LOW RED MOON Review

Avery Hood is reeling from the loss of her parents--and the fact that she can't remember what happened to them even though she was there.

She's struggling to adjust to life without them, and to living with her grandmother, when she meets Ben, who isn't like any guy she's ever met before.

It turns out there's a reason why, and Ben's secret may hold the key to Avery finding out what happened to her parents...

But what if that secret changes everything she knows about--and feels for--Ben?
From Goodreads.com

So I hate comparing one book to another, but have to in order to make this point. For all of those out there who've read Twilight, you started reading the book knowing that Edward was the immortal person and that Bella would fall in love with him, right? So that's how you begin Low Red Moon. You start out knowing that Ben is paranormal and knowing that Avery is going to fall in love with him.

To be honest, this took away a lot of the story. It was obvious from the beginning that something was up with Ben. And since the story is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, you can guess what he is. And besides, lots of the details surrounding him point a huge hairy finger at what he is, but in case you don't get that from knowing what it's about, I won't mention it any further in my review.

Before straying too far away from the topic of Twilight (and I promise this will be my final mention of it in the review), the book has some hysterical parallels to Twilight, whether Devlin intended them or not. For example, there's a How old are you? Seventeen. How long have you been seventeen? scene in the book that made me laugh aloud. A+ for humor.

But that, unfortunately, is the only A+ I can give. The book's plot is sketchy throughout the entire novel, and events are predictable. And since it was released at about the same time another retelling of Little Red Riding Hood was released, I did have high expectations, and the book crashed them.

On the plus side, Low Red Moon has a great opening. If you haven't yet, pick up the book and read the first line. It will make you keep reading. The pace starts quickly, but then the rest of the novel falls short.

Even though I feel as though this review is jumping around everywhere, another thing I have to mention is the book's design. I love it. The foil cover is beautiful and, on the inside, the bottom of each page has a red image of a tree line and every time the word moon is referenced, it's written in red ink. Very creative.

Unfortunately, we can't judge books based upon their covers. The book's an alright read, but I wouldn't reread it. It's a one time through in order to review.

Rating: C

Too Much of a Good Thing?

For a while now, it's been said that there are no new stories, simply retellings and new voices. Over the past couple months, it's become increasingly obvious that this is true. What am I talking about, you ask? What I'm talking about is a simple fairy tale all children know that's hitting the works and is hitting it hard. One about a little girl with a red cloak and a wolf.

Yep, you've guessed it. Little Red Riding Hood. And if you haven't been paying much attention, you may have missed the numerous hits it's had lately. First published is Jackson Pearce's Sister's Red which is a twist on the Little Red Riding Hood story in which werewolves are hunted by axe wielding girls. If you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend it.

Then comes out Ivy Devlin's Low Red Moon, a different twist on the story which takes place in modern times in which a girl's family is murdered by a wolf and she's left to live without them when a new boy suddenly comes to town. It's a paranormal romance and a mystery, but still based of Little Red Riding Hood.

Then there's Sarah Blakley-Cartwright and David Leslie Johnson's upcoming Red Riding Hood which is a darker, more Gothic version of the story in which a girl is killed by the wolf.

Similarly, now there's a movie entitled "Red Riding Hood" that premieres in March of next year which is a Gothic retellling that appears to be a love triangle within a thriller/chiller movie. You can watch the trailer for the movie at the bottom of this post.

I've always been a fan of Little Red Riding Hood and, in fact, wrote a short retelling of it for my Creative Writing class at the beginning of this year, proving that I am not immune to the craze for it, but how much is too much? It seems to me that there is too much Red Riding Hood here, but I want to hear what other readers have to say. Leave a comment with you thoughts on the matter and let me know what you think about all this.

LOW RED MOON Trailer

Check it out! Ivy Devlin posted this on her blog earlier this week. The brand new trailer for the upcoming YA novel, Low Red Moon!