or early middle school readers. Each section of the book is a new adventure of Belle and her friends and each reads as a somewhat independent story. There is a bunch of repetition at the start of each section, which makes it seem like they may have been intended to be separate books. The stories are each enjoyable with a nice messages on friendship and acceptance. They reminded me of the Little House books in how they talk about homesteading, although it is a sci-fi version! Boys and girls would equally enjoy Belle and her adventures.

ARC Copy for review...It was nice. very much a coming of age tale of living on the western frontiers alias the pioneer days except the twist is...it's all on a terraformed Mars. I like Belle...she is smart, adventurous but tends to leap before she looks and breaks the rules when she wants to do what she thinks is right. Liken the world building in both the Martian landscape, the social interplay between the three major species on the planet, and the slice of life approach to the narrative. The illustrations are beautiful and makes the narrative feel more in-depth and beautiful.

The app to read this PDF copy on Android devices is terrible. I managed to read to page 22, but unfortunately that took me forever, not an enjoyable experience at all. If you do make this book available in another format, please contact me if you still would like me to review. The 1 star does not relate in anyway to my review of the book as I was unable to read it in the PDF format.