Red by Alison Cherry

Age Range: YA
Pages: 336
Publisher: Ember
Publication Date: 9 December 2014
Genre: YA

Rating: 2 Stars

Felicity St. John has it all—loyal best friends, a hot guy, and artistic talent. And she’s right on track to win the Miss Scarlet pageant. Her perfect life is possible because of just one thing: her long, wavy, coppery red hair.

Having red hair is all that matters in Scarletville. Redheads hold all the power—and everybody knows it. That’s why Felicity is scared down to her roots when she receives an anonymous note:

I know your secret.

Because Felicity is a big fake. Her hair color comes straight out of a bottle. And if anyone discovered the truth, she’d be a social outcast faster than she could say "strawberry blond." Her mother would disown her, her friends would shun her, and her boyfriend would dump her. And forget about winning that pageant crown and the prize money that comes with it—money that would allow her to fulfill her dream of going to art school.

Felicity isn’t about to let someone blackmail her life away. But just how far is she willing to go to protect her red cred?

My Thoughts:

I don't know what I expected from this book, but I was definitely not impressed.  I bought this book only because it was on sale, and now I know why it was so cheap.  I was very unimpressed by this book, and I went in with very low expectations. The book just came off as too juvenile, even for a Young Adult book. I think that this book may have been better suited if written for a younger audience like middle-grade. 

The plot was so cliche, there really wasn't anything new to the plot.  It was the kind of plot that the reader feels like they have read time and time again.  There was just nothing new or innovative to the plot. I was able to guess every plot twist that happened.  It was just far too predictable.

For me, the main downfall of this book was the characters.  Felicity's mother was awful.  I have read my fair share of oblivious or crappy parents in Young Adult Literature, but she really takes the cake.  She was so self-absorbed, and only cared about what she wanted for her daughter.  She was so unsupportive and more than that she was an awful person.   Then there was her friend, Haylie, she was possibly one of the worst characters I have ever read.  She was so entitled, she was prejudice against non-red heads, and most of all she was an awful friend.

Felicity as a character was not awful, but not great.  She was a little better than her self-absorbed people she surrounded herself with.  However, I constantly found myself annoyed by her because she had such skewed priorities, and was portrayed as so naive to the outside world.  Despite her drawbacks, I did have high hopes for her.  I really wanted her to have a great character arc, but the book, unfortunately, did not give this to me.  She did have a character arc, but it felt subpar and forced.

Would I recommend this book: maybe, it depends on the age of the reader.  A younger reader, say 10-12, may really enjoy this book and learn some lessons from the book as well, but for an older reader, I would say don't waste your time, it is a quick read but not really worth it, in my opinion.