This is a review of an ARC from NetGalley.

Red is alone in the woods, trying to make her way to her grandmother's house. She's been on her own since the Crisis came. The Cough, which wiped out most of the population, was bad, but what followed almost seems worse - men descending into their basest selves, preying on who ever was left.

This is a very well done apocalyptic update of Little Red Riding Hood, with jumps in time keeping the story suspenseful. The writing is first-rate, but I'm giving it three stars because it's waaaay too intense for me. If you don't mind bloodshed, violence, and horror-movie creatures, than this I highly recommend it!

The Girl in Red is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood in a post-apocalyptic world. Humanity was hit with a virus that started as a cough and quickly progressed to death. Red is a young woman who loves science fiction, reading, movies, and just has a general thirst for knowledge. These qualities have left her especially prepared for the end of the world. The opening scene shows us just how bad-ass Red is. She has been walking through the woods alone for days on the way to her grandmother’s house. The plan is to get there and survive the apocalypse with the last of her family in the middle of the woods where she has always felt at home, but the battle is getting there. As she is warming a can of soup over the fire, a man wanders up and Red can tell right away that he does not have the best of intentions. After he attempts to take her food and then threatens her, Red uses her hatchet to take care of him.

This really sets the scene for how the rest of the book will go. It is dark and suspenseful as we go back and forth in time to learn what happened to the rest of Red’s family and continue on Red’s journey with her to her grandmother’s house. I came into this book having read and loved Lost Boy by Christina Henry last year. I was super excited for another retelling from this amazing author and I was not disappointed. The Girl in Red is such a fantastic book and I cannot wait to read more of what Christina Henry has to offer.

Big thank you to Berkley & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

The Girl in Red is an epic journey through a post-apocalyptic world, following a twenty-something protagonist as she fights her way through the dangers of rural America. From the start, the book doesn’t shy away from the gruesome realities of desperate people doing anything to survive. Red kills when she has to and is always a step ahead of those around her. It’s inspiring to experience the story through such a strong protagonist who doesn’t take crap from anyone. She is constantly second-guessed by the men who pop in and out with their guns and antiquated notions but she prevails nonetheless. 

The story is written in such a way that it begins to creep into the back of your mind, sending off a myriad of worries to your brain as you imagine what you would do in such circumstances. Would you realize what was happening and prepare for the end of the world? Would you have what it takes to survive in the wilderness against enemies who would imprison you? Would you know what to do when the going gets tough? I was left looking around my house, realizing how unimportant most things are when an apocalypse is top of mind. It’s safe to say I was in a sort of panic by the end of the book, and that kind of realism isn’t easy to find.

The book got to me on such a deep level because of the realism infused into Red and her thoughts about the world. She’s a skeptic who knows a lot about everything and uses that knowledge to survive. We get the details about what happens when major governmental systems begin to shut down. We see the terrors of walking in on a plague scene and fearing you may have been contaminated. The most terrifying aspect is the shift in how she views other people. In our daily lives, people are everywhere and, many times, it’s a welcome sight. There’s a subtle shift in Red’s post-virus world and suddenly everyone else is an enemy. It leaves you thinking just how delicate society really is.

Overall, The Girl in Red is the kind of apocalypse fiction that will leave you thinking long and hard about the realities of a post-civilization life. If you’re like me, you may find yourself looking through your cabinets and adding a few cans of food during the next trip to the grocery store.

Review to be published on 7/1 at: http://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/07/01/the-girl-in-red-book-review

Truly, there is a lot of hype surrounding this book. I saw it on several blogger friends' sites before I went ahead and decided I needed to read it too. And trust me, the hype is earned. This is one of the most brutally realistic-feeling apocalyptic novels I have ever read, and I have read quite a few! It flashes back and forth between Red's current situation, and how she got to the point where we begin the story. This decision by the author is extra great, because you really can see how and why Red transforms as she does since the plague first began.

It's an awful, dismal world that Red now finds herself in. Admittedly, those are my favorites to read about. Possibly because it makes ours feel like less of a dumpster fire? Though the thing that makes the world in this book so realistic is that it feels like it comes directly from said current dumpster fire. The government is basically awful and no one particularly wants to go to their "quarantine camps". People are legitimately killing survivors over their race, which... yep, I can see it happening here too. Red has a prosthetic leg, which of course makes people doubt her (which they really, really should not). More than that, she is a woman who is at times alone in the woods. And nothing has changed for women walking alone, either.

Red is very smart but she's not perfect, and that's the way I like my heroines. She's got flaws and she recognizes them and tries her best to overcome them in order to survive. You can see how hard she tries to survive- nothing falls into her lap, she works at it every minute of every day. It's exhausting, and the author does an incredible job of showing just how exhausting. How tired Red is of constantly being on alert, how desperately she misses the comforts of "before". To me, that realism is the absolute cherry on the top of this already engaging and exciting book.

Bottom Line: I genuinely could see the apocalypse plague mirroring this book, which is both terrifying and impressive. The author does a tremendous job of making us love and care about Red, while being immersed in a world that will straight up horrify you.

A young woman finds herself without family or friends as she tries to travel hundreds of miles on foot to escape disease and chaos. Along the way she will need to call on every single instinct to help her survive. Author Christina Henry takes the familiar story of “Little Red Riding Hood” and gives it exciting twists and edges in her newest book The Girl in Red.

Cordelia doesn’t answer to that name; never has. It’s not her fault her mother, a professor of Shakespearean literature, named her after one of the bard’s heroines. She goes by Red, a nickname her father gave her when she was a child, and that’s it.

And even though Red has delved into some of Shakespeare’s work, her real fascination is for horror films and end-of-the-world novels. Good thing too, because the end of the world has crashed on the heads of everyone and no one knows why. Three months ago, people began dying from a mysterious illness everyone calls the Cough. That’s how it starts, but it ends in a much more gruesome way.

Although Red and her family already live on the edge of their small college town, she insists that they go to her grandmother’s house. Grandma lives in the middle of the woods with no neighbors for miles around, and Red knows they’ll be safe there from both the airborne disease as well as the depravity it has caused in people. If they leave by car, they’ll just get turned around at the government roadblocks, so Red says they need to walk. By staying in the woods, even though it’ll take much longer, they’ll make it to Grandma’s house. Her parents take forever to agree and then plan the trip, and her older brother, Adam, is acting like a brat about the whole situation.

Red’s practically bouncing on her toes—well, the toes on one foot, anyway. She lost part of her left leg when she was a child and uses a prosthetic leg to get around. Even though she’s an adult now at 20, her mother still treats her like she’s a child. But Red is the only one in her house who has taken the entire crisis seriously. She’s packed a camping backpack with the essentials and practiced for weeks carrying it around. All they have to do is leave already.

When they finally do, though, their family doesn’t leave together. Soon after, it’s just Red in the woods, putting one foot in front of the other, making the trek of more than 300 miles one step at a time. Along the way she defends herself from the increasingly savage men she meets who target lone women, and she calls on all the “research” she’s done through her books and movies. And even though losing all semblance of normal life burns in Red’s chest much more than any cough could, she keeps her eye on the main goal: getting to Grandma’s house safe and sound.

Author Christina Henry presents readers with a razor-sharp protagonist in Red. She’s smart and stubborn, resourceful but also flawed—all of the things readers love most in their main characters. Her disability provides an interesting character trait, but Henry doesn’t dwell on it to the point of distraction. It’s as much a part of Red as anything else, but it doesn’t define her.

The self-aware narration drills right to the heart of every single scene, and readers will thoroughly enjoy watching Red work through one challenge after another. For half of the book, Red travels all by herself. In the hands of a lesser skilled author, a lone character going on a journey would amount to a boring story. Henry, however, uses flashbacks with deft and care. The result is that even though Red may be alone for the first half of the novel, readers will still enjoy every minute with her.

If the novel struggles anywhere, it’s at the end. Red stays true to herself through the climax, but readers might wonder whether Henry could have developed the last few pages a little further. The final scene provides some solace but possibly not enough.

For the most part, however, the book flies, as will readers while they’re flipping or swiping pages. I recommend readers Bookmark The Girl in Red!

Red must survive the journey to grandma's house in this post apocalyptic retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

I am a little on the fence about how I really felt about THE GIRL IN RED. I enjoyed the main character. I liked how prepared she was and how she was able to think ahead when others were only thinking about the next hour. I hate to say it, but her family was kind of annoying. They really should have listened to her more often. I didn't really understand the huge emphasis that was put on Red's race. Her being biracial was mentioned at just about every turn and made to be a really big deal when it wasn't. I just didn't really understand why it was constantly mentioned the way it was.

I really enjoyed the plot of THE GIRL IN RED. There was plenty of danger and I enjoyed the way the world evolved after the crisis hit. Having said that, there was a lot of info dumping throughout the book, but not enough info when I thought more info would have been useful.

The ending was a little lackluster. We seemed to get a lot of detail on her journey to grandma's house, but then we jump weeks, she's there and the book ends. No reunion, no nothing. Just a fade out when the house is in sight and she can smell her grandma's cooking. I was at least expecting her to knock on the door and have her grandma answer. I was left wanting.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book a lot! I really had no idea that this book would be a post-apocalyptic story but I couldn't have been happier about that fact once I started reading. I see now that little fact would have been obvious if I had read the book's summary before diving in but I like to go into books as blinding as I can so I can be surprised. It worked well in this case. Once I started reading, I was completely taken with Red as she fought to survive in a terrifying world. I really had a fantastic time with this book!

There is a virus, known as the Cough, that is wiping out much of the population. Red's family is safe but they don't know how much longer things will stay that way. They decide that the best course of action is to travel by foot to Grandma's house since she is pretty isolated. Red is prepared and ready for the challenge. Her parents and brother are not nearly as eager to start the journey.

Red is an amazing character. She lost her leg in an accident when she was younger and now uses a prosthetic leg. Others often see her as disabled or crippled but Red knows she is very capable. She is also very aware of how things are different for her. I really liked the way that we got a glimpse into what life would be like with a prosthesis. The way that maintaining balance, dealing with difficult terrain, and fatigue were worked into the story was expertly handled. I also really liked the fact that Red is biracial. Racism does play a part in this story and I hated what Red and her family had to deal with.

I really thought that this book was exciting. Just when I thought I knew what was going on, things would happen that made me doubt everything. This book did such a great job of keeping me guessing. I think that the way that the story was laid out worked well. We see things from Red's perspective at the beginning of the crisis and also much later on. I thought that by alternating these two points in time they both seemed just a bit more powerful.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This was a thrilling story with an incredibly tough and intelligent heroine. There were lots of twists and turns that kept the pages turning through Red's tragedies and triumphs. I can't wait to read more from Christina Henry!

I received a review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group.

The Girl in Red, the latest in author Christina Henry’s series of gritty fairytale retellings, is a dark, imaginative take on Little Red Riding Hood. This time, the story is set in a grim future where much of humanity is dead, the victims of an unknown plague.

On the surface, this is the kind of story we’ve seen before. Fairytale retellings are all the rage at the moment, after all – and everyone loves a good dystopian post-apocalyptic tale, whether you’re a YA reader or just a science fiction fan.

In this world it’s a mysterious illness known as “The Cough” and the subsequent government-mandated quarantine camps that send The Girl in Red’s heroine off to her grandmother’s house seeking both shelter and safety. The primary question of the novel isn’t just about whether or not she’ll get there – though that’s obviously kind of important – but what kind of person she’ll have to become along the way.

As befits a Red Riding Hood story, the most compelling aspect of The Girl in Red is its main character. Cordelia, who goes by Red, is a young bi-racial, bisexual woman with a prosthetic leg. She’s obsessed with horror movies and has trained herself to become a survivalist, wielding an axe with the best of them. Yet, the terror of the apocalyptic world she finds herself in – while still remembering the life of internet access and cable TV she had mere months ago – doesn’t make her monstrous in turn.

[My full review appears at Culturess - read it here:https://culturess.com/2019/06/21/girl-red-thrilling-dystopian-take-classic-fairytale/)

This is quite the riveting story. It gets weirder, scarier and more believable as I read!

Red is a pegged-leg, petite woman. She is by no means frail, quite the opposite. With courage, intelligence and caring heart she manages to live through true terror—a terror where no one is safe. She has watched so much Sci-Fi, she identifies with many scenes on TV through her ordeal. She’s a planner, likes control and has a ruthless sharp-wit about her that does her in good stead.

When the Cough comes to town, she is prepared for the worst; she has been carrying her knapsack with everything neatly packed for weeks (a quick getaway, if necessary), getting in shape to carry all the weight, and keep herself balanced.

All hell breaks loose just a day before her family and her want to leave to travel by foot, some 350 miles through forests and backroads to her grandmother’s house. Tragedy strikes. Decisions are quickly made. The Cough follows, dogging Adam, her brother, and her every step. Can she outrun the Cough? Can she outrun desperate men? Can she keep Adam from giving up? Is there anyone she can trust? All these questions had me coiled on my chair.

Adam, Red’s brother, appears to be very shallow, but surprisingly, he eventually gets my admiration.

I haven’t read anything from this author before. I notice she tends to take fairy tale stories and creates a Sci-Fi thriller from it. This is one story I could read again. I’m hoping to read a sequel—the ending could be just a catch-your-breath moment. Red may be safe, but is the world? Well written, a real thriller with just the right amount of humor that I didn’t pass out holding my breath!

I won't lie and say this didn't disappoint me, but I'm assuming it's more a personal problem. I'm not upset at the predictability of the story, because the story as a whole was engaging and entertaining. But something didn't click with me. I wasn't connected to the character rather than her struggles with her being biracial and the thoughtless comments people made behind it as well as her prosthesis. I liked her and rooted for her on the most basic of levels. This was a quick read =, though and I could see myself coming back to it, but the hype probably led o me downfall.

I was so excited to receive a copy of this novel and it sounded amazing! It started out with potential, but then I just felt like it didn't go anywhere. I just kept hoping for more answers, but I got nothing. I loved Red's character, but the plot of the novel was just lacking. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for sending this novel in exchange for and honest review.

I have never read anything by Christina Henry, but I couldn’t resist a little red riding hood retelling with a post-apocalyptic twist! This is a super gritty, dark and twisty take on the fairytale and I really enjoyed it. I loved that the main character was diverse, both in ethnicity and having a disability. It was uplifting to read about someone who despite everything life has to throw at them keeps putting one food in front of the other without whining about it! I can’t stand whiney characters but Red was a great character. I loved her development. I also loved all of the other characters Henry created. Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Henry’s books!

"The Girl in Red" by Christina Henry is another great retelling of a classic tale. I'm quickly becoming a fan of this author's works.

<em>The Girl in Red</em> brings together so many elements that I absolutely love in books. Pandemic? Check. Breakdown of civilization? Check. Woman having to survive on her own? Check, check, check.

Red, in her earlier years, was an avid consumer of horror and disaster films, and so she knows the rules. Be prepared. Always have your weapon and pack ready. Never split up. Don't do the stupid things that movie characters always do, because that leads to very bad things. And if you want to survive, you've got to learn fast and do whatever it takes.

I loved Red. She's smart, strong, and determined. Left alone suddenly and tragically, her only hope is to avoid what she's sure will be certain death in a quarantine camp by making her way to her grandmother's isolated home in the woods, which means trekking through hundreds of miles of forest and defending herself along the way, all without being discovered or captured or exposed to the deadly disease that's ravaged the world. Also, as a biracial, bisexual, disabled woman, Red is a breath of fresh air as a main character, especially since she's a survivor who never lets anything, including her prosthetic leg, keep her from her path.

The plot is exciting and filled with danger. I love how the author flashes between present day, as Red progresses on her journey and uncovers all sorts of disturbing secrets, and the past, as she and her family prepare their escape and have their plans fall apart as the crisis escalates.

My only quibble here is that the end comes much too soon, and there are so many plot threads left untied. What happens next? What caused all the bad things (being vague here...)? I certainly hope there's a next book, because I'm dying to know more. (I just wish this book was clearly marked as book #1 in a series, so I'd have been prepared to feel left hanging at the end.)

<em>The Girl in Red</em> is a great read, and I want more! I haven't read anything else by this author yet, but that's clearly got to change.

This book caught my attention because I love new takes on old classics. This was a fun and different version of The Little Red Riding Hood. Once I started it was hard for me to put it down. I really enjoyed the writing and look forward to reading more from Ms. Henry. This is definitely a must read!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

I've always thought the story of Little Red Riding Hood was pretty dark and gruesome, but Christina Henry has taken her retelling to an entirely new level. This is a post-apocalyptic horror journey in which our (annoyingly) headstrong MC, Red, tries to survive through a plague, food scarcity, approaching winter, military round-ups, perhaps another biological threat, and worst of all, other humans, to get to her grandmother's house.

Red's hyper-paranoid tough-guy act is actually kind of tiring by the end but she's a good character for this kind of story. It's believable that she would be the type to live, just by sheer force of obstinance alone. Also, don't start this book if you need everything to be wrapped up in a neat little package at the end. I thought we were heading for a series until the last two pages, although there technically is still room for that. This book isn't for everyone, but it is definitely for me.

The Girl in Red is an extraordinary story about a dystopian future where a mysterious illness (along with other...things) has killed most of the human population. Red, having read any number of dystopian future novels, knows exactly what - and what not - to do in this situation...if only her parents and brother will listen to her! Only by listening to herself, following her own instincts, and doing what needs to be done, will she get where she needs to be: at her grandmother's house on the other side of the woods.
I (like Red) have read my fair share of dystopian future novels, and am happy to find one that surprises and engages me. With a great protagonist, whose "disability" is realistically understood and handled without exploitation, this book was a fun read - I couldn't put it down!

THE GIRL IN RED is a dark and twisty, post-apocalyptic retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" featuring a fierce heroine who must make it to her grandmother's house. Set in a world of dangerous creatures—both animal and man, Red isn't as defenseless as she seems!

“There are a lot of monsters out there, and all of them look like humans.”

I loved how dark and gritty the story was. Red knows every bad move a heroine can make (most of her knowledge comes from survival books and horror movies) and she doesn't take any chances. She carries an ax—and uses it!

“I am going to my grandma's house, and if you try to stop me I will slice off whatever I can reach and leave you here to bleed to death.”

Henry writes a page-turning tale of a world suddenly besieged by an unknown virus known as “the Crisis” which decimates the population leaving everyone left in fear of it.

Alternating past and present chapters reveal just what happened and how Red and her family are dealing with its aftermath. Readers will be on edge one moment and cheering on our snarky heroine next as she maneuvers between creatures and man—both bent on her destruction.

In the End
If you enjoy re-imagined fairy tales, then I definitely recommend you check The Girl in Red out. This is a survival tale with a touch of feminism and horror, perfect for fans of dark retellings.

Who’s the wolf in the woods now?

I wasn’t sure what I was in for when I picked up this Little Red Riding Hood retelling, but this certainly went beyond my expectations. The main character is a disabled WOC who kicks more butt than many of the other literary heroes I’ve read about in the past. The aftermath of a deadly outbreak has forced many who weren’t rounded up for quarantine camps to make difficult decisions about survival and power. Red seeks only to make it to her grandmother’s house, which is out in the woods away from the danger in the streets and behind every tree.

I enjoyed this interpretation immensely and I liked that the “wolf” in the story took several, incorporeal forms. Red’s strength to trek across the country led to numerous dangers, but she never let it slow her down.

This dystopian retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, follows Red, our heroine, as she travels through the woods on the way to her grandmother’s house. Time skips back and forth, every other chapter, answering readers questions about what happened to Red’s family and how the “crisis” began to present day as she navigates the current, dangerous world full of wolves, both human and other, who would do her harm.

Red is a resourceful, smart heroine who takes no shit and isn’t afraid to do what is necessary to finish her journey safely. She set out to get to her grandmother’s house and nothing will stop her. Not a plague that has wiped out humanity, not her brother who doesn’t take anything seriously, not the military who wants to round her up and put her in a containment camp, not a prosthetic leg that aches, not villainous men out to rob and do even worse to her, nothing.

The Girl in Red was well- written, easy read. Just what I what I expected from this author. There were a few twists and turns toward the end, and I enjoyed myself immensely. Recommend.
Final grade- B