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Red
From award-winning writer and journalist Felicity McLean comes Red, a spirited and striking contemporary retelling of the Ned Kelly story
It's the early 1990s and Ruby 'Red' McCoy dreams about one day leaving her weatherboard house on the Central Coast of New South Wales, where her best friend, Stevie, is loose with the truth, and her dad, Sid, is always on the wrong side of the law. But wild, whip-smart Red can't stay out of trouble to save her life, and Sid's latest hustle is more harebrained than usual. Meanwhile, Sergeant Trevor Healy seems to have a vendetta against every generation of the McCoys.
Told in Ruby's vivid, inimitable voice, Red is part True Grit, part Blue Murder. It's a story of police persecution. Of dodgy deals and even dodgier cars. And of a family history that refuses to stay in the past. A sharp, provocative and savagely funny novel.
'This electrifying and unique revamp of the Ned Kelly myth will leave you breathless. The accumulative prose of rusted car doors and sliding suburban loyalties make way for an unforgettable female protagonist who is as fearsome as her life is young. Winton meets Tarantino in Woy Woy and it all makes perfect sense to me. I loved this book - a truly wild ride.' Brendan Cowell, Plum
'A striking new voice in Australian fiction' Adelaide Advertiser
'Filled with simmering tension, Red is both tragic and darkly comedic ... By drawing inspiration from Kelly, McLean shines a light on the idea that, though over 100 years have passed, too many ugly truths stay the same.' Books+Publishing
It's the early 1990s and Ruby 'Red' McCoy dreams about one day leaving her weatherboard house on the Central Coast of New South Wales, where her best friend, Stevie, is loose with the truth, and her dad, Sid, is always on the wrong side of the law. But wild, whip-smart Red can't stay out of trouble to save her life, and Sid's latest hustle is more harebrained than usual. Meanwhile, Sergeant Trevor Healy seems to have a vendetta against every generation of the McCoys.
Told in Ruby's vivid, inimitable voice, Red is part True Grit, part Blue Murder. It's a story of police persecution. Of dodgy deals and even dodgier cars. And of a family history that refuses to stay in the past. A sharp, provocative and savagely funny novel.
'This electrifying and unique revamp of the Ned Kelly myth will leave you breathless. The accumulative prose of rusted car doors and sliding suburban loyalties make way for an unforgettable female protagonist who is as fearsome as her life is young. Winton meets Tarantino in Woy Woy and it all makes perfect sense to me. I loved this book - a truly wild ride.' Brendan Cowell, Plum
'A striking new voice in Australian fiction' Adelaide Advertiser
'Filled with simmering tension, Red is both tragic and darkly comedic ... By drawing inspiration from Kelly, McLean shines a light on the idea that, though over 100 years have passed, too many ugly truths stay the same.' Books+Publishing
- GenresFictionContemporary
Kindle Edition
Published May 18, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 23, 2022
Thank you Harper Collins for sending us a copy to read and review.
Red is a colour I associate with Australia, it’s red dust and rocks, big red skies and red dogs and this story is very Australian.
The Aussie battler is typified in this and Ned Kelly the iconic bush ranger the inspiration.
Ruby ‘Red’ McCoy was born on the wrong side of the tracks.
Her mother died while an infant and her family always under the police spotlight.
Her father a rogue but a good man and caring dad.
Red is no stranger to trouble but does make a stand against the constant police persecution.
One sergeant holding a grudge that stems back a few generations and who holds a devastating secret that will polarise the relationship with Red and him further.
A story with characters that are so relatable and ones that I’m sure we all know in our everyday lives.
It just made this experience real.
The stunning cover is the just the beginning of this quick read.
It was cleverly written and a detailed list of sources at the back, add even more spice.
All emotions will get a workout.
Red is a colour I associate with Australia, it’s red dust and rocks, big red skies and red dogs and this story is very Australian.
The Aussie battler is typified in this and Ned Kelly the iconic bush ranger the inspiration.
Ruby ‘Red’ McCoy was born on the wrong side of the tracks.
Her mother died while an infant and her family always under the police spotlight.
Her father a rogue but a good man and caring dad.
Red is no stranger to trouble but does make a stand against the constant police persecution.
One sergeant holding a grudge that stems back a few generations and who holds a devastating secret that will polarise the relationship with Red and him further.
A story with characters that are so relatable and ones that I’m sure we all know in our everyday lives.
It just made this experience real.
The stunning cover is the just the beginning of this quick read.
It was cleverly written and a detailed list of sources at the back, add even more spice.
All emotions will get a workout.
Read
October 23, 2025Ruby „Red“ McCoy wächst ab Mitte der 70er Jahre in New South Wales mutterlos bei ihrem allein verantwortlichen Vater Sid auf. Sidney McCoy, den seine kleine Tochter bedingungslos verehrt, spielt Geige und ist Meister genialer Geschäftsideen, die sich stets als Luftschlösser erweisen werden. Während Tausende ihre Arbeit verlieren, finden Sid und sein Kumpel Chook die Lebensaufgabe, beim Abriss eines ganzen Kraftwerks Metalle zu sichern. Doch Sid phantasiert den größten Blödsinn aller Zeiten heran und verhökert die heiße Ware auf eigene Rechnung. Beide Männer ahnen nicht, dass die korrupte lokale Polizei das Geschäft organisiert und Sids Alleingang alle auffliegen ließ. Die Fehde, die bereits seit Großvaters Zeiten die Familien McCoy und Healy entzweit, wird neu befeuert und Sid zu einer mehrjährigen Gefängnisstrafe verurteilt. Red hat das Glück, dass sie Stevie, den Sohn der Buchhändlerin, vor dem Ertrinken gerettet hat und während Sids Haft von Lorraine als Pflegetochter aufgenommen wird.
Rotschopf Red lernt in diesem Milieu, dass die Polizei stets auftaucht und sie schikaniert, wenn Sid und sie gerade eine Glückssträhne erwischt zu haben glauben. In drei großen Schritten von jeweils 5 Jahren liefert Sids Tochter ein Manifest gegen Polizeiwillkür und Korruption ab, das den Sound einer Tonaufnahme trägt. Felicity MacLean steckt eine mutterlose Jugendliche, die am Ende der Handlung noch nicht volljährig ist, in die Rolle einer Gesetzlosen, deren Ähnlichkeit mit Australiens Nationalheld (und ebenfalls Verfasser eines Manifests) Ned Kelly beabsichtigt ist. Red entwickelt sich vom Kind, das zunächst nur die Fassade der Ereignisse wahrnimmt, zur jugendlichen Gesetzlosen, die zum Ende der Geschichte von sich und ihrer Pistole in Wir-Form erzählt. Eine für Red typische Szene: die Zimmerdecke fällt plötzlich herab – und verzögert realisiert sie, dass gerade in der gesamten Straße ein Erdbeben den Putz reißen lässt.
Fazit
Red McCoy klagt atemlos ohne Punkt und Komma an, als spräche sie einer interviewenden Person in die Diktierfunktion. Die Korruptheit der einheimischen Polizeikräfte kann einem in ihrem Bericht tatsächlich den Atem rauben. Dass der gesamte Roman in Reds atemlosen Tempo erzählt wird, konnte mich hier jedoch nicht vollständig überzeugen; denn nicht allein Red spricht darin, weitere (erwachsene) Personen hätten ihr eigenes Sprechtempo verdient.
Rotschopf Red lernt in diesem Milieu, dass die Polizei stets auftaucht und sie schikaniert, wenn Sid und sie gerade eine Glückssträhne erwischt zu haben glauben. In drei großen Schritten von jeweils 5 Jahren liefert Sids Tochter ein Manifest gegen Polizeiwillkür und Korruption ab, das den Sound einer Tonaufnahme trägt. Felicity MacLean steckt eine mutterlose Jugendliche, die am Ende der Handlung noch nicht volljährig ist, in die Rolle einer Gesetzlosen, deren Ähnlichkeit mit Australiens Nationalheld (und ebenfalls Verfasser eines Manifests) Ned Kelly beabsichtigt ist. Red entwickelt sich vom Kind, das zunächst nur die Fassade der Ereignisse wahrnimmt, zur jugendlichen Gesetzlosen, die zum Ende der Geschichte von sich und ihrer Pistole in Wir-Form erzählt. Eine für Red typische Szene: die Zimmerdecke fällt plötzlich herab – und verzögert realisiert sie, dass gerade in der gesamten Straße ein Erdbeben den Putz reißen lässt.
Fazit
Red McCoy klagt atemlos ohne Punkt und Komma an, als spräche sie einer interviewenden Person in die Diktierfunktion. Die Korruptheit der einheimischen Polizeikräfte kann einem in ihrem Bericht tatsächlich den Atem rauben. Dass der gesamte Roman in Reds atemlosen Tempo erzählt wird, konnte mich hier jedoch nicht vollständig überzeugen; denn nicht allein Red spricht darin, weitere (erwachsene) Personen hätten ihr eigenes Sprechtempo verdient.
July 2, 2022
3.0 stars.
At first I wasn't sure if I would finish this book, but as is usual for me I stuck with it, and found myself liking the second half a bit more. The writing style initially put me off, not only the absence of quotation marks for the dialogue, but also the absence of commas in the sentences. The lack of commas made it a bit hard for me to read at first, I would have to read some sentences twice to get the proper meaning of what was being said/narrated.
But after a while I got used to things being the way they were and found the issues mentioned above less problematic.
Ruby "Red" McCoy is a young girl living with her single dad Sid, on the central coast of New South Wales, Australia. Sid is a decent, but somewhat inept father and provider. He has turned his house and property into a cluttered junk yard, and has many hare-brained schemes up his sleeve along with his mate Chook, to make money. But few of his ideas come into profitable fruition.
Ruby has a somewhat amused tolerance of her dad's character and ideas.
But Sid's failed schemes may be the least of the McCoy's troubles.
The family has a long-standing conflict with the Healy family, and one member of that family, Sergeant Trevor Healy, is about to give Sid and Ruby no end of trouble. Healy is a grubby, dishonest, crooked cop, who also treats his fellow constables abominably. He'll go to any length to get Sid jailed, even through a dishonest set up, and ruin Ruby's life completely.
It comes to a stage where even Ruby will become a reluctant "criminal" simply to defend herself. She is very much alone in a world surrounded by police corruption, and a society that is likely to frown upon and look down on her.
Overall the book is okay, occasionally amusing, but I can't imagine anyone outside Australia understanding some of the book's in-jokes, references, the Australian vernacular/slang that pervades the pages. For OZ readers, mainly.
At first I wasn't sure if I would finish this book, but as is usual for me I stuck with it, and found myself liking the second half a bit more. The writing style initially put me off, not only the absence of quotation marks for the dialogue, but also the absence of commas in the sentences. The lack of commas made it a bit hard for me to read at first, I would have to read some sentences twice to get the proper meaning of what was being said/narrated.
But after a while I got used to things being the way they were and found the issues mentioned above less problematic.
Ruby "Red" McCoy is a young girl living with her single dad Sid, on the central coast of New South Wales, Australia. Sid is a decent, but somewhat inept father and provider. He has turned his house and property into a cluttered junk yard, and has many hare-brained schemes up his sleeve along with his mate Chook, to make money. But few of his ideas come into profitable fruition.
Ruby has a somewhat amused tolerance of her dad's character and ideas.
But Sid's failed schemes may be the least of the McCoy's troubles.
The family has a long-standing conflict with the Healy family, and one member of that family, Sergeant Trevor Healy, is about to give Sid and Ruby no end of trouble. Healy is a grubby, dishonest, crooked cop, who also treats his fellow constables abominably. He'll go to any length to get Sid jailed, even through a dishonest set up, and ruin Ruby's life completely.
It comes to a stage where even Ruby will become a reluctant "criminal" simply to defend herself. She is very much alone in a world surrounded by police corruption, and a society that is likely to frown upon and look down on her.
Overall the book is okay, occasionally amusing, but I can't imagine anyone outside Australia understanding some of the book's in-jokes, references, the Australian vernacular/slang that pervades the pages. For OZ readers, mainly.
June 12, 2022
I wanted to like this, but it felt like I was reading a compulsory book from year eight English.
May 18, 2022
Red by Felicity McLean is a contemporary retelling of Ned Kelly, set in the 1990s.
We follow Ruby 'Red' McCoy as she longs to leave home and build a better life. Her Dad, Sid, finds himself constantly in trouble with the law, and the Sergeant in the police force has it out for both Red and Sid.
This is a story about police corruption, socio-economic disadvantages, and family. It is written from Red's perspective, which as explained at the start of the book, is based on a letter written by Ned Kelly. The details and descriptions in this book are rich, and you feel as though you are in the 90's while reading this.
Red is a colourful character, both in terms of language and personality. Felicity McLean has done an excellent job of putting the reader into the story through Red's recount of the story. By recounting her story, Red justifies her actions, stressing that although they were wrong, she and Sid were provoked.
That being said, I did struggle with the style of writing. I found it difficult to follow the story, and I caught myself skipping sentences that were the length of paragraphs. That's not to say it's bad, but it's just a style that I had difficulty with. Regardless of this, the style advanced the story and I understand the reasoning.
Felicity McLean has done a great job with a modern retelling of a complex story, her research seems extensive and her knowledge is broad. While a tragic story, it is told in a gripping and unique way.
A huge thank you to Harper Collins for providing me with a copy to read and review, as part of their First In Best Read promotion.
We follow Ruby 'Red' McCoy as she longs to leave home and build a better life. Her Dad, Sid, finds himself constantly in trouble with the law, and the Sergeant in the police force has it out for both Red and Sid.
This is a story about police corruption, socio-economic disadvantages, and family. It is written from Red's perspective, which as explained at the start of the book, is based on a letter written by Ned Kelly. The details and descriptions in this book are rich, and you feel as though you are in the 90's while reading this.
Red is a colourful character, both in terms of language and personality. Felicity McLean has done an excellent job of putting the reader into the story through Red's recount of the story. By recounting her story, Red justifies her actions, stressing that although they were wrong, she and Sid were provoked.
That being said, I did struggle with the style of writing. I found it difficult to follow the story, and I caught myself skipping sentences that were the length of paragraphs. That's not to say it's bad, but it's just a style that I had difficulty with. Regardless of this, the style advanced the story and I understand the reasoning.
Felicity McLean has done a great job with a modern retelling of a complex story, her research seems extensive and her knowledge is broad. While a tragic story, it is told in a gripping and unique way.
A huge thank you to Harper Collins for providing me with a copy to read and review, as part of their First In Best Read promotion.
November 14, 2022
Red is a retelling of the Ned Kelly story as told by Ruby ‘Red’ McCoy and featuring dodgy cops, underdogs and Aussie battlers, set on the NSW Central Coast in the early 90s.
Written from Red’s perspective and entirely without speech marks & commas, her character voice is rapid, rambling and Holden Caulfield-Catcher In The Rye-esque. The absence of punctuation requires vigilance to make sense of the text at first, but the effect completely works, giving the reader a strong sense of Red, her young mind and the chaos of her world.
The setting captured me & the nostalgia was off the chart with so many 90s Aussie references in settings I holidayed at as a child in the 90s.
The ride with Red is short but intense. This tragic tale of generational misfortune and personal grudges is gritty, cheeky and fearless.
A big thanks to the publisher for gifting me a copy of Red for review.
Written from Red’s perspective and entirely without speech marks & commas, her character voice is rapid, rambling and Holden Caulfield-Catcher In The Rye-esque. The absence of punctuation requires vigilance to make sense of the text at first, but the effect completely works, giving the reader a strong sense of Red, her young mind and the chaos of her world.
The setting captured me & the nostalgia was off the chart with so many 90s Aussie references in settings I holidayed at as a child in the 90s.
The ride with Red is short but intense. This tragic tale of generational misfortune and personal grudges is gritty, cheeky and fearless.
A big thanks to the publisher for gifting me a copy of Red for review.
March 16, 2023
Honestly 2023 isn’t a good year for me and my reading I haven’t found anything I have loved. 😭😭😭 I had high hopes but deep down I knew this was book was too good to be true, I did love the feminine rage and the cover is immaculate! The writing was interesting, like a stream of consciousness, which took me a while to get into, but the book was fast paced. I just didn’t think the plot delivered and was a bit underwhelming. A great audiobook though
dnf
July 22, 2022DNF @ page 11
July 12, 2022
It’s the early 1990s and little Ruby ‘Red’ McCoy is cruising down the highway on the Central Coast in her dad’s ‘new’ Datsun 180B that he swears is gold but is really a two-tone white-brown number. Thus begins this incredibly evocative tale told through the eyes of a child who loves her dad, Sid, fiercely and hanging out with her best friend Stevie. Life would be great if it weren’t for the ripple effects across the generations of the loathing between the Healeys and the McCoys. Trevor Healey has turned being a bent copper into an artform and Sid McCoy is just another poverty-stricken loser on the wrong side of the law.
4.5 stars
Red is a contemporary retelling of the Ned Kelly story told through Ruby’s eyes and it sparkles on every page. Ruby is wild, smart and loyal. The writing shimmers with her wit and wry observations of life. Reading it, I was torn between deep affection for Ruby and absolute horror at the terrible persecution and her maturity necessitated by circumstances over which she has no control. There’s no room for self-pity in Ruby’s world but as smart and funny as she is, even she can’t save her dad or herself from the fate that awaits them.
I will say that it took me a couple of pages to get into the rhythm of the writing because McLean has written Red as a sort of stream of consciousness, that is, there’s not much punctuation and few chapters. But McLean pulls this off by the sheer power and velocity of the writing. I loved her previous novel, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone, but I think McLean has surpassed herself with Red. It’s a cracker of a read.
4.5 stars
Red is a contemporary retelling of the Ned Kelly story told through Ruby’s eyes and it sparkles on every page. Ruby is wild, smart and loyal. The writing shimmers with her wit and wry observations of life. Reading it, I was torn between deep affection for Ruby and absolute horror at the terrible persecution and her maturity necessitated by circumstances over which she has no control. There’s no room for self-pity in Ruby’s world but as smart and funny as she is, even she can’t save her dad or herself from the fate that awaits them.
I will say that it took me a couple of pages to get into the rhythm of the writing because McLean has written Red as a sort of stream of consciousness, that is, there’s not much punctuation and few chapters. But McLean pulls this off by the sheer power and velocity of the writing. I loved her previous novel, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone, but I think McLean has surpassed herself with Red. It’s a cracker of a read.
August 7, 2022
"She fought the law. The law won. Such is life".
I saw this book at the library: all I knew of it was that it was written by Felicity McLean who wrote 'The Van Apfel Girls are Gone'. Make no mistake, both books are worlds apart. “Red” is set in the 1990s in the Central Coast region of NSW, Australia. Ruby Sherrin McCoy is 14, living in an old beat-up house with Sid, who never seems to be out of trouble. Known as Red, she is smart, has a quick tongue and seems to always slide into trouble, at a much smaller scale than her father. The police are corrupt and have it in for her father. There are so many dodgy deals and undertakings going on. It is refreshingly bittersweet in its narration through Ruby’s eyes, with a mix of innocence, street smarts and grit determination to never go down without a fight.
After finished it, I could see the elements in Ruby as someone who would never be given the benefitof a doubt, and would ultimately go out in a blaze of glory. The writing style might dissuade some readers; it has crude punctuation and stops and starts, however I really would recommend to stick with it and think about 14-year old Ruby telling your this story, possibly sitting to the left of you, whispering it into your ear as you watch the events unfold. The blacked out swear words are littered through the book like redacted police statements. I recommend to read this, if you can, in one go as I did today. Don’t leave it and come back to it. Another brilliant Australian story; the nod to Ned Kelly in the title byline is brilliant!
I saw this book at the library: all I knew of it was that it was written by Felicity McLean who wrote 'The Van Apfel Girls are Gone'. Make no mistake, both books are worlds apart. “Red” is set in the 1990s in the Central Coast region of NSW, Australia. Ruby Sherrin McCoy is 14, living in an old beat-up house with Sid, who never seems to be out of trouble. Known as Red, she is smart, has a quick tongue and seems to always slide into trouble, at a much smaller scale than her father. The police are corrupt and have it in for her father. There are so many dodgy deals and undertakings going on. It is refreshingly bittersweet in its narration through Ruby’s eyes, with a mix of innocence, street smarts and grit determination to never go down without a fight.
After finished it, I could see the elements in Ruby as someone who would never be given the benefitof a doubt, and would ultimately go out in a blaze of glory. The writing style might dissuade some readers; it has crude punctuation and stops and starts, however I really would recommend to stick with it and think about 14-year old Ruby telling your this story, possibly sitting to the left of you, whispering it into your ear as you watch the events unfold. The blacked out swear words are littered through the book like redacted police statements. I recommend to read this, if you can, in one go as I did today. Don’t leave it and come back to it. Another brilliant Australian story; the nod to Ned Kelly in the title byline is brilliant!
September 24, 2023
3.5 stars
Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a copy of this book to review!
Inspired by Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter, this book is about Ruby (Red) and her dad Sid. Set in the 1990’s on the Central Coast of NSW, Ruby is fourteen and lives with her single dad, Sid since her mother died not long after her birth. They don’t have much money, live in a rundown house littered with all Sid’s “collectibles” and Sid is always just on the wrong side of the law - nothing too terrible, but just enough for he and Ruby to often have the attention of the police and Sergeant Healy in particular.
The story is narrated by Ruby and is told in a fast moving style sans quite a lot of punctuation! There are no commas or quotation marks here! It only took me a couple of pages to get used to the style of writing and I didn’t mind it at all, as it added a sense of urgency and rapidness to the storytelling.
Similar to Ned Kelly, Ruby conveys to the reader that she never set out to hurt anyone, steal anything or cause any trouble, but when you are confronted by crooked cops who want to pin any misdemeanor on you, sometimes you have no choice but to fight back. However this is narrated by Ruby, who I suspect may not be an entirely reliable narrator. 🤔 It certainly gives you something to think about.
I mostly quite liked this book but I felt that it gets a bit stuck somewhere around the middle. I think the writing fit the story and it captured the 90s pretty well! Around 3.5-3.75, so am going with ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a copy of this book to review!
Inspired by Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter, this book is about Ruby (Red) and her dad Sid. Set in the 1990’s on the Central Coast of NSW, Ruby is fourteen and lives with her single dad, Sid since her mother died not long after her birth. They don’t have much money, live in a rundown house littered with all Sid’s “collectibles” and Sid is always just on the wrong side of the law - nothing too terrible, but just enough for he and Ruby to often have the attention of the police and Sergeant Healy in particular.
The story is narrated by Ruby and is told in a fast moving style sans quite a lot of punctuation! There are no commas or quotation marks here! It only took me a couple of pages to get used to the style of writing and I didn’t mind it at all, as it added a sense of urgency and rapidness to the storytelling.
Similar to Ned Kelly, Ruby conveys to the reader that she never set out to hurt anyone, steal anything or cause any trouble, but when you are confronted by crooked cops who want to pin any misdemeanor on you, sometimes you have no choice but to fight back. However this is narrated by Ruby, who I suspect may not be an entirely reliable narrator. 🤔 It certainly gives you something to think about.
I mostly quite liked this book but I felt that it gets a bit stuck somewhere around the middle. I think the writing fit the story and it captured the 90s pretty well! Around 3.5-3.75, so am going with ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
June 25, 2022
Red is pitched as a modern reimagining of Ned Kelly, with a corrupt police force and the downtrodden common folk. Told in Ruby 'Red' McKoy's vivid, uniquely Australian voice, this book is a story of crooked cops, dodgy deals, and a family history that refuses to stay in the past.
This book is a solid 3.5 stars for me. I didn't dislike it, but there were a few things that stopped me from outright loving it. I really enjoyed Red and her best friend slash sidekick Stevie and her unflinching ideals and view of the world. At first I was very confused why many of the swear words in the book were blacked out and completely redacted, until Red talks about how losing her mum was like leaving a big black hole in her life. I thought it was really clever to link these two, and it also harks back to police corruption with documents being altered.
What I struggled with was the Sally Roony-esque lack of quotation marks when characters were speaking. That plus the incredibly ocker Australian speech made reading it quite difficult at times. I also felt like more than half of the book was spent establishing characters and we didn't really get to the "plot" for quite a while.
Besides that I still very much enjoyed reading Red. Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for sending me an advanced copy.
This book is a solid 3.5 stars for me. I didn't dislike it, but there were a few things that stopped me from outright loving it. I really enjoyed Red and her best friend slash sidekick Stevie and her unflinching ideals and view of the world. At first I was very confused why many of the swear words in the book were blacked out and completely redacted, until Red talks about how losing her mum was like leaving a big black hole in her life. I thought it was really clever to link these two, and it also harks back to police corruption with documents being altered.
What I struggled with was the Sally Roony-esque lack of quotation marks when characters were speaking. That plus the incredibly ocker Australian speech made reading it quite difficult at times. I also felt like more than half of the book was spent establishing characters and we didn't really get to the "plot" for quite a while.
Besides that I still very much enjoyed reading Red. Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for sending me an advanced copy.
August 8, 2022
Touted as modern take on the Ned Kelly story, Red is told through the teenage voice of Ruby 'Red' McCoy, who is motherless and with a father where each scheme will either bring riches or a knock on the door from the police. In this world, Red grows into a headstrong, feisty young woman willing to take all and sundry on but it comes at a cost.
McLean has taken a couple of different approaches with this telling. Using Red's voice she has tried to keep that true through out. That means the grammar is not the best. It does take some time to get into the swing of Red's vocabulary once you do her voice remains true. It took me some time to get over all the swear words being redacted. Doing that broke up the flow of the text and at times had me guessing what was being said. Being told through Red's point of view does have some limitations. Some of the characters she refers to have no shade to them at all and the police are almost caricatures. It is a minor quibble but it does remain true to the viewpoint of a teenage girl who has no respect for the police at all.
This is an interesting read and a different take on a known Australian story.
McLean has taken a couple of different approaches with this telling. Using Red's voice she has tried to keep that true through out. That means the grammar is not the best. It does take some time to get into the swing of Red's vocabulary once you do her voice remains true. It took me some time to get over all the swear words being redacted. Doing that broke up the flow of the text and at times had me guessing what was being said. Being told through Red's point of view does have some limitations. Some of the characters she refers to have no shade to them at all and the police are almost caricatures. It is a minor quibble but it does remain true to the viewpoint of a teenage girl who has no respect for the police at all.
This is an interesting read and a different take on a known Australian story.
August 28, 2022
Maybe I'm rating this too harshly because The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone remains one of the best books I've read in recent times and was very worthy its 5 star rating, but I didn't enjoy Red anywhere near as much. The characters were there and had their moments. Both the voice and vocabulary of the protagonist were spot on. The story seemed like it could have been there but didn't really evolve enough. The final stages of the book seemed more suitable to a soap opera script than what the story deserved. All in all, I think maybe where this book went wrong for me was in finding its suitable audience. For example, the many swear words/phrases that are included throughout are blacked out, but I can't really figure out who that was for - the protagonist/narrator or the reader - because neither feels quite right. All in all, a solid 3 stars for me, but I'm really hoping the next book is much more like Van Apfels than Red in terms of its narrative, structure, and prose.
April 18, 2024
A really interesting book in both the story and the way it was written.
Purists will not like the writing. Imagine chatting to a teenager via social media. No commas, fullstops or quotation marks. I didn't think I'd cope with this, but decoding came easy to me. I also believe that eventually, the written word will transition to this. I don't approve though.
Lots of nostalgia in this book, taking me back to my childhood, like Sid's love for various cars and references to bands and songs. Only an Aussie would understand the slang terms and the back of the book explains other references. I also loved the friendships of various characters, Sid and Chook, Red and Stephen, Call Me Lorraine and Red.
I love a writer who takes risks and dares to be different. This story is funny with well described characters, sense of place and time and an OK story. I would read more from Felicity Mclean.
Purists will not like the writing. Imagine chatting to a teenager via social media. No commas, fullstops or quotation marks. I didn't think I'd cope with this, but decoding came easy to me. I also believe that eventually, the written word will transition to this. I don't approve though.
Lots of nostalgia in this book, taking me back to my childhood, like Sid's love for various cars and references to bands and songs. Only an Aussie would understand the slang terms and the back of the book explains other references. I also loved the friendships of various characters, Sid and Chook, Red and Stephen, Call Me Lorraine and Red.
I love a writer who takes risks and dares to be different. This story is funny with well described characters, sense of place and time and an OK story. I would read more from Felicity Mclean.
July 12, 2023
𝐑𝐞𝐝 🌟
𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲: Felicity McLean 🤬
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞: In 1990s, Ruby 'Red' McCoy dreams about leaving her town, where her best friend, Stevie, is loose with the truth, and her dad, Sid, is always on the wrong side of the law. But wild, whip-smart Red can't stay out of trouble to save her life. "contemporary retelling of the Ned Kelly story”.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝: This was written and published.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦: I don’t understand the need to retell his story especially when it cannot be translated well into 90s.
𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐩 𝐈𝐭: I have never read a book, which seems like yelling and screaming at you. You feel like what is happening, is it someone behind me why this person is screaming at me. I don’t understand the purpose of it, or meaning of it. I have read angsty books, watched movies and shows but here it just felt flat, one note loud scream which would not end.
𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲: Felicity McLean 🤬
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞: In 1990s, Ruby 'Red' McCoy dreams about leaving her town, where her best friend, Stevie, is loose with the truth, and her dad, Sid, is always on the wrong side of the law. But wild, whip-smart Red can't stay out of trouble to save her life. "contemporary retelling of the Ned Kelly story”.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝: This was written and published.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦: I don’t understand the need to retell his story especially when it cannot be translated well into 90s.
𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐩 𝐈𝐭: I have never read a book, which seems like yelling and screaming at you. You feel like what is happening, is it someone behind me why this person is screaming at me. I don’t understand the purpose of it, or meaning of it. I have read angsty books, watched movies and shows but here it just felt flat, one note loud scream which would not end.
September 26, 2022
The Ned Kelly mythos reimagined in a contemporary world, narrated by our 15 year old girl, living in poverty with her dad on the central coast, written in a super contemporary writing style consisting of run on sentences with minimal grammar and lots of tangents. Which is surprisingly easy to follow if you’re familiar with the Australian dialect.
This was heartbreaking and ugly and funny and an unneeded stoking of my hatred for the police force.
Definitely an entertaining and introspective look at our heroes and our villains and how our history and life is so extremely subjective. We really struggle as a nation to recognize truth and this book gives us a wonderful slice the Australian pie served upside down.
This was heartbreaking and ugly and funny and an unneeded stoking of my hatred for the police force.
Definitely an entertaining and introspective look at our heroes and our villains and how our history and life is so extremely subjective. We really struggle as a nation to recognize truth and this book gives us a wonderful slice the Australian pie served upside down.
June 2, 2022
I borrowed this ebook for my local library and I'm extending a big thankyou to Felicity McLean, wonderful writing. It is a shout out to Ned Kelly's Jerilderie letter and it's worth keeping this in mind when reading. It took me a few pages to adjust to the absence of punctuation, no commas, some sentences I needed to read twice, it's a unique and interesting writing style. There is humour in the Australian vernacular, Red and her dad Sid are immensely likeable and there antics are highly entertaining. The victimization and persecution they experience by the New South Wales police is disturbing.
November 17, 2022
RED is a modern retelling of Ned Kelly and felt quintessentially Australian.
Ruby “Red” McCoy’s voice is rapid and rambling and alternating between physical and audio copies was the way to go. She is full steam ahead in all aspects and it did take a moment to get use to the pace and flow of the story.
It did feel a little bit like a novel you’d be forced to read in high school English because of the themes: police corruption, socio-economic disadvantages, and family loyalty.
It’s short but intense story and there will be buckets loads of nostalgia for many readers.
Ruby “Red” McCoy’s voice is rapid and rambling and alternating between physical and audio copies was the way to go. She is full steam ahead in all aspects and it did take a moment to get use to the pace and flow of the story.
It did feel a little bit like a novel you’d be forced to read in high school English because of the themes: police corruption, socio-economic disadvantages, and family loyalty.
It’s short but intense story and there will be buckets loads of nostalgia for many readers.
June 2, 2023
I wanted to enjoy this, but the rambling vague style and perpetual underdog stuff turned me off. I get it how the system discriminates against poor people, aboriginal people in particular, and how some cops abuse their power terribly. But even accepting that structurally everything is weighted against characters like the central family here - I didn't feel much sympathy for them and their lives. Maybe its an empathy deficit in me - or maybe its that the writing didn't engender the connection McLean was hoping for...
November 2, 2022
Loved it… sort wanted it to go on….
A short sharp read.
Excellent voice given to the main protagonist, a proper rebel in the truest sense of the word.
It’s a narrative that would touch anyone really. We would all know/relate to one or more of the characters or social prejudices that abound.
Well done
A short sharp read.
Excellent voice given to the main protagonist, a proper rebel in the truest sense of the word.
It’s a narrative that would touch anyone really. We would all know/relate to one or more of the characters or social prejudices that abound.
Well done
November 15, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyable.
In turns funny and heartbreaking but always lively, always animated, always absorbing.
What a hero we have in this cracking, crackling page turner of a yarn. She reminds me of Ruth Langmore in Ozark.
I loved it.
In turns funny and heartbreaking but always lively, always animated, always absorbing.
What a hero we have in this cracking, crackling page turner of a yarn. She reminds me of Ruth Langmore in Ozark.
I loved it.
December 20, 2022
Unusual rhythm and sentence structure but still easy to acquaint yourself with.
And enjoying, quick and creative take on a familiar story that also demonstrates a compassion and understanding of the vulnerability and disadvantage of society's at risk youth.
And enjoying, quick and creative take on a familiar story that also demonstrates a compassion and understanding of the vulnerability and disadvantage of society's at risk youth.
October 30, 2022
Yeh it was ok.
November 7, 2022
Loved it good story Aussie larrikin in a tough world. Loved the way it was written as well different style.
June 29, 2023
Modern take on the Kelly Gang story. Very funny.
April 21, 2024
Whip smart, fast paced and hilarious. At times crushing. The writing with little to no punctuation, took a minute to get used to, but the story was worth the persistence
April 30, 2025
Clever idea and some unique writing but didn’t quite deliver what I had expected.
July 25, 2022
Engrossing. Loved the writing craft here - a truly unique voice of the (I suspect slightly unreliable) narrator; close to a stream of consciousness. A great story that is well told. Don't be put off by the Ned Kelly references, as they are fairly minor. My only criticism is that I found the plot slowed a little in the middle third.
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