The Girl in Red by Christina Henry

Synopsis (via Goodreads): From the national bestselling author of Alice comes a postapocalyptic take on the perennial classic "Little Red Riding Hood"...about a woman who isn't as defenseless as she seems.

It's not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn't look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.

There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there's something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined.

Red doesn't like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn't about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods....

"...because this was America and the two things Americans liked to stockpile in case of emergency were canned foods and guns."

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

The Girl in Red was a phenomenal read! I don't often feel anxious while reading, but this book kept me on the edge of my seat (especially when Henry brought children into it). I fell asleep thinking about the story, and was always worried about what would happen next. Red was constantly in danger, and every move she made had to be calculated from every possible angle. One wrong decision would mean death, and I felt her fear and anxiety. I could feel her need for caution and understand her determination. 

Additionally, there's a super trippy twist that I was not expecting, and it left me reeling. There are no words to convey my initial thoughts, since I don't think any of them were coherent. After Adam (don't think about Adam), I didn't know how to organize my thoughts. It was completely unexpected, but also perfect for this story. I can't really say any more, because I don't want to ruin the surprise!

Henry shows you human nature when there are no longer laws and expectations. "And people always reduced to their least human denominators when things went bad." We see what people will do when they think they can get away with anything, and witness the darkness that spills over when no one is watching. Women become objects, and children become tools and pawns. Men are recruited to a cause, or killed because life is no longer valued. Red finds herself in the middle of something she never anticipated, and she's struggling to navigate the chaos.

Red is an amazing character. She loves horror movies, reads science fiction, and has a plan to survive. She also has a prosthetic leg, but she doesn't that that define her. Red is intelligent, quick on her feet, and snarky. She doesn't like authority, and believes she knows more than your average person. She's also loyal and unbelievably kind, and fierce when she needs to be. I want more characters like her. “You think a gun is going to help me more than my brains?”

The Girl in Red is very loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood, and the similarities are few. She's trying to get to her grandmother's house, she wears a red hood, and there's a hatchet. Everything else is purely Henry, and I'm thrilled. She's an incredible writer, and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.