Book Review: “The Girl in Red” by Christina Henry

Oct 1

Håfa adai and welcome to spooky season, my favorite month of the year! Throughout October 2024, I will publish reviews for works of horror, suspense, and the supernatural. My third spooky pick for the month is The Girl in Red, by Christina Henry.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Horror bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

The world is not a safe place. The Crisis, a deadly pandemic that has swept over the world, has destroyed civilization and turned once safe places into dangerous labyrinths filled with blood-thirsty predators. Red was prepared and tried to warn her family. Many of them did not listen. But there she has hope and faith in her grandmother, who lives deep in the woods. Now Red must protect herself from predators as she travels alone on her way to Grandma’s house.

My Thoughts on The Girl in Red: 4 stars

In The Girl in Red, Christina Henry blends the 17th-century French tale of Little Red Riding Hood with the horrors of a post-apocalyptic world ravished by a deadly pandemic and a twist that you will not expect. The story depicts real-life terrors of racism, the day-to-day experiences of an amputee, and the dangers felt by many women by just existing.

The Girl in Red takes place in a modern town near the woods in the United States. The fictionalized aspects of the book are absolutely believable. Yes, it is a post-apocalyptic extreme, but I can see humanity going in this direction. The story is told along two distinct timelines: the present course of events as Red travels on her own towards her grandmother’s house and the recent-past events from the outbreak of the pandemic leading up to her being alone. The pacing is supplemental between the two timelines: kinetic and active during the present timeline while building suspense in the retrospective timeline.

The Girl in Red follows the perspective and experiences of Red. Outside of Red, the cast of characters includes her brother Adam, parents, a few people she encounters, and a repeated mentioning of her grandmother. Red loves her parents and is especially protective of her mother, whose health is compromised. The dynamic between Red and her brother Adam is both relatable and frustratingly annoying. Both siblings seem to possess an “I know more than you” mentality. And Red’s dynamic with the various people she encounters while on the way to Grandma’s house, a few of whom I thought of as “the wolves,” is understandable given the context of her journey.

Christina Henry does a phenomenal job of building suspense throughout the story. I could not stop listening to find out how Red went from being with her brother and parents in the retrospective timeline to ultimately traveling alone in the main timeline. Christina Henry does, however, do a few things that I am not a fan of. The Girl in Red employs a trope that I do not care for: the protagonist has prepared a sort-of-good plan for what to do next but no one is listening to or taking the protagonist seriously for “reasons.” Red has an intense “told you so” mentality throughout her journey. And—maybe this last thing is petty—there is not a single wolf in this book. But there’s a wolf on the beautiful book cover! In spite of these, I still really enjoyed the experience of this book.

My final rating for The Girl in Red is 4 out of 5 stars. I listened to the audiobook in 2022 and it has stuck with me since. I knew I wanted to post a review of this book when I started this blog. Although published just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the themes and topics throughout the story resonate more deeply in the 2020s than many other post-apocalyptic fictional tales. I enjoy the fairy tail retold approach to story writing that Christina Henry takes here and in her other works. The ending of The Girl in Red left me with unanswered questions, leading me to think that perhaps Christina Henry has a sequel planned for this book. But there is also an acknowledgement in the story that Red, the protagonist, does not now all the answers either. No matter the intent, Christina Henry left me wanting more. The Girl in Red has stayed in my mind for over two years and, considering how many books I read, that is absolutely impressive to me.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of The Girl in Red by Christina Henry.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 21 October 2024