Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

The Girl in Red is the latest twisted fairy tale from the mind of Christina Henry. If you’ve never heard of her before, Christina Henry is best known for taking tales and twisting them into something new and original. She’s altered works such as Peter Pan (Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook) and other stories.

This time around, she’s focusing on Little Red Riding Hood. You’re familiar with the tale, I’m sure. But you’ve never seen anything quite like this. The Girl in Red is a survival horror and post-apocalyptic novel all rolled into one. With added embellishments along the way.

The story follows Red – a teenager who likes to be prepared for the worst. That’s probably the reason she’s outlived most of humanity. That and her lack of trust in her fellow beings. All Red wants to do is make it to her grandmother’s isolated cabin in the woods. She should be safe there.

Writing

The Girl in Red was amazingly dark and convoluted. I’m a fan of Christina Henry’s works, and I was still surprised by some of what happened in this novel. She just managed to weave so many elements into one tale. At some point, it stopped feeling like the twisted tale of Little Red Riding Hood and a unique telling of the Girl in Red.

The plot was detailed and somewhat convoluted – but in a good way. There were so many twists and turns to follow. It’s no wonder this novel ended up being post-apocalyptic. Only people like Red could survive it all.

Christina Henry did an excellent job at keeping the tension building up throughout the novel. It helped that she kept jumping between two points in time. One that we could consider the present and the other that was set slightly earlier. Not really before the apocalypse occurred. It’s more like the events that got her to this point.

I’ll confess that there were times when all I wanted to do was get back to one point or another. The constant tiny cliffhangers were agony at times. But they did keep me invested in the story. So I’m oddly grateful.

Development

The pacing in The Girl in Red was solid – something was always happening. And if not, there was the rising tension of something being built towards. No matter what was happening, we knew that Red’s journey wasn’t over. Not until she saw the smoke from her grandmother’s cottage. And even then…

It took a little time for Red to grow on me. She was so determined and driven that there was almost no room for anything else to shine through. But moments here and there let us see her true character – and that’s where she shines.

The addition of secondary characters helped us to get to know Red. Both the good and the bad. But that’s to be expected when surviving after the apocalypse. For what it’s worth – Red’s character is incredibly strong. She survived what so many others did not and had less to start with than some. And it was all because of how she prepared and looked at every situation.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised when this novel ended. It wasn’t abrupt, not really. It felt like so much more of Red’s tale could have been told, but then again, with this sort of setting, the plot could have just kept going on forever. So maybe it’s for the best that Christina Henry cut it where she did.

Conclusion

The Girl in Red was an intense and brilliant read. Its twisted nature led it down a dark path, but in doing so, it became something new and different. I love that this novel hardly felt like the classic and almost over-told tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

There were so many elements mixed into this novel. I think that some people (like myself) will enjoy that about this novel. Others may not, depending on how busy they like their books. Personally? I’m looking forward to seeing what tale Christine Henry warps next.

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.

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