Red Hood

Written by Elana K. Arnold

Narrated by January LaVoy

Elana K. Arnold, 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.

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked. And the wolf is angry.

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9780062974884

Elana K. Arnold

Elana K. Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including The House That Wasn’t There, the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. She is a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program and lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of animals. You can find her online at elanakarnold.com.

Reviews for Red Hood

[Natacha Saint-Rilus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is really not for the faint of heart. It’s disturbing, raw and morally wrong yet I couldn’t stop.
Well done, Elana, well done. I guess I won’t be sleeping tonight...

[Beth Bogaert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't really know what to make of this book, other than to say I only enjoyed the last third or so. That's not to say others won't but... I think it would take someone with very specific tastes.

I understand the feminism and the criticism of the 'incel movement,' and how most of the issues that crop up are adjacent to that. But... I guess the 'men are wolves' metaphor was a little obvious. It makes me wonder if that choice was made so this could be touted as a 'Red Riding Hood' retelling or... what? And the 2nd person POV was another odd choice that didn't appeal to me.

The writing itself wasn't bad and I don't mind the social issues Arnold is tackling. Even the graphic description of menstruation and sex didn't bother me. The format just wasn't for me.

[paige byars · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ehhh it was an alright book. I usually really enjoy Retellings but this one was alittle off for me.

[Susan McCollor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought the book was okay. In some of the areas put you as the girl.

[Rabsaris Flores · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I start listening to this book it was way different than what I thought it would be. This was rate it as young adult which is not young adult at all. The story deals with sexual content, violence and bullying. I like the book but it leave me with alot of questions. I was thinking this book more as a retelling story. But still was a good read.

[tip44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Arnold writes real world fairy tales. Not the cutesy Disney stories, but gory, dark warning of the dangers of everyday life.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An fun and fast-paced retelling of Red Riding Hood, although this isn't the passive Red Riding Hood who gets rescued by the wood cutter, but a tough kick-ass Red who can take care of herself and even more. From the other reviews, there's a bit of discussion that this book has gone too far. I see things a bit differently.The issue is that Red uses her supernatural abilities as a vigilante to purge the world of guys who are predators against women. One of the side effects of Red's supernatural ability is that on a full moon, she can detect men who will be violent against women because their true predator nature appears and so she kills them before they hurt another woman. So it seems like some people dislike this part of the book because she takes justice in her own hands and punishes these evil spawn rather than bring them to justice. But the book also describes how many men get away with beating women, date rape, etc. And although I don't condone vigilantism the whole plot is not that different from other superhero stories where the heroine destroys villains. The only exception is that the evil acts are crimes against women that often go unpunished. So it makes me wonder if we are so used to casting a blind eye to infractions that men inflict on women, that it shocks us when these criminals get punished.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was a very disturbing book because I found it in the teen section and I really believe that it’s too mature for teens. This content, imho, is much better suited to adult women. I read this book in the same way I’d drive by an accident scene; trying not to look but being unable to stop. There were passages that just had me gobsmacked by their brutally honest description. I’ve never heard menstruation described in quite so much detail before. Overall, I was annoyed by the second person narration and I really think the intended audience is not clearly defined since the cover REALLY looks like it’s a YA book and I don’t think it is. I don’t feel like I can give it a fair rating so I chose not to rate it. This is a book meant for adult discussion.

[sennebec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The beginning of this story is likely to deter some librarians from considering adding it to their collections. That would be a huge mistake. This is an audacious, gutsy story about predators and how a girl and her grandmother deal with them. It's riveting, unsettling, nearly impossible to stop reading and is going to find a lot of teen girls nodding as they see themselves and, sadly their friends in it. Chops to Elana for outing incels, a nasty trait in some males and one that I suspect few teens have heard. This is violent, graphic and deserving of being in every library where relevant fiction for teens is valued.

[krau0098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book, I received a copy from Edelweiss for review. Story (5/5): Okay, at first when I started this I wondered what I had gotten myself into...this is marketed as YA but has very adult descriptions of blood, gore, sex acts, and some brutal bullying. There is definitely a heavy theme of both strong women and how society has constantly subdued women throughout the ages. This book really makes you think, even as is draws you into a very visceral story of friendship, family, and what happens to boys that just go wrong. The boys turning into wolves seems to be both a magical and metaphorical thing throughout this story. I also loved all the parallels between this and Little Red Riding Hood as well as other fairy tales.Characters (5/5): I loved Bisou's character, she is brave and fierce in a quiet way. I loved her sweet boyfriend and her lonely, yet strong, Aunt who takes care of her. I also loved the troubled and strong girls/woman Bisou ends up befriending.Setting (4/5): This book is set in a contemporary small town setting and in the woods surrounding that town. The setting was well done but not the focus of the story. Writing Style (5/5): The deeper I got into this book, the more I was impressed by Arnold's writing style and the way she didn't flinch from anything. I could not put this down and was completely invested in this book very quickly.Summary (5/5): Overall this was an incredibly intense read that was brutal and not all comfortable to read. However, it was also thought-provoking, engaging, and absolutely masterfully written. I loved it and plan on picking up more of Arnold's books. First I think I will pick up Damsel, which I know garnered a lot of controversy for a number of reasons. It's so refreshing to run across an author that is so unflinching, so artistically talented, and not scared to cut right to the heart of things.