Red Hood

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book, I received a copy from Edelweiss for review.

Story (5/5): Okay, at first when I started this I wondered what I had gotten myself into...this is marketed as YA but has very adult descriptions of blood, gore, sex acts, and some brutal bullying. There is definitely a heavy theme of both strong women and how society has constantly subdued women throughout the ages. This book really makes you think, even as is draws you into a very visceral story of friendship, family, and what happens to boys that just go wrong. The boys turning into wolves seems to be both a magical and metaphorical thing throughout this story. I also loved all the parallels between this and Little Red Riding Hood as well as show more other fairy tales.

Characters (5/5): I loved Bisou's character, she is brave and fierce in a quiet way. I loved her sweet boyfriend and her lonely, yet strong, Aunt who takes care of her. I also loved the troubled and strong girls/woman Bisou ends up befriending.

Setting (4/5): This book is set in a contemporary small town setting and in the woods surrounding that town. The setting was well done but not the focus of the story.

Writing Style (5/5): The deeper I got into this book, the more I was impressed by Arnold's writing style and the way she didn't flinch from anything. I could not put this down and was completely invested in this book very quickly.

Summary (5/5): Overall this was an incredibly intense read that was brutal and not all comfortable to read. However, it was also thought-provoking, engaging, and absolutely masterfully written. I loved it and plan on picking up more of Arnold's books. First I think I will pick up Damsel, which I know garnered a lot of controversy for a number of reasons. It's so refreshing to run across an author that is so unflinching, so artistically talented, and not scared to cut right to the heart of things. show less

I'm planning to read a trio of Red Riding Hood retellings this month, and this one is first. To my surprise, the first section of this novel is a second person narrative, and this is the best version of a second person I've read! I was a huge fan of all of the main characters (even the boy!), the multigenerational family, and the wisdom passed from grandmother to mother to daughter. I will place this in a group with Jane Doe and The Last Mrs. Parrish and Cackle as a certain kind of thriller and girl energy that I just adore. As Sybil says, "Let's not keep the secrets of bad men." INDEED. This is a contemporary story woven through with magic both dark and bright. Recommend for all who love a fierce girl/a fierce grandma who has simply show more had enough toxic masculinity! Audio narration by January LaVoy was absolutely perfect. show less

I listened to Red Hood because it was on audiobook sync. I loved it. The narrator was fantastic.
It's very much a feminist novel. Even if you are female and "hate" feminism, there are wonderful ideas that all females need to think about. Also, people need to learn what feminism truly is before choosing to discount it.

Bisou lives with her grandmother in Seattle. After her grandmother rescued her from the blood-stained bed of Bisou's murdered mother, they have lived a quiet life. They keep to themselves with Grandma keeping the same schedule weekly, baking homemade bread and being available most of the time. Bisou's boyfriend treats her well, so it's a quiet, predictable life. After a party, Bisou and her boyfriend make out in his car show more when she starts her period for the first time. Highly embarrassed, she runs. She hears herself being followed, but the sound isn't the sound of feet. There's a difference cadence. She turns to find a wolf. Bisou determines to fight back no matter what. She kills the wolf. Upon returning home, she quietly cleans up and goes to bed. Oh, I should also mention, there's a full moon.

Bisou's quiet life deteriorates with life changing dramatically. The next day, Bisou discovers that one of the guys from her high school, who was drunk at the party and presents himself as an ass most of the time, has been found dead. His death is described much as what happened to the wolf the night before. Did Bisou kill a boy or a wolf? When questioned by the police, her boyfriend tells them that they were together, never mentioning that she ran away into the forest. He's so thankful that she's okay. Afterall, if their friend could be killed, she could have been as well. Upon confessing what's been going on to her grandmother, Bisou learns that her grandmother was a hunter. She, too, had enhanced senses when her period came. She, too, killed wolves. Wolves that were men. Men who had become corrupted into believing women are prey. This fight is now Bisou's fight.

Fighting men who become wolves in order to protect females, separates a person, making her lonely. Bisou chooses not to be her grandmother. Bisou doesn't want isolation; she doesn't want the burden. Instead, she chooses to let other females in. She doesn't have to be alone.

I loved this book. As females, we are conditioned to hear comments to the extent that we don't even realize how demeaning and derogatory they actually are. Sadly, this common occurrence needs to be explained for us to realize they exist. The book does not hate men. Not at all. It calls out misogynistic behavior, which is good. Abuse is abuse and we need to know when it occurs, as we've been conditioned to believe it is normal and acceptable behavior. Both women and men, together, can overcome the the hate and abuse that has run rampant for literally generations upon generations. All teenage girls should read this. Another good books to help females see the truth about comments and how females are judged and treated is Luckiest Girl Alive. Go read these! show less

At the same time I was reading this I watched the movie "Bombshell." Quite poignantly it brought the message home that there are bad eggs out there (not just in the forest but at school, in the workplace, etc.) that we have to stand up to. The three women in the movie, portraying the women in real life, who took down the Fox News abuser who had given them their success. This excellent book for teens responds in an allegorical way to sexual abuse and bullying in high school, college and beyond. The prey are bright young women, full of potential and dreams of success. But within the patriarchal system are the perps, the "incel" who have been able to thrive within a good old boy network, excusing testosterone and alcohol as acceptable show more reasons for fucking with women's lives. They were raised in this toxic masculinity framework that still continues today in the form of Trump, that lets them get away with the power shit behavior the book shows. What's wrong with a book that takes back a little power to the female side? These assassins of evil men, whether with blood or in a courtroom (like the Fox News fighters of justice) are unfortunately not many. How many years of abuse did Harvey Weinstein give to women in his workplace? For how much longer is the dysfunctional society going to raise their girls to be silent to male abusers? Hurray to this brilliant author's voice that brings us a realistic-feeling fiction book within a feminist emblematic fantasy. show less

An fun and fast-paced retelling of Red Riding Hood, although this isn't the passive Red Riding Hood who gets rescued by the wood cutter, but a tough kick-ass Red who can take care of herself and even more.

From the other reviews, there's a bit of discussion that this book has gone too far. I see things a bit differently.

The issue is that Red uses her supernatural abilities as a vigilante to purge the world of guys who are predators against women. One of the side effects of Red's supernatural ability is that on a full moon, she can detect men who will be violent against women because their true predator nature appears and so she kills them before they hurt another woman. So it seems like some people dislike this part of the book because show more she takes justice in her own hands and punishes these evil spawn rather than bring them to justice. But the book also describes how many men get away with beating women, date rape, etc. And although I don't condone vigilantism the whole plot is not that different from other superhero stories where the heroine destroys villains. The only exception is that the evil acts are crimes against women that often go unpunished. So it makes me wonder if we are so used to casting a blind eye to infractions that men inflict on women, that it shocks us when these criminals get punished. show less

The beginning of this story is likely to deter some librarians from considering adding it to their collections. That would be a huge mistake. This is an audacious, gutsy story about predators and how a girl and her grandmother deal with them. It's riveting, unsettling, nearly impossible to stop reading and is going to find a lot of teen girls nodding as they see themselves and, sadly their friends in it. Chops to Elana for outing incels, a nasty trait in some males and one that I suspect few teens have heard. This is violent, graphic and deserving of being in every library where relevant fiction for teens is valued.

i'm reading YA only for the love & interest i have in Elana Arnold, who writes like i would write if i were a different writer -- also because it's so fucking rare to read a book that encourages women (girls) to see what is going on, and to fight back against it.
Not even to take advantage. Arnold never says that you should be cruel. She says: You don't deserve this thing, and it is not evil to stop evil.

Recommending to young T., with some hestitation (over the reader, not the book).