Red by S.J. Sanders

My Rating: 🟊🟊🟊🟊

Spice Rating: 🌶🌶

Blurb:

There were certain truths everyone knew. Never wear red or any other bright color. Make as little sound as possible if one had to be outside the protection of the sanctuary settlements. And never, ever, go out in the wild places alone. The Ragoru, an alien species set down to live among them, dwell within the forests and everyone knows that they crave all things red.

Arie’s life has always been one of playing by the rules. She doesn’t draw attention to herself. She doesn’t leave her home without her hood that conceals her bright red hair. It is a secret from everyone, and her hood protects her secret so that she may continue to live safely within the village until one day that secret comes to light. Absconding into the woods soon becomes her only safety, and she will risk her very life into the care of the very dreaded beings that all people fear, the Ragoru, in hope of making it to her grandmother’s house in the citadel at the other side of the great forest.

When circumstances reveal them to not be the monsters of human imagination, but that they stir the ravenous beast within her, Arie finds that she is willing to risk far more to find a way to be with them forever. Even if that means severing ties with her grandmother, rejecting the human comforts of the citadel, and facing the horror of the Order of the Huntsmen.

A new spin on the Little Red Riding Hood Story, bringing a well known fairy tell to a dystopian future with a wolfish alien species.

My Review:

This book had been sitting in my Kindle for the longest time, one of those titles I kept meaning to get to but somehow never did. So I finally made a “wheel of reads” to force myself to pick books I’d probably keep ignoring, and I’m so glad Red landed on it.

I saw some mixed reviews going in, but honestly I feel like a lot of those came from people who just aren’t fans of monster romance. Because if you are a monster romance lover, this book is fantastic. The story is clearly inspired by a familiar fairy tale, but the way S.J. Sanders twists it makes it feel completely fresh and original. The worldbuilding pulled me in immediately, and the plot kept things moving in a way that never felt dull or repetitive. There really wasn’t much about this book that I didn’t enjoy.

Our FMC is cast out of her village after refusing to marry an old man who feels entitled to her. In retaliation, he rips down her hood and exposes her red hair, something that is strictly forbidden in the colonies. Color itself is outlawed, but red is the worst of all because it’s believed to attract the alien wolves that haunt the wilderness. Forced out and furious, she burns down her house on the way out and flees into the forest, leaving chaos behind her.

Once she enters the forest, she quickly realizes that the world is much bigger, and far more dangerous, than she was ever told. The woods are filled with creatures and monsters she never even knew existed. When she’s rescued by a triad of Ragoru, everything she thought she knew is challenged. Her entire life she was told to run from them, that they were brutal creatures who only hunted and devoured humans. But as she spends time with them, she slowly discovers that the truth is very different. The Ragoru are protective, loyal, and surprisingly tender, more compassionate than many of the humans she left behind.

The story kept my attention from start to finish. There was never a moment where I felt bored or tempted to put it down. The narrators also did an amazing job bringing the characters to life, giving each of them their own personality and making it easy to tell who was speaking.

If you’re looking for a monster romance with touch-her-and-die energy, three fiercely devoted mates, and a heroine who slowly opens her eyes to a whole new world, then this book is absolutely worth picking up.