I really fell in love with this story! I am such a sucker for the underdog, and I will root for them every time. But as much as I loved Zadie, Dex was probably my favorite character. He was very complexity, and I kept wanting to find out more about him. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending though, as some things were left unanswered, and I'm not sure if the author is planning on a sequel. I wouldn't mind a sequel, and regardless I do look forward to checking out the author's other work.

I think I found my favorite dystopian novel of 2019. The Red Labyrinth is fast paced and hard to put down. The story is so well put together with twists and turns. It keeps you guessing about where the story may go and about events that had happened in the past. The characters are just as well put together as the story.

I feel fans of Divergent, The Hunger Games and the Grisha trilogy would enjoy this novel. I felt like rereading them all to help with the book hangover I was left with. At the same time I felt like The Red Labyrinth is its own stand out novel and a great start to a series. I'm really curious about the direction the rest of the series will take and I can't wait to read the next one. This story deserves to be a best seller in its genre. I loved this book so much.

Upon first starting this book, I thought it was going to be so corny. Plain girl mocked against the "gifted" population and then the mythical, mystical DEX comes out of the big, bad maze!! Eyeroll. From there, all I could think was that the book was going to be like the Maze Runner, which I didn't like. But I was wrong.

The twists and turns in The Red Labyrinth are immense. The pacing was perfect and things moved quickly and had me turning pages as fast as I could. I loved the characters and thought the relationships were great. Honestly, the set-up in the very beginning was my only complaint. I almost walked away but by the time I got into the book, I was hooked and I really enjoyed the rest.

I wanted to give this book 4 stars but the ending is seriously such a bummer because it ends on such a cliffhanger. And unfortunately, there is no definite plan for any sequels because the author is only hoping but nothing set in stone. I actually got really invested in the story and the characters and once I got to the end of the book and found out that there isn’t any real conclusion, I was devastated.

The premise of the book was really intriguing. It was similar to Maze Runner but a little more sinister as well as more unique due to the fact that there are these Skilled ones as well as Blanks. I was immediately interested in finding out why there are Skilled people as well as what exactly is the purpose of that maze and why no one can survive once they walk into it. I thought that the author did a good job with the pacing because she would constantly drop little crumbs here and there but not enough to fully satisfy you yet enough to still entice you to continue with the story.

I also really liked the characters and did not at all suspect who the main villain was. I was honestly so shocked by it all because I just couldn’t fathom who the main villain truly was. For me though, I really liked the development of a somewhat friendship between Dex and Zadie. I love it when there is that gradual shift from initial distrust to potentially something more. That trope always gets me and I loved that it was here in this book.

Out of all the characters, I did find Zadie to be the most intriguing as well as the most frustrating character. This is partly because she is introduced as a Blank and because of that, she is treated like garbage among the rest of the townspeople and is constantly told that she is worthless. However, what I found most frustrating about her was the fact that she had no backbone. She just let others harass her and treat her like garbage. Not only that but the way how she always relied on Landon kind of bothered me – it was as if she was constantly the damsel in distress. I guess I just found it annoying that the girl always had to wait for the guy to rescue her. Thankfully though, after she went into the labyrinth, she did start to realize her self-worth and I grew to respect her a lot more.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book but unfortunately, as I stated, there is no plan for a sequel and this book ends on a major cliffhanger. I wish I had known that because I would not have requested this book in the first place.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC. While this book really wasn't for me, I really like the pace. Every turn of the Labyrinth brings new changes for the heroine. Zadie and Dex were two well written, fully formed characters; however, at times the book felt like an incomplete narrative and at other times it felt repetitive.

The most important takeaway is that the book wasn't for me, but others may enjoy it.

Zadie Kalver is used to being an outcast. She’s a “Blank” in a world full of those who are “Skilled.” From a very early age, she’s forced to toil in the mines outside the walls of Trinnea until her mother sacrifices everything to buy her freedom. But all along, she dreams of the boy that always looked at her as if she really mattered.

Landon Everhart is a hero. Known as “Limitless Landon” for his ability to endlessly gather new skills, he’s the one person that Zadie would lay down her life for. So when he’s unexpectedly dragged into the midst of the Labyrinth, she’s determined to save him or do exactly that.

"The silence makes me uncomfortable. With every passing second I’m more likely to blurt out something I can’t take back.
I know what I want to say. I’ve rehearsed it a million times in my head. Hey, Landon, I know you’re the hero of Trinnea, and most of the girls and probably some of the guys would do anything to be with you, and I know you could have your pick, and I know I’m a Blank and you’re you, but you’ve always been here for me, and I think I’m in love with you."

Zadie has come face to face with Dex more than once. “The Devil of Trinnea” is said to lure citizens into Labyrinth to steal their minds – or even worse. But she soon discovers that Dex is not the horror that he’s rumored to be. He too is trying to navigate the labyrinth to save someone. And the closer that they get to finding all of the answers, the more diabolical the questions become.

Up is down and black is white. The world as they know it is about to change – forever.

“Maybe we’re all a little broken. We’re all a little bit selfish and evil and good and dark and light.”

The Red Labyrinth is a fast-paced odyssey into a realm where nothing is as it seems. Meredith Tate once again taps into her world building savvy to create a landscape that is both bleak and imaginative. Her characters are daring – regardless of their secret motives – (I might have a thing for Dex!) and the story has more twists and turns than a wild carnival ride.

It’s everything that’s smart in YA fantasy. And I can’t wait to see where the labyrinth will lead from here…

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I thought the dystopian world-building to be wonderfully creative. The dynamics between people who are "skilled" and "blank" were very relatable to racial discrimination in real life. How this society decided to ration out scarce resources was realistic (but infuriating). But, however much I liked the idea of a labyrinth, with it's traps and puzzles, it didn't really have a logical function in the book. There were a lot of unexplained elements that the reader was just expected to accept. And the ending was quite unsatisfying.

What I Liked:

World-Building:

The author created a whole society around the idea that the survivors of a plague have needed to band together to conserve the few resources they have left. All of the original survivors each had a "skill" or super-power. But, over the years, some people, called "blanks" are born without any skills. The town elders have decided that those without "skills" are not useful and are thrown out of town into the desert. There, they are preyed upon by unscrupulous people to sign contracts as indentured servants. I found this system to be, sadly, something I could see happen if water became more precious than gold.

This sets up a system of first and second-class citizens where value is determined by what skills one has. But are skills the only thing of importance about a person? What about character, or family connections? How strange that some of these same questions are part of the recent immigration debate here in the U.S.

The Story of The Town:

I really liked the characters and story lines of the townspeople. There were many interesting secondary characters who I wanted to know more about. The author made me emotionally engage with their struggles and concerns.

What I Was Mixed About:

The Labyrinth:

The Sand Guardian is a magical being who tries to trick Zadie and Dex to prevent them from reaching the Stone Palace. I thought the traps and puzzles were very creative. But what was the point?

Zadie tries to reach the palace because a force field has encased the town, trapping all the skilled citizens. Only blanks can go through the force field without being killed. But why have a giant killer maze when a force field could have been used to keep everyone away from the palace in the first place (blanks would have no reason to go the palace)?

What I Didn't Like:

Inconsistent logic:

When one is creating an original universe, there must be rules as to how the universe works. Even if the rules are really far out (such as cats having superpowers), it's fine as long as the rules are consistent.

The inconsistency that I found annoying was that the author gave different explanations as to why the skilled people had superpowers. Was it magic or genetics? This becomes important because the labyrinth, itself, is supposed to be powered by magic. But what does the sand guardian gain by keeping the people from the palace? That is a mystery that is never explained.

The Ending:

I don't think I'm giving anything away by revealing that Zadie does make it through the labyrinth.

But even though the main problem of the story was resolved, it was not very emotionally satisfying. Suddenly, there was much more going on in the story, and I was left with more questions than answers. I felt like this was just a big set up for a sequel.

“I am brave. I am strong. And I am not afraid.”

I always love the opportunity to cheer for an underdog. Zadie lives in Trinnea and is a Blank in a society dominated by people with Skills. Zadie’s family had to pay for her be allowed to live within the walls of Trinnea but she will never be considered equal to the Skilled, whose abilities range from super-hearing to telekinesis and levitation.

“Blanks are considered abominations - genetic mistakes.”

Traumatised by years of childhood slavery and abuse, and continually tormented and bullied by the Skilled, Zadie lives her life in fear. She’s loved her best friend and protector, Landon, for years, but then he disappears into the labyrinth and Zadie is the only person who can remember him.

“No one who enters the maze comes out the same.”

Zadie is determined to save her best friend but to do this she’ll need to team up with the Dex, the Devil of Trinnea, and find a way through the maze of the labyrinth. Zadie doesn’t know which will kill her first.

I loved facing the dangers of the maze with Zadie and Dex, never knowing what challenge it would send their way next. Zadie’s tenacity despite her fear endeared her to me and her responses to trauma felt authentic. Throughout the book I kept thinking that Zadie had PTSD and although this is never stated, learning the author has a master’s degree in social work has only strengthened this belief. Regardless, Zadie’s determination inspired me.

My favourite character was Dex. His complexity made me want to keep digging beneath the surface to find out more about his history, motivations and character. He did not let me down.

I was engaged and entertained for the duration and enjoyed getting to know the main characters and their backgrounds. I didn’t have any problems navigating the transitions between the past and present, and felt the flashbacks added necessary background and context to the narrative.

I was disappointed by one of Zadie’s decisions near the end of the book, even though I understood the reasons behind it. Her initial damsel in distress mode, where she had a practically pathological need to be saved by a man, made me cringe. I also found the sand guardian annoying at times. Overall though, these were only fairly minor quibbles in a book that pleasantly surprised me.

I was torn between satisfied and frustrated by the way this book ended. While some answers are given, more questions do arise and there are plenty of loose ends, so a sequel feels inevitable. If there’d been a definite resolution for Dex then I probably would have been happy with a standalone. There’s definitely scope for a lot more to happen with Dex and Zadie, and there’s plenty more in this world to discover. I’ll be there for the sequel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flux, an imprint of North Star Editions, for the opportunity to read this book and discover a new (to me) author. I am rounding up from 4.5 stars.

I was excited to read this one because I typically love stories like this and it didn't disappoint. I do feel like it started out just a tad bit slow, but I was happy with the pacing overall. I liked the different obstacles that Zadie and Dex had to face in the labyrinth, some physical and some mental/emotional. I think the characters were well-developed and I really liked the "bad guy", Dex. I actually did not see the twist coming in the last part and wasn't entirely convinced that I liked the direction it took, I'm still pondering that one. However, I will happily read a follow-up if there is one. I will recommend this one to my students when school starts again in August.

The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate has so much potential. I loved the sound of the premise, but the actual execution just didn't quite cut it for me. Primarily, the world-building was lacking. There's so much more we should have known. As for the characters, they seemed pretty predictable and our lead didn't make the brightest decisions to top it off. Thanks anyway, NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this! I wasn’t sure if I’d be in the mood for it, since I’d been reading a lot of MG and YA, and I felt like maybe I needed to go and read some adult fiction for a while. But this was really engaging… and that ending! Can only hope there will be a book two!

I really felt for the main character, Zadie. She’s had a lot of trauma, and while it was hard to read, it never felt gratuitous. It made a lot of sense within the world that Tate has set up. There were a few occasions where she made (or almost made) some stupid decisions – I could forgive it the first couple of times, but once she knew the labyrinth was out to get her, I expected her to be a bit more sensible. And a lot of the time, she was rather reactionary, and someone else needed to save her. At times this was frustrating, but it was actually part of her character development as well. As she grew into herself and realised there were parts of her that no one could take away, she took charge of her destiny.

I suspected that the there would be more to the character of Dex than initially met the eye and I was right. I really liked learning more about him as the book went on.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Landon… it seemed that he was going to be a rather tropey YA love interest but… then he wasn’t. I don’t want to give much away but just know that Part Three was something I didn’t see coming, but it was really there all along. I came to a dozen realisations along with Zadie (and seeing her character growth in this section was really satisfying).

It does end on a cliffhanger so I will definitely be looking out for book two! The developments in the final act of this book leave room for so much to go down and I really want to see it play out!

(Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review)

DNF @page 141

ARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

This was one of the first books that I was approved from by NetGalley and was interested in the premise. The book follows a girl name Zadie who lives in this small community called Trinnea where people are divided by Skilled or Blank. Skilleds are people born with powers while Blanks arent. Zadie and other Blanks are all treated pretty horribly. The community Trinnea lives in a small area surrounded by a huge labyrinth full of monsters.

The book basically follows every single dystopian trope ever written. It feels very juvenile. The writing is very straightforward which wasnt the problem for me. The problem was more so that it was so freaking predictable that it was boring to read. I'm fairly sure that I skimmed over like half of what i read and i still know what is going on. In addition to the story being very bland, there are flashbacks tossed into the narrative without any set up which is VERY confusing.

This book was a great read, with strong word building, and convincingly flawed charterers. The story had some great action sequences with a twist of a peak that will keep readers wanting more. This is another great book that I could not put down until I finished reading it. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Tate’s books.
I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity of reading and reviewing another great book.

The thing I liked best about this book was that the first thought I had in terms of review content was that I finally found a book that seemed appropriate to fit in the YA category. The people seemed to act their age despite the dystopian setup. Normally, the YA fantasies I end up reading feel like they are talking to my age people (i.e 30) or at least within the previous decade. This however felt appropriate, however appropriate it could be considering a world where water is power and there is very little of it with the common people. The narration was well done and moved pretty quickly and the twists were mildly unexpected but also well done.

Zadie does not like her lot in life, she has but two people who genuinely care for her in this world and one of them happens to be her mother. The other happens to be the darling of all their land, a boy of infinite power. The story is simple enough, there is a version of the haves vs have-nots presented to us and the central focus of their system is a Supreme Leader who is hidden within the safety of a house at the other end of a labyrinth that hardly anyone leaves unscathed. Zadie is a realistic protagonist who has righteous thoughts but her actions are mostly self-centered (in a good way). There is the dark villain of the piece called Dex who hides behind smoke and powers. I thought it was one book but it turns out there is a lot left to happen when we finish this, and the next installments will probably wrap it up.

This is such a quick, fast-paced book filled with an authoritative regime, a labyrinth full of traps, grand characters, a murderous lovely boy, a self-doubting epic badass female. It's grand. It's awesome. There's are plot twists. and you should read it.

Zadie and Dex were the best, and I loved watching them come to trust one another and how they kept saving each other, and how in the end they could never leave one another behind. I loved how much they both loved their families and how they both would have done anything for them--and that's also the thing that KILLED me.

Things skyrocketed in action towards the end and I'm still reeling from everything and now I just need the next book in this series as soon as physically possible because I will not survive otherwise.

This book description reminded me of The Maze Runner, a novel I fell head over heels for and kept me guessing, and the cover really grabbed me.

The world-building is creative, detailed, and pulled me in almost immediately. The Skilled, the Blanks, and the labyrinth housing the monster, Dex, and separating the town folk from the Creator held me spellbound. The author does a magnificent job explaining Zadie's world without an info dump. Zadie is also very likable, and has survived tragic circumstances in her past. I cringed more than once when reading about her interactions with the Warden. Landon is the stereotypical hero, and plays the role of rescuer and town hero very well. But by far, Dex is the most compelling, and multi-layered character. Honestly, if the author wrote a spin-off focusing on Dex's backstory, I'd snatch it up immediately. The story is well-paced, and the obstacles Zadie and Dex face in the labyrinth are dangerous, challenging, and, at times, heart-breaking.

Everything was going smoothly - awesome world-building, life and death circumstances, intense action - until it became very obvious that one character isn't what the reader is led to believe. That's nothing new - it goes along with good storytelling. But the revelation is meant to be a twist towards the end, and some things just didn't ring true for me with this character early in the story. In scanning other reviewer comments, it didn't seem to come as a shock to them, either.

If you're looking for an original YA dystopian/fantasy, The Red Labyrinth fits the bill nicely. Although the ending includes a cliffhanger, it wraps rather suddenly, and I'll definitely be adding the next book to my TBR.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Scrolling through Netgalley recently my eyes immediately zeroed in on the word Labyrinth. I am an enormous fan of the old Bowie fantasy film from Jim Henson, in fact I'd only watched it the week before. I only needed to skim the blurb of The Red Labyrinth to see the similarities.

-A young girl enters the labyrinth to save her best friend (instead of her brother).
-The journey is time sensitive (a week rather than 13 hours).
-A dangerous enemy is bribed into helping her reach the palace, (he's scarier than Hoggle was though that's for sure!)

Being a lover of magical tricksters I knew I had to read this. Whilst the premise can be compared as above to my beloved childhood movie, the book itself is very much it's own unique tale.
Additionally, unlike my beloved movie, the reason for and origin of the Labyrinth is given in this tale.

I found Tate to be very clever in creating enemies and obstacles encountered throughout the labyrinth that were fun to read and simultaneously poignant to the characters.
Each trap or distraction provides further insight into the characters as well as action packed entertainment.

Told in present tense from the POV of our main character Zadie, Tate gives us excellent character development for both Zadie and the protagonist Dex via their backstories.
Zadie's continuous internal battle between what she truly wants and what is morally just is wonderfully written. I connected with this MC and could hear her hope, desperation and pain in Tate's words.

One of the noticeable things I discovered in this book was the perfection of character diversity. Race and sexuality were varied throughout characters in the most natural way I've seen for a while. There was no beating you about the head to prove the inclusion, it just belonged - which is exactly how this should be approached IMO. The relationship between Chantry and Nadine especially was a beautiful touch.

The Red Labyrinth appears to end with intentions of a sequel, however I enjoyed this book as a stand alone.

Zadie's life is horrible. Born without any powers in a village filled with people born with, she is treated like dirt. She has to take the worse jobs and is constantly bullied by everyone. She is in love with her best friend but can't think about being with him because he has powers. One day he disappears and everyone in the village becomes brainwashed. In order to save her family, Zadie goes into the labyrinth to find their leader. The labyrinth is filled with monsters and a powerful man who can help and hinder her.

This is an exciting book and hard to put down. I knew there was more to the setting than it first seems. The reveals at the end made me want more and I'm assuming that this is going to be a series because Zadie has more work to do. She, as a character, was sympathetic and was very hard on herself. She kept thinking that she was relying on others too much but her society punishes her for protecting herself. Once in the labyrinth, she does a good amount helping herself as much as she can.

Dex is a very interesting character who also blames himself too much for things others have done to him. His relationship with Zadie was slow growing and built on trust. No insta love.

Thank you to Flux and Netgalley for providing a copy for review.

This was so good! I literally read this in a handful of hours. So this book takes place in a desert town, where people are Skills (have powers) or Blanks (no powers). The Blanks are considered second class citizens at best, but more like scum. There is the Leader who likes to show up on a big screen and grace the town with water occasionally. Then there is the labyrinth. The labyrinth is a big, red, scary maze dividing the town from the palace where the leader resides. Life is not so fantastic for Zadie, who is a Blank, but her best friend Landon, the town hero is usually around to protect her. At the annual Water festival, Dex, a mysterious boy/monster who lives in the maze tries to kidnap Zadie, and all chaos breaks loose. Landon saves Zadie from Dex, but then the next day he's gone and no one remembers him. Zadie decides to brave the maze to save him.

The maze was a great setting. You wouldn't necessarily think so, but with all the traps and magical creatures it made for a really interesting background. I really enjoyed Zadie's character arc. She starts out very scared, timid, and just feels very worthless. It doesn't help that this has literally been beaten into her for most of her life. However through out the book she grows a lot. Dex is not what he seems at all, and while his character arc didn't seem as developed there were definite changes in him. The action, and the emotional growth that comes about through the different maze challenges was just really well done, and felt natural. I can honestly say that I did not see that ending coming! It was such a great cliff hanger, like I am so excited for the next book because I have a feeling it is going to be a roller coaster of a ride. I just really enjoyed the hell out of this book. It gave me some Wizard of Oz type vibes, with a smattering of Alice in Wonderland, while being its own thing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate is a story about a girl, Zadie, who is a blank living in a world where that is basically a death sentence. Blanks, people born without skills, basically think x-men like powers?, are typically cast out of the desert town Zadie is from and into the wastes. Through years of hard work from her family and best friend Landon, Zadie was able to buy her citizenship back but is still very much a second rate citizen.

Besides the danger of being a blank where the city guard even harass the blanks, inside the village things aren’t exactly safe. There is a maze between their village and the building their leader stays in. A maze that is very dangerous and houses the mysterious and deadly Dex. Many a person has gone into the maze and come out without their wits about them anymore, a skill attributed to Dex who has more rumors and assumptions about him than anything else. Dex who has been starting to wander further from the entrance of the maze to drag in blanks after him for some unknown but very feared reasons. Many people fear Dex for good reason, except Landon whose gone after those who’ve entered the maze and brought them back, mostly safe and in one piece.

When Zadie wakes up one day to find her home turned completely upside down and Landon missing she realizes she needs to enter the maze if she’s going to make things right. She teams up with Dex but what does she have to fear more, the maze and it’s many traps or Dex? Big secrets are being kept and finding them out might be worse than the lie.
******
So, wow. Interesting read. I was largely drawn to it because it’s a book published under the Flux imprint, even if its not under the Flewellyn publishing house anymore, and I’m a huge fan and have yet to be disappointed by what they release. I’m around a 3.5 rating for this book.
I think the world was interesting, but getting to things happening just seemed like it took so long and what kicked it off seemed a bit contrived I guess and considering what I learned at the ending I guess it fits.
Zadie wasn’t exactly my favorite kind of character for the most part, but as you got closer to the end her real character started to show through more and really shone. Dex was an interesting guy with a lot of motive, depth and so many secrets. Landon surprised the heck out of me, I didn’t like him much at the beginning and still didn’t really like him at the end but boy can I admire his determination to make things happen.
Also, if this book is not in fact the first in a series I’m going to go burn something very dramatically because that ending means I need answers. I will fight someone for answers.