ARC Review: Red by Alyxandra Harvey

Red by Alyxandra Harvey
Expected publication: March 10th 2015

When I first seen the cover for Red, I was hoping it was a really dark, creepy retelling of Red Riding Hood. It’s not marketed as one but it could pass as for it.

Red is about a girl named Kia, who can start fires with her mind. She’s sent to live with her grandmother after she get in big trouble at school. Her grandma works for a really wealthy family. The estate is large, creepy, and is full of secrets. Kia gets caught up in the middle and chaos ensues.

Red started off so quickly. I thought it would take some time to build up but Alyxandra Harvey drove right into it. I was caught really off guard by how I was just thrust into the story so fast. It took a couple of pages, but I ended up really liking how the book started.

The whole book was pretty fast paced. It’s about 198 pages so there wasn’t a lot of time to slow the plot down. Sometimes I felt like the plot was so fast paced that some things weren’t completely explained. I wanted a little more  explanations and some more details.

The characters were very classically YA characters. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but I wasn’t surprised by them. Kia was a pretty cool character. She spoke her mind and didn’t take any crap. She’s really snarky. Her ability to start fires with her mind is what made her different from other characters in YA. I really liked that part of her and how much she actually tried to control her fires.

Ethan was kinda on the boring side for me. I wasn’t blown way by him but there’s wasn’t anything that I hated about him. He was just a “normal” mysterious, broody male lead in a YA novel. But he wasn’t a complete jerk so I liked that a lot.

Overall, I had a really good time reading this book. It was a fun, quick YA read. I do wish there was a little more explanations and substance to the plot. But I’m a critical reader by nature so if you’re not super critical, I doubt you’ll find any problems with this book. I adore the cover and the overall concept. If you’re looking for a fast read in between “serious” books, I recommend Red.