Red Hood Published by Balzer + Bray on February 2020
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.
Elana K. Arnold, National Book Award finalist and author of the Printz Honor book Damsel, returns with a dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of the familiar threats to female power—and one girl’s journey to regain it.
Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.
Elana K. Arnold, National Book Award finalist and author of the Printz Honor book Damsel, returns with a dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of the familiar threats to female power—and one girl’s journey to regain it.
There is something so beautifully unsettling in Elana K. Arnold’s new book Red Hood. Is it the dangerous tone the book sets from the very first page? Could it be the raw story of men and wolves and hunter and hunted? Or is it the beauty of the delicate coming of age story for girls who struggle to understand and fully grasp their own powers, powers that they never knew they had?
I wasn’t sure what to expect. Maybe something more fairy tale and less contemporary horror. But Red Hood does not disappoint. It’s a story about a girl who becomes a woman who becomes a hunter and she is all of us.
I loved the main character Bisou who is both strong and vulnerable. She finds friends in the most unlikely of places, and it’s a good thing too when wolves roam the woods. Her grandmother is so warm and soft and at the same time, under the surface lays a knife’s edge, ready to strike. Its’ here that Bisou finds her power and courage.
Yes there’s a little romance, Bisou has a boyfriend. But I can’t stress enough that this story is fully Bisou’s. James, her boyfriend, is well written and stays mostly to the sidelines and Bisou embarks on her self discovery, trying to solve many mysteries that haunt her town and herself. I really liked how solid their relationship was and how he was secondary to her real struggle.
This is not a book for young YA readers. It’s dark and scary and unsettling at times, just the way it should be. Because growing up hurts.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
Wow you’re making me want to read this book right now. Glad you liked it and I need to find my copy!