REVIEW: The Girl in Red

The Girl in Red
Author: Christina Henry

Little Red Riding Hood takes on a new dystopian flavor in this awesome re-telling! Cordelia -- who prefers to be called Red -- lives with her parents and brother. Her life is relatively happy and more than a bit nerdy because both of her parents are college professors. Then....The Cough comes. Many, many people start to get sick....people start to panic....society begins to fall apart. It happens slowly, so Red prepares the best she can. She learns. She studies. She trains. And then the time comes to leave the city....the whole family begins a trek to Grandmother's House, a remote cabin in the woods 300 miles away. Red believes they can make it...if they avoid roads, bad people and accidents along the way. It's not safe to stay put. And it's not safe to leave. There are more than Big, Bad Wolves waiting to waylay Red on her trip to Grandmother's House.

This story is fast-paced and suspenseful. Red is a strong, intelligent and incredibly resilient main character. I loved seeing the character develop over the course of the story. She sees what the future is going to bring and plans ahead for it, while everyone else just seems to discount her opinions. In the end, she learns to rely on her judgment and does the best she can in a very bad situation.

I'm hoping there will be another book. The ending worked but it was a bit abrupt, in my opinion. If it's a cliffhanger...I'm ok with that. If not....I'd really like to know what happens next! But even if there is never another book, I loved this story! Red Riding Hood got a great update.

I previously read The Mermaid by this author. I enjoyed this book just as much or maybe even more than that one. I'm definitely going to read more by this author, especially her stories about Alice and Captain Hook. I'm a sucker for re-tellings!

This book was a binge read for me...I stayed up half the night reading because I couldn't put it down. Any story that keeps me reading until 3 am deserves full stars from me. Loved the story! Great main character and interesting plot.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Berkley Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**