{"id":37526,"date":"2020-04-13T15:14:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T19:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37526"},"modified":"2020-04-13T15:14:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T19:14:00","slug":"review-of-red-hood-by-elana-k-arnold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37526","title":{"rendered":"Review of Red Hood, by Elana K. Arnold"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Red Hood<\/em><\/p>\n

by Elana K. Arnold<\/p>\n

Balzer + Bray, 2020. 353 pages.
\nReview written April 11, 2020, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Red Hood<\/em> is an amazing and impressive book. It\u2019s not a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, though you can almost think of it as standing the story on its head. And we do have wolves in the woods, a girl, and her grandmother.<\/p>\n

But this girl in the woods is not prey, oh my, no! Instead she hunts down wolves \u2013 instinctively and fiercely.<\/p>\n

For it turns out that sometimes, when there\u2019s a full moon, men and boys turn into wolves. They attack and devour unsuspecting young women, who need a defender. Bisou turns out to be a ferocious defender.<\/p>\n

But the book doesn\u2019t begin that way. It begins with Bisou in the back of a truck, trying out sex with her boyfriend, whom she loves very much. But before the night is over, she\u2019s in the woods alone, being attacked by a wolf \u2013 which she kills. The next morning, a boy is found dead in the woods where Bisou thought she left the wolf.<\/p>\n

Now I loved Elana K. Arnold\u2019s earlier book, Damsel<\/a><\/em>. After going a little way into this book, I decided that both books were similar. Both books are very explicit about sex, almost clinically descriptive. Both books portray men cruelly exploiting women \u2013 but then meeting with vicious retribution \u2013 and that violent retribution is frighteningly satisfying.<\/p>\n

However, by the time I was finished, I was super impressed with what the author pulled off here. Because not every boy turns into a wolf. Bisou has a wonderful relationship with her boyfriend, a loving and kind young man. There\u2019s a point where Bisou has something to do having to do with hunting on a day when they usually have sex \u2013 and James is disappointed, but he doesn\u2019t give her a hard time at all. I was waiting for it to all be a big trap and for him to turn into a wolf \u2013 and he remained a loving and kind person.<\/p>\n

In fact, there\u2019s another boy at their high school who harasses and abuses one of Bisou\u2019s friends \u2013 and they deal with it without<\/em> magical powers, and he never turns into a wolf. (I\u2019m trying not to give spoilers. I don\u2019t think this will ruin it for you.) I kept expecting every jerk to end up being a horrible wolf or the apparently loving individual to be a wolf at heart \u2013 and that just doesn\u2019t happen here, and that impressed me.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, though the heroine of Damsel<\/em> was basically alone, Bisou makes friends with other girls in this book. So as well as becoming a testament for girls standing up for themselves and standing against sexual violence, it also tells a beautiful story of the power of sisterhood and girls supporting each other as they do that standing.<\/p>\n

I ended up so impressed with this book. It ends up being richly nuanced, telling a story of a girl gaining new powers to defend the weak against sexual violence, but not being alone as she navigates those new powers. It shows sexual violence as a horrible threat against women \u2013 but not a threat hiding in every man\u2019s heart, and something that both men and women are willing to help destroy.<\/p>\n

elanakarnold.com<\/a>
\nepicreads.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/red_hood.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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