Red

by JB Wise

The Hooded Girl

Red has done well, given the cards she’s been dealt. She has been dead for hundreds of years, stuck in the Halfway as a Mountain Vila-a creature that can turn into a wolf on a whim. She’s kept herself a secret from the outside world, staying safe and abiding by the curse’s rules. She has done everything she was asked to do. But destiny has decided it isn’t enough.

The Vicious Wolf

Felan is tired of his duties and of the games the Vila’s play. Being second in command of the Guard, he has earned a vacation. Still, he is required to take his leave deep in the hills of Washington, where his only heir resides. The coincidences come together just as everything else falls apart. Now Felan must remember who he is, if he plans to protect the ones he loves.

The Hunter

Jac is ready. He’s been ready since before he died and nothing is going to stand in his way. War is unavoidable and Red will be his.

Red is a debut novel in the paranormal fiction genre. It is approx. 60k words and follows the short story, The Beginning

Genres: Fantasy

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Erika ♥OwlwaysReading♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal)***

Having read The Beginning, a novelette for the story Red, I was eager to learn more about Scarlett, the wolves, and the Vila. Unlike the short story novelette, I had a hard time getting into Red. The world seems too familiar and common in comparison to the one introduced previously. I was a little disappointed at first, but later came to accept and enjoy how the storyline played out. Unlike most lead female characters, Red’s personality is not my favorite. Initially, she came off as mean, snotty, sarcastic, cruel, and selfish. As the story continues, we learn more about why she is the way she is.

I truly enjoyed the paranormal aspects of this story. This is because of its complexity and uniqueness. J.B. Wise introduces a variety of intricate characters including Trackers, Mountain Vila, Cloud Vila, the Fates, Guards, the Originals, Water Vila and etc. All of these characters are unique, confusing, and interesting in their own way. I think this is one of he most highlighted fun read books I own. I didn’t highlight for fun, but to keep all the paranormal stuff straightened out in my head. I found myself more intrigued with the history and character descriptions than the present story. Once everything was explained, the story took a turn for the better. Now I’m looking forward to book 2.

I’m not sure if I was given a final or writers copy of the book. I found odd sentences throughout the story. Almost like the author wrote a note to herself or to her editor and forgot to take it out… for example “My [confusing sentence, unnatural for dialogue. Revise or cut. I like the paragraph without it. The other sentences are strong enough].” This book definitely needs more editing. I’m not trying to be malicious or anything like that. I just found certain sentences or concepts difficult to understand. This review could probably use an editor as well ;)

Also... some of the font color changed from chapter to chapter. A little weird. I wasn't sure if this was on purpose or not.

Overall, a little confusing but a fun and interesting read.

[Orion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the Lovers of Paranormal group on Goodreads.

This was a pretty good story. It was pretty slow to start and the universe was a bit confusing at first, but I really enjoyed it once things started to unfold. There are a lot of interesting characters and their interactions were rather cute.
I think Felan was one of my most favorite characters. He's somehow this respectable, alpha protector type but at the same time he's kind of a silly little puppy to the people he cares about. I think Wise pulled off the balancing act between these two contrasting personality types pretty well and I really liked him as a character.
This turned out to be an enjoyable romance about shifters. I think anyone who's a fan of those genres would enjoy this.

[Wren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red
JB Wise

The Hooded Girl

Red has done well, given the cards she’s been dealt. She has been dead for hundreds of years, stuck in the Halfway as a Mountain Vila-a creature that can turn into a wolf on a whim. She’s kept herself a secret from the outside world, staying safe and abiding by the curse’s rules. She has done everything she was asked to do. But destiny has decided it isn’t enough.

The Vicious Wolf

Felan is tired of his duties and of the games the Vila’s play. Being second in command of the Guard, he has earned a vacation. Still, he is required to take his leave deep in the hills of Washington, where his only heir resides. The coincidences come together just as everything else falls apart. Now Felan must remember who he is, if he plans to protect the ones he loves.

The Hunter

Jac is ready. He’s been ready since before he died and nothing is going to stand in his way. War is unavoidable and Red will be his.

Red is a debut novel in the paranormal fiction genre. It is approx. 60k words and follows the short story, The Beginning

This book wasn't bad. I didn't really like how it started. I can see a good friend of mine liking it. I'm typically a bird girl, though. Ravens and crows. The carrion birds. I'm not a big wolf girl.
Reid's feisty spirit is amazing. I love how she doesn't back down. She takes problems at face value. She doesn't let things get to her until she breaks. (I can relate. I'm not bad with taking punches, figuratively, but I can break.) She is an admirable character. She loves her family. And wants their protection. She wants the best for them. And she wants the best for her friends too like Rarity. (What's up with Rawr? Is that some pet name?) She is true to her colors. Red. A fiery color. Spirited. She definitely fills that name. I'm not sure she fills the Little Red Hiding Hood character. She doesn't seem too innocent to be the girl in the red hood.
I like Felan's backstory. Not the guy himself, though. He is an old guy. Really. It seems like he's from the Medieval Ages. I like the knights and princesses of that time period. Not a big historical fan but I do house a corner of my heart for the medieval times. It's an interesting time period. War and feuds. Servants and coconuts to mimic horses. (Monty Python!) But on to Felan. He had a terrible past. Losing his love and dying for her. Showing not only his caring but his bravery. I felt like that made me feel for him more. I didn't like him a lot when I met him. He was annoying and plain out rude to Red. (Seriously. Why? I don't get that. Even after it was explained.) Felan seems more human after revealing his backstory. It was weird, though. It wasn't when he revealed it to Red. It was earlier in the story.
I didn't really like the world. It was a bit confusing at times. It felt like it was hard to understand who was who. The Vila are girls. The Guards and Trackers are guys. What do the guys do? Other than haunt poor girls who just want to be normal and alive. I feel like the way they factored in Heaven and Hell is too complex. The Pit? I feel like that's Tartarus not Hell. (Or what I am assuming is Hell. Not that I'm religious. I don't know these things.) I needed more. I wanted to know more about the world. About the curse. I wanted to see it happen to Red to prove its worth. That was only a dog killed. That could have been a coincidence. I wanted proof. I don't know why. Call me a bit sadistic if you want. I just feel like there wasn't enough proof. Maybe Angelina was the proof. Perhaps.
I also felt like the fairy tale wasn't necessarily worked in. It seemed like the only similar elements were the wolves, Grandmere, and her hair. I felt like that wasn't enough. Where is the cape? And Grandmere was barely mentioned. I only know of her because of the prologue I read. There wasn't enough elements to convince me that it was a Red Riding Hood retelling. I know it is. And the similar components are enough to hint at it. But I wanted more. And I feel like retellings are becoming too common. It has to take a lot more to impress me now. (I blame 'The Lunar Chronicles'.)
And I didn't like how the story was formatted. The speech was another line. It was odd. And it was hard to read. I felt like it was a bit bumbling too. It was odd since the story didn't always say who said what. I had to assume. It was confusing. I prefer the typically style of formatting. This was harder to read. Not entirely a turn off. More of an annoyance.

Weather:
Sunny with a 25% chance of rain and light fog
3/5

[Skaistė Girtienė · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story. It was interesting, vivid and easy to read as much as the short story, The Beginning. It had warm and fun parts too. It told about life of Red in nowadays and what happened in between. It also gave few different points of view of the story. I enjoyed this a lot. The cover is nice too.

I liked verse in the beginning of the book. It gave some hint about the story, created mood, and made me curious. Story flowed easily, and I hurried through the pages eager to read. It was interesting to know more about Vilas, Trackers, Guards and Halfway. Ideas about it were new to me. Some things were explained from the beginning, and some things were still kept secret. I wasn't sure who were the good guys and who were the bad guys in here. I was worried about Red and what harm could come her way. It was easy to like other characters too. I cared about them, and I was interested to know what would happen to them and between them. I was intrigued by the secrets, and I wanted to know more. It got more tense and dangerous further in the story and especially in the end. Now I'm curious to know what would happen next in the story.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal)

[H.R. Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

* I was given a copy of this book for an honest review

When I first started reading this book, I was very confused. The world that J.B. Wise isn't very clearly defined in the novel, and it's more like bits and pieces are given throughout that you have to really pay attention to.

The characters are really good though. This isn't my typical steamy romance that I like so much, but seems like a really good build up in relationship between Red and Falen. Red is super feisty, and has a really good personality. She's strong-minded and doesn't want to let her Vila status define who she is. Falen seemed grumpy and mean at first, but gets better once he starts to figure out Red more.

There were quite a few issues that needed to be editedin the book, as well as some of the confusion being cleared up, which is why I rated it 3 stars. This is a good book for the TBR list and I'm sure I'll be interested to try out the second one!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Lovers of Paranormal, LoP'

'Red' pulled me in from the beginning. The storyline was pretty good. I enjoyed how it played out. The paranormal aspect was good. The characters were a great cast of personalities as well as different beings. Red is quite sarcastic and quick witted. I loved the banter between her and anyone who crossed her path. Felan is full of mystery and I like his role in this story. This book needs more editing, (the reason I gave it a three and a half star- but I rounded up). It wasn't so bad that it took away from the story though. I look forward to reading book two in this series, 'Guarding The Vila'. A good add to your tbr list.

[Eoghann Irving · Rating 2 out of 5]

Taking characters from classic fairy tales (in this case Red Riding Hood), bringing them to the present day and giving them a paranormal spin is a concept that is rife with potential. I see glimmers of that potential in Red but sometimes the execution gets in the way.

It's worth noting that there is a novelette that precedes this story and that reading that first might better set the stage for what happens in the novel. Some of the events are referenced here but don't receive explanation which can lead to confusion for the reader. It's easy as the author to forget that the reader doesn't have the same knowledge you do, and there's no guarantee that they will start with the first story.

So What's It All About?

Well you have three primary actors in the story, Red who has been stuck in her Vila state for hundreds of years, but resists her abilities because she hates the curse associated with them. Then there's Felan, second in command of the Guard. He finds himself drawn to Red despite the potential problems that creates for him. And finally there's Jac, he wants Red.

These three each represent one of Red Riding Hood, the Wolf and the Hunter, though their personalities and actions may not be quite what you expect from the fairytale (again reading the novelette first may help a lot)

The story follows many of the tropes for paranormal romance in that Red and Felan start off disliking each other, but irresistibly attracted at the same time. It's not an original concept, but the audience for these books likes that trope so fair enough.

Confusion

Reading what I wrote above, you may be asking yourself. What's a Vila? Who are the Guard? And there lies one of the biggest problems with the book as it stands. J. B. Wise clearly has a complex world structure figured out with different powers all locked in a sort of eternal balance. This matters, because things are happening that could upset that balance, and the consequences will likely be bad.

The problem is, I can't really tell you exactly who all these groups are, what they can do and why they might be doing what they are doing. I also can't tell you, in terms of powers, what makes the Guard different from Vila or Trackers.

That confusion is one of the things that stopped me from fully immersing myself in the book. I was always trying to put things together and figure out how they related.

Setting and Description

In the book description, the author says the story is set in the woods of Washington. Now I have never been to Washington so I really can't critique the accuracy of the depiction but with the exception of the one house where Alistair and Felan live (which I can picture) the other locations are a little generic.

This was even more noticeable to me in the flashback scene which was set in Scotland. As someone who spent the first 28 years of his life in Scotland, those scenes felt like "generic historical setting" not Scotland.

I feel that a little more time spent on the settings and getting across what makes those places unique would pay dividends. A missed opportunity here was to utilize scent more when the characters were in wolf form. Their behavior as wolves is carefully described and we get some references to smells, but scent is of particular importance to wolves and using that more would be a great way to emphasise the different form.

Characters

There are quite a few characters introduced in the book and some, naturally, don't get a lot of time. The major characters are fairly well fleshed out however and to act in a way that is distinct to each other.

The relationship between Red and Felan is of course at the core of the story so that gets the most time. As I mentioned earlier it does follow a familiar pattern, but the change in attitude is slow enough to be believable.

There's nothing wildly inconsistent here. Even the withholding of information that various characters do can be argued to be in character for them. There are, however, characters whose motivation could do with a little further explanation

In the end though how much you like this book probably hangs on how much you like Red and Felan. If you connect with their relationship the rest falls into place or gets swept aside.

Did You Like It?

I'm sort of lukewarm on this one. I didn't get caught up in the story the way I would like to have and the cliffhanger at the end of the book didn't hook me for the next one. The threats to both character and setting didn't really connect with me. In the end I feel that there's a better book inside this one waiting to get out. It's possible that potential will be realized in the sequel.

Buy, Sample or Skip?

I'd say grab the sample from Amazon and try it out if the subject sounds interesting. People who are more into the paranormal romance genre will likely be more forgiving of what I perceived as flaws in the story. You'll certainly get a good feel for the pacing and style of the book from that sample.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from LoP or Lovers of Paranormal.

The Hooded Girl

Red has done well, given the cards she’s been dealt. She has been dead for hundreds of years, stuck in the Halfway as a Mountain Vila-a creature that can turn into a wolf on a whim. She’s kept herself a secret from the outside world, staying safe and abiding by the curse’s rules. She has done everything she was asked to do. But destiny has decided it isn’t enough.

The Vicious Wolf

Felan is tired of his duties and of the games the Vila’s play. Being second in command of the Guard, he has earned a vacation. Still, he is required to take his leave deep in the hills of Washington, where his only heir resides. The coincidences come together just as everything else falls apart. Now Felan must remember who he is, if he plans to protect the ones he loves.

The Hunter

Jac is ready. He’s been ready since before he died and nothing is going to stand in his way. War is unavoidable and Red will be his.


I loved, loved, loved this book! I just couldn't get enough! I was instantly caught up in "Red", and I am so happy I had the chance to read and review this book! From the very beginning the story was captivating. From the Fates, to the Vila's, to Guards, and the Halflings this story was amazingly crafted. Different. Fresh. New. Exciting. I am really looking forward to book 2 in the series.

Red was witty and sarcastic, but kind and loving, as well. Although love is what a Mountain Vila is taught to stay away from, the one exception is the love of a family. Red is very cautious of venturing outside of her comfort zone of Reality TV. However, when she finds a job that will bring her around only a few humans she decides to take her chances. She is careful to keep to herself in case a human falls in love with her. For any human who Red attracts will end up losing their life.

When Red meets Felan, while working at his sons shop, she feels anothing instant connection with him. Felan knows what she is but she is kept in the dark about him and his family. As they start to get closer, and she finally is brought into the loop, Red doesn't know how to feel. But before she can come to turns and forgive her family for what they've been hiding from her, a darkness comes for her and Red is left helpless And alone.

My biggest issue with Red is that it ended too soon! Oh and the ending! Ugh I just want to know what happens next! I can NOT wait to read book 2 and find out what happens between Red and Falen. I would recommend this book to all lovers of Paranormal Romance.

[Jonas Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal)

Red was a pretty good book I was able to find in the group I belong to. I love a good paranormal walk in the woods and learning what other authors come up with regarding the genre.

Being a Vila and forced to live out the curse was an interesting aspect I thought. Unfair, but interesting. The story progressed in a little bit of a choppy fashion at first. I had to take a week off of reading and unfortunately, had to start over since I was a bit lost. The introduction of so many characters in the first few chapters had be confused. There was actually a part in the fifth chapter, I think, where two paragraphs showed up one after another. Took me a few minutes to realize I HAD actually read it.

J.B. Wise did a great job with her character development though. Red's snakry/sarcasm shined through and the additional pull between her and Felan tied the book together nicely over the course of the read.

Not sure if reading the novelette beforehand might have benefited this book more? Will have to add that one onto the pile of To Read.