Book Review: The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Horror, Apocalyptic
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Berkley (June 18, 2019)
Length: 304 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
First of all, it’s always a joy to read the gritty retellings of fairy tales by Christina Henry, and The Girl in Red captured my attention in particular because of its slightly different approach. Whereas the novels of the Alice duology and Lost Boy took place in a more abstract and fantastical context, this one felt relatively more realistic and urban in a “zombie apocalypse” kind of way, featuring a family’s fight for survival in the midst of a deadly epidemic.
At the center of this tale is a young woman named Cordelia, but since she hates her name, she prefers to go by Red. She lives in a mixed-race family with her mother, father, and older brother Adam, whom she thinks is a pain in her ass. When she was younger, a car accident also caused Red to lose a leg, and so she uses a prosthetic for mobility. Growing up, she felt rather isolated and misunderstood because of her disability, which led her to immerse herself in movies, literature and other interests as a result.
And then the Crisis came. People started getting sick. The illness, which begins with an insidious cough, gradually causes worsening symptoms until the virus takes over the body, leading to a horrible and bloody choking death. There is no known cure, and only a small percentage of the population is immune. Within months, millions are dead, and civilization has pretty much collapsed. Armed with only the survival knowledge she has gleaned from pop culture and her own research, Red believes that her family’s survival rests on getting to her grandmother’s house, hundreds of miles away in rural country where there’s a chance the virus hasn’t taken root. The last thing she wants is to be rounded up and quarantined, because, duh, haven’t these idiot people in government ever watched outbreak movies? Being packed together like sardines in some facility while a highly infectious disease is running rampant is a bad idea, not to mention you can never trust the military in these situations, oh no.
So Red starts making plans for their family to stockpile supplies for their journey. But one day, despite taking every single precaution and being extra careful, one of them suddenly falls ill with a cough. Dreading what this means for their survival, Red is nonetheless determined to go through with the journey to grandma’s house, knowing that the threat of infection is just one of many dangers on the long road ahead.
Ultimately, I finished this book with some mixed feelings. Still, that isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did—but in terms of the writing and storytelling, I just didn’t feel that The Girl in Red is of the same high caliber as her previous retellings. There was one major aspect that bothered me, and that was the protagonist herself. In case you couldn’t tell from some of the snarkiness in my earlier paragraphs, Red annoyed the hell out of me. She’s a belligerent, unpleasant little know-it-all who thinks watching a few movies makes her an expert on everything—smarter than even her professor parents! She’s also irritatingly self-righteous about it, and likes to lord it over everyone else. Granted, I get that she’s been through discrimination and rough times which could explain for some of her antagonistic behavior, but that still doesn’t fully justify the fact she could be highly judgmental and plain nasty herself, especially towards her own brother. Speaking of which, I didn’t get the impression that they were this closely-knit family like the narrative wanted me to believe; it seemed like everyone was simply too vapid and clueless to stand up to Red’s bossy demands. Red also didn’t feel genuine to me, coming across more like an idealized character that checks off all the right social justice boxes. I consider myself pretty middle-of-the-road so maybe that’s why stuff like this tends to leap out at me, and Henry isn’t exactly subtle when it comes to shoving issues like race and guns in your face, reminding you at every turn how Red feels about such things, and most of the time it’s done in a very awkward and ham-fisted way. Many authors have done better.
But now on to the things I did like: the story was fast-paced and compelling, and with the novel being on the shorter side, there really wasn’t any room for lulls. I also enjoyed the narrative structure as we alternated between the present and past, an effective way of building anticipation and dread as readers are left wondering what happened to Red’s family. As well, the modern and realistic apocalyptic setting was a nice change of pace from the usual fantasy fare by the author, though I think there were plenty of missed opportunities when it came to the survival aspect, which felt lacking. Maybe like Red, Christina Henry merely pulled her inspiration from a bunch of movies, because most of the situations our characters found themselves in were pretty clichéd and predictable. That said, there were some interesting—and disturbing—developments towards the end, as the plot crosses the line into speculative horror territory. I just wish the book could have given us more in this vein, as that would have definitely boosted its uniqueness and appeal.
All in all, I had a good time with The Girl in Red, though admitted many of the positive things about it were somewhat overshadowed by the gripes. It most definitely isn’t my favorite of Christina Henry’s dark fairy tale retellings, though I do appreciate her trying something a little different this time around.
The BiblioSanctum 
I adore Henry’s other books, but was a bit nervous bout this one cause of the mc. Sad to see that nervousness was justified… but happy the rest of the book is still enjoyable. Great review!!
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Thanks! I just wish I’d liked Red more.
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Aww, that’s a shame, I still haven’t read this author even though I really want to as I love the idea of retellings. I guess they can’t all work out for everyone though and given that our tastes often feel similar I will probably leave this one and try and pick up one of the others – like the Alice retellings?
Lynn 😀
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I highly recommend the Alice retellings. If you’re thinking of trying this author, I would definitely start with those books 🙂
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This book sounds really good! Lately I’ve been seeing Christina Henry’s books around a lot, makes me really curious to them 🙂
Great review!
(Www.evelynreads.com)
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She’s highly creative for sure, with her retellings. This probably wasn’t her best, though I would say her Alice duology is top notch!
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Having read only “Lost Boy” I have nothing else to use as a comparison for this author’s work, but from your description it would seem as if there is no counterpart to Red – just as Peter’s awfulness was offset by Jamie’s caring – and therefore the characterization sounds a little unbalanced. Still, the post-apocalyptic setting of this one intrigues me, and I will certainly give this one a peek.
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
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Ah, I almost forgot about Lost Boy! I think that’s one of her most underrated books, as people often talk about Alice or The Mermaid, that one being more recent. But I really enjoyed the honest and brutal treatment of Peter Pan from Hook’s POV, thanks for reminding me 😀
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I really want to read this!
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I hope you get a chance to pick it up soon!
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Thank you! I am looking forward to reading it as I have loved all of her other books 🙂
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I don’t like fairytale retellings, more because it just smacks of laziness and “I can’t tell my own story so let me steal something else and dress it up” than because of any “real” issues.
This though, it sounds like I would have had some definite issues with 😀
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Yep you definitely would! There’s some of the usual virtual signaling BS and the character (and by extension the author) had no idea about guns or survival. If it grated on my nerves, you would probably find it maddening!
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😀
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Nice review! I had seen this book on Goodreads and was curious about it. I do enjoy retellings!
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If you like retellings, it’s definitely worth checking out!
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I have to admit that Red’s personality was grating at times. But it didn’t bother me that much. I do know what you mean about the “issues” like guns and interracial families, they didn’t feel as integrated into the story as they could have.
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It really felt like she was shoving it in your face. I get that authors are only human and they have their personal opinions about the world too, but yeesh, let’s keep it subtle and just concentrate on telling a good story okay?! The obvious agenda pushing in books has been bothering me more and more these days,
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awww shucks! I will still read it though 😀
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It’s still quite enjoyable, and I’m sure you’ll like it too 🙂
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I haven’t read the previous retellings, so I have nothing to compare this too, but I can understand why it might not be the strongest one. I was also drawn to the fact that this was post-apocalyptic rather than fantasy – a really nice and interesting twist.
I’m sorry you didn’t click with the MC but this book does seem to have a lot of great things to it, overall, so I’m excited to try it soon 🙂
Wonderful review!
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Yeah, I did like that she went post-apocalyptic this time and tried something else other than a fantasy retelling! I just wished I had liked Red more! 🙂
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You know I’m reading this one next and I’ve seen some “meh” reviews so I am going into it cautiously. I really hope there is a wolf character somewhere/somehow. Red probably will annoy me too because despite being a fan of Red Riding Hood, it was always because of the wolf. I think my problem my be I loved “Lost Boy” so much that I want something as spectacular. I did enjoy “The Mermaid” but not as much.
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Hmm, I don’t want to say anything to dissuade you from reading if you’re interested in it, but I will say the author uses a lot of the Red Riding Hood fairy tale elements as metaphors in this, and that kinda goes for the wolf too 🙂
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It’s tough when you read a lot of the same types of things because you can’t help but compare. I do want to try some of her work at some point, but I might start with one of her other books. Great review!
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