4.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC of this book.

I really liked this story. It was a little outside of what I’d normally read, as I’m not huge on westerns necessarily, but this may have changed my mind.

There were so many great characters. Wonderful found family. Faolon’s growth was great to watch. Dai lo may have been my favorite character and I wish we could have gotten a little more of her.

I don’t know that I would really consider this horror, but because of a couple of scenes, especially being a YA book, I can see what it’s labeled as such. It’s more of a mystery/thriller with some romance. It would be hard to classify. Either way I really enjoyed it.

This is an interesting book. The MC is sent to the settlement after her grandfather dies and she's alone. She dresses like a boy so she isn't married off. Took a bit to get into but I did enjoy it.

RATING: 3 out of 5 Enchanted Roses

ONE-WORD REVIEW: Wild

TAG LINE: Don’t fall prey to fear.

OPENING LINE: My battered pocket watch was as dead as the body in the coffin, but that didn’t stop me from keeping it in a white-knuckled grip.

REVIEW:

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an e-ARC!

Lish McBride understood the assignment.

𝑅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒯𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓌 is a dark, enchanting, and razor-sharp ride into a world where monsters lurk, magic is deadly, and survival is never guaranteed. From page one, the atmosphere sinks its claws into you—lush, eerie, and dripping with tension. The worldbuilding is vivid and immersive, with a deep folklore feel that makes you want to watch the treeline a little more closely. It read like an eerie western with a touch of magical realism.

The characters are where this book truly shines. McBride’s cast is sharp-witted, complex, and endlessly compelling. The banter? Top tier. The stakes? High enough to give me anxiety.

The prose is gritty and lyrical, balancing suspense, intrigue, and darkness effortlessly. One second, I was at the end of my seat, and the next, I was clutching my chest, wondering how we got here.

If I had one minor critique, it’s that the pacing is a bit slow, and the romance should’ve been breadcrumbed sooner so it could fully bake if you catch my drift. . .

𝐸𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈:
🐺 Shapeshifters, magic, and mystery

🐺 Sharp-witted characters with even sharper claws

🐺 Sort of insta-love

🐺 Forests filled with secrets and teeth

🐺 Humor that cuts through the darkness like a blade

𝐹𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓉: 𝑅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒯𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓌 is wild, witty, and wickedly addictive. If you love feral magic, morally gray characters, and the kind of storytelling that leaves you breathless, you need this book in your life.

Happy Reading!
Ashley

DNF 46 percent. I tried to read this book 3 times I just could not get into it. It was a very slow start and the characters were not enough to carry this story. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

This book was marketed as YA horror but I feel it's more a combination of western, thriller, and mystery with a splash of fantasy. Speaking of fantasy, I kind of enjoyed that aspect, but it seemed like a last minute idea. I wish it was more established from the beginning so that it would have felt like it actually fit with the story. I liked the characters and appreciated the relationships are MC develops with them throughout the book. The ending wrapped things up pretty nicely and was satisfying. Overall a quick read with a fairly unique, if someone "flawed", premise that made for a good time.

I thought I reviewed this when I finished it, oops?
I don't remember much but what I do it was good but I got confused a few times.

*Faolan Kelly and the Settlement* offers a gripping and atmospheric journey through a dark, eerie world filled with monsters, secrets, and a relentless struggle for survival. This Western fantasy has all the ingredients for an enthralling read: a harsh, unforgiving setting, a strong-willed protagonist, and a mystery steeped in danger and intrigue. The frontier world is portrayed with a practical cruelty that mirrors the difficulties Faolan faces as she navigates both societal expectations and the lurking horrors around her.

Faolan herself is a fascinating character—her struggle to maintain her identity while hiding in plain sight is compelling, and her deep desire to survive and protect herself from the cruel hands of the local authorities gives her a relatable drive. The revelation that Faolan has been disguised as a young man by her grandfather to avoid being married off is an intriguing plot point, and it adds layers to her character as she grapples with her identity and the dangerous world that seems to want to strip it away. However, the portrayal of her internal conflict sometimes feels a little one-note, as her constant need to hide who she is and her fear of being exposed can occasionally weigh down the pacing of the story.

The setting of the Settlement is one of the novel’s strongest assets. The remote fort, ruled by the sinister and mysterious Gideon Dillard, immediately evokes a sense of unease. The world-building in this story shines, with the reader being drawn into a place that feels both desolate and treacherous, where danger is always lurking just beneath the surface. Dillard's absolute control over his followers creates a chilling atmosphere, and the discovery of strange, unexplainable noises and violent deaths in the Settlement adds a palpable sense of tension.

While the mystery surrounding the creature stalking the Settlement is thrilling, the way the story unfolds sometimes feels predictable. There are moments when the plot feels like it’s leading the reader down a familiar path—dark and dangerous creatures lurking in the shadows, a strong-willed protagonist on the run, and secrets that will ultimately be revealed. While these familiar tropes are done well, they don’t quite reach the level of complexity and surprise that might elevate the story beyond its genre conventions.

Additionally, while Faolan's drive to escape the Settlement and its terrifying creature is understandable, there are times when the urgency of her actions feels a bit forced. Her reactions to some situations could have been explored in more depth, adding more emotional weight to her decisions and interactions with others in the Settlement. The story’s pacing can feel uneven at times, with some parts dragging while others accelerate too quickly.

That said, *Faolan Kelly and the Settlement* is still a highly enjoyable read. The gritty world-building, dark atmosphere, and mounting tension all contribute to a story that keeps you hooked. Fans of eerie Western fantasies with a dash of horror and mystery will appreciate the haunting, atmospheric nature of this tale, even if it occasionally veers into predictable territory. The premise is strong, the stakes high, and the setting deeply immersive—if the pacing and character development had been tightened just a little more, this could have been an exceptional standout in the genre.

This book was so unique and unlike anything else that I've read in the last year. I'm not sure where to shelve it, but it's one that I feel like my students could love. It's so unique and suspenseful.

Thank you, NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Faolan Kelly's grandfather is dead and she's all alone in the world, homeless, all because the local powers don't believe a young man could take over his grandfather's homestead. Everyone thinks she's a young man and if someone discovers his grandfather hid her true identity, she would be forced to be married off.
The solution from the mayor? Sending Faolan to the Settlement, protected by a gunslinger. The Settlement is a remote fort where social outcasts live under the rules of His Benevolence, Gideon Dillard. A mysterious place, weidly wealthy and filled with strange noises that keep Faolan up at night. When someone is found brutally murdered and slowly the other boarders are also killed, Faolan has to escape to avoid what is surely a creature, threatening this place.

Red in tooth an claw is a brilliant, haunting and well written horror young adult, set in a world filled with monsters and secrets and with a teen willing to do anything to uncover the mysteries and survive.
Gory, bloody, this western is brilliant and so involving and intriguing, a frontier that's brutal, cruel and realistic and I loved Faolan and her journey into understand what's happening and surviving. A true brilliant dark young adult book.

Red in Tooth and Claw is a fantasy horror with western genre influences. It follows a young woman named Faolan in the aftermath of the passing of her grandfather who raised her. I think that McBride depicts Faolan's grief really well and does a good job exploring his impact on her life, both positive and negative. Faolan's grandfather passes her off as a boy, and she has to continue to do so when she is sent away to a remote settlement by her town's mayor. McBride doesn't skimp on details when it comes to describing the upkeep necessary to maintain this facade, as well as how being forced to be somebody she's not affects Faolan psychologically.

At the settlement, it becomes clear pretty quickly that something is just off about the place, and McBride does great job at creating a sense of unsettlement. I don't scare easily, but I got an overall bad vibe that ended up being spot-on. I especially enjoyed the depiction of the religious leader Gideon Dillard, who is supposed to be running things, and who has everyone who lives and works there under a sort of cultic control. Though strange things happen in the paranormal realm, and some people are found dead on the property, it was Gideon Dillard's tactics that made the story eerie. And of course, this ties in with the deaths and the paranormal activity in a really interesting way that makes for a shocking plot twist.

This book has elements of fantasy and paranormal, but then there’s also the Western setting, resulting in a highly original story.

Faolan is an intrepid narrator, a girl disguised as a boy for her own protection. She is mourning her grandfather and would have been perfectly content to remain on her beloved homestead, but must learn to adapt to living in the Settlement, unsure of who to trust.

The suspense builds slowly, although there are clear signs from the very beginning that Something Is Amiss. The characters are somewhat archetypal, but that’s more forgivable in YA.
The ever-present feeling of dread kept me engaged while reading, wanting to find out what was going to happen next or if we were finally going to get to the Big Reveal.

I would absolutely recommend Red in Tooth and Claw. I’m looking forward to reading more from McBride in the future.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Penguin/NetGalley.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the arc.

Unfortunately this one didn't work for me. The story felt a bit muddle and disjointed. This was marketed as a horror but it was more of a western fantasy and at points just didn't make sense to me. I really wanted to like this one and I'm a bit disappointed.

**Thank you to the publisher who provided me with an e-arc.

Dnf. This is just not keeping my attention.

Red in Tooth and Claw was an interesting read to say the least. Immediately you as the reader root for Faolan as she is sent to a settlement and loses everything she has known. She is disguised as a man to protect herself from the harshness of the frontier and in order to keep her grandfather's land but it proves to be a challenge once she gets to the odd settlement. The pacing is unfortunate as it makes the story drag on and at no point did I find the satisfaction of the tense western horror I was hoping for. There's crazy religious leaders and strange cultish vibes but the cover is extremely misleading in what the true reason behind the horror is.

Red in Tooth and Claw was an unsettling western horror, that was done very well! I think the voicing was amazing, the atmosphere was heavy and well done. Looking at Frontier life and something hunting the people in the settlement, it created this nice dark narrative. I overall enjoyed this novel.

There were a few things though that didn’t make sense to me, and I saw it mentioned in some other reviews – the Rovers. I originally thought them to be a fictional tribe of Native Americans. But a lot of the aspects of them did feel Romani instead, so perhaps the author was creating a fictional Romani settlement instead. –but I can’t be entirely sure.

I thought the romance was odd, and I didn’t really understand it entirely. It felt out of place a bit to me. I think I am also kind of jaded from reading so many books/YA books that I am burned out on characters who are contrary and difficult “just cuz”. I think maybe I just need more maturity from my MCs at this point in my life. I’m just not sure why they even ended up together.

I DID like this book overall, but there was enough pieces of it that just left it as “okay” for me. I enjoyed the horror elements and the religious fanatics and culty undercurrents. I didn’t like the interdimensional cats.

This one was a quirky addition to the fantasy genre, filled with McBride’s trademark humor and imaginative world building. The blend of supernatural creatures and snappy dialogue keeps the story entertaining, and the plot moves at a steady pace.

However, some of the characters feel underdeveloped, making it hard to fully connect with their arcs. Additionally, this was marketed as a horror book, which I do not agree with.

I think if the pacing was a bit different for this book I would have enjoyed it more. The premise was very unique from most stories that are being published so i had so much hope for it. It wasn’t bad just not something that pique my interest.

I enjoyed this novel so thoroughly. Faolan is a main character you immediately root for. She's had it rough. There were so many twists and turns, which I've come to expect from McBride. It's so cool to see original stories that don't seem to reference a lot of other work. This novel feels fresh and new and is so wildly compelling.

This book started off strong with an intriguing premise—Faolan, a young woman forced to live as a man for her own safety, is sent to a mysterious and dangerous settlement where something monstrous is lurking. The setup promised tension, survival, and an eerie horror-western atmosphere, but unfortunately, it didn’t fully deliver.

The pacing felt uneven, with a compelling beginning that soon gave way to a meandering middle section. The blend of historical fiction and supernatural horror didn’t always mesh well, leaving the story feeling like it was stuck between two genres. The introduction of the Rovers was also handled in a way that felt somewhat unclear and potentially problematic, pulling me out of the narrative.

While the atmosphere was well-crafted and the survival elements were engaging, the plot’s resolution felt unsatisfying—almost like a deus ex machina. There was so much potential here, but in the end, it didn’t quite land for me. If the story had either leaned more heavily into fantasy or fully committed to historical fiction, it might have worked better. As it stands, it was an interesting but frustrating read.

It's the plot where things get a bit wonky for me. I went into this expecting a horror story, perhaps if I got lucky, maybe even a werewolf Western! Despite the gorgeous cover, this is not a werewolf story. While there's horror elements- guts, gore, mysterious happenings and the like- it never actually feels tense enough to be scary. I really did enjoy this in a way I did not anticipate when I began so now I’ll have to spend my time learning just what else this author has written to add more favorites to my reading list.