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Red

Alison Cherry (Goodreads Author)

3.51 · Rating details · 1,515 Ratings · 318 Reviews

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 ...more

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Hardcover, First, 320 pages

Published October 8th 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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Jun 14, 2013 Giselle added it

Shelves: arc, ebook

This book is a joke, right?

No.

DNF

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Dec 20, 2013 Ellis rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: almost-sexy-times, arc-galley, at-my-own-risk, barf-meh-shrug, because-logic-is-overrated, genre-contemporary, damn-you-need-to-finish-tendencies, disappointing-execution, du-fromage, fluff-fest

Upon finishing:

Um.

But seriously, how did this book not end with Felicity being sent to The School of Basic Human Decency?

The review:

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Red might have been awesome if it had been told in the perspective of Gabby, the main antagonist, or Ivy, one of Felicity's best friends who - in her own way - is also opposed to the Scarletville ideology. Both characters possess enough scepticism to challenge the society they live in. This is crucial, because while Red is supposed to be a satire, it absolutely doesn't read like one. It is grotesque, but not grotesque enough to successfully work as satire. It is grotesque in its silliness. I never really could get over the ridiculous concept and that is because Red is written as if we're supposed to take this reality seriously. Even worse, we are supposed to sympathise with Felicity, one of the most TSTL and aggravating characters I've ever had the displeasure reading about.

The problem is that I couldn't even enjoy this book on a basic, literal level. The Miss Scarlet pageant supposedly is the life-defining event Felicity works up to. For such an important occasion, it is significantly absent for most of the novel. She gets nominated, she goes dress-shopping, she learns her tap dance routine and she participates in the pageant. The rest is high school, rumours, everyday drama and blackmail, but related in such a dull way that I repeatedly considering DNFing. Felicity could go on and on about her best friends, Ivy and Haylie, but these two character felt more like ideas than genuine characters. Haylie is the redhead who fully believes everything Scarletville stands for. Moreover, if she got the opportunity, she'd immediately accept being the town's official mascot. Ivy, on the other hand, couldn't care less about the pageant or Scarletville's ideals. While her disapproval is occasionally touched upon, her reluctance to comply remains very tentative. Neither read as an actual character to me.

Read the rest on The Random Transliterator. ...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Wendy Darling marked it as dnf

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction, october, 2013-publication, rh

DNF after one chapter. This premise is just a little too zany for me, and the story feels almost better suited for a middle grade book.

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Jul 29, 2012 Claire Legrand rated it it was amazing

If Mean Girls and Drop Dead Gorgeous had a hilarious, sassy lovechild who, beneath all that sassy hilarity, had a lot of heart and compassion for the hidden misfits among us who go to any lengths to fit in, no matter how soul-crushing . . . it would be this book.

RED made me laugh and made me think, and was at times surprisingly suspenseful. Also, I read almost the entire thing in one sitting! That hardly ever happens for me. Compulsively readable, compulsively likeable, with characters you can't ...more

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Nov 17, 2013 Cora ☕ Tea Party Princess rated it it was ok

Shelves: humour, net-galley, realism, romance, young-adult, ya-contemporary

5 Words: Clever, teen, drama, high school, blackmail.

I can't say that I 100% enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and I loved that it was a witty piece of social commentary and liked the way it was presented, but it just wasn't quite my cup of tea.

I'm not really such a fan of high-school dramas. Been there, done that, it's never like the books. Yeah, there was bitching and blackmail and bullying, but books always seem to make it so over-the-top dramatic.

This is quite a summery book - it's just ...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Krys rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, debut-2013, stand-alone, state-iowa, twins, third-person-narrative, read-in-2013, fiction

Red is a 2013 debut young adult novel by Alison Cherry; the first debut that I have read this year. It features a small town in Iowa called Scarletville, where the denizens are largely redheads and proud of it. In fact the Redhead populace are lauded for the genetic blessings in such a way that the townsfolk spurns all other appearances and ethnicities (of which there is a diversity of this - you're either white and redhead, or white and not a redhead). It's not good to live in Scarletville unle

Red is a 2013 debut young adult novel by Alison Cherry; the first debut that I have read this year. It features a small town in Iowa called Scarletville, where the denizens are largely redheads and proud of it. In fact the Redhead populace are lauded for the genetic blessings in such a way that the townsfolk spurns all other appearances and ethnicities (of which there is a diversity of this - you're either white and redhead, or white and not a redhead). It's not good to live in Scarletville unless you have the goods.

Felicity has the goods, or so everybody thinks. She's a natural Strawbie, a pejorative term in the town for anyone that is a strawberry blonde, the lowest of the low on the "red cred" totem pole. Felicity's mother, Ginger, is a proud redhead and a former beauty queen in the town's annual pageant, Miss Scarlet. Felicity was a runner up for the junior pageant, Miss Ruby Red, and her mother has been grooming her to be in the pageant since she was two year's old, when she started dying her hair in secret at the town's clandestine beauty parlour Rouge-o-rama. Ginger would never settle for giving birth to a Strawbie, after all.

Felicity lives in terror of being discovered, of her social status being nil. The only thing worse than being a Strawbie (or a blonde, or a brunette) is being an Artie - a person who dies their hair to fake their social appeal. She has the perfect boyfriend (Brent, a football playing Auburn) and two best redhead friends, Ivy and Haylie, but the pageant turns Felicity's life on its head. Someone knows that she is an Artie and is blackmailing her and threatens to ruin everything Felicity has been working towards. She needs that money to escape Scarletville and study Art in college. Will she be able to survive such torment to achieve her goals?

For the record, Felicity has the worst first world problems I have ever read in YA. She expends a lot of time and energy focusing on her hair, on what this decision will do to her "Red cred" or that conversation with a non-redhead will do to her life. She pines for art school and a life away from Scarletville but she has no idea how to change things. Her life, at 16 years of age, seems grounded in Scarletville and nothing else can get her away from the dresses and the routines and the shine of being a pageant girl. It reminds me of people who grow up in abusive households; they do not realize how extensive the abuse is until they step outside of it and see it for a distance for some time. Then they realize just how insane their life is/was... that is Felicity, to a tee.

At times I found this novel absolutely brilliant... when I thought it might be satire. It reminds me of Heathers in a way that I adore. But, it could be sharper and the scenes could have more contrast to them. I never bought the conflict of the story. I never related to Felicity. Worrying about "fitting in" or "being popular" has never been a concern of mine, even in high school (when it should have been). It's hard to fall into someone's world when their vapidity burgeons into straight up bigotry. I understand that this is the point of the novel, a town so bigoted they cannot see past their own Titian red tresses. But, and this is a strong but, that doesn't make it an enjoyable book from a Humanist stand point. I fear I was reading far too much into it. But, if it's a parody of small town life, and small town bigotry (as I suspect it is) than it didn't go far enough. Plain and simple.

There were moments when I loved this book - Felicity's relationship with her friends, particularly tom boy iconoclast Ivy (who is one of the big reasons I kept reading). Her alliance with the art golden boy, Jonathan, was also a large driving force behind why I finished this novel. Having studied Fine Art as my major in college (painters for the win!) I fell in very naturally to the scenes set in the studio and galleries, where Jonathan and Felicity's personalities really shone. The build up of their romance made me very happy as well.

...But it missed the mark. So, for that, I am giving it 3 out of 5 stars. I wished it was better (for me), but when I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it very much. So there's that.

- Review courtesy of www.bibliopunkkreads.com ...more

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Sep 27, 2013 Megan rated it liked it

I don't know what I was expecting when I opened RED on my Kindle and started reading. Maybe I was expecting the wrong thing, or maybe I was just confused by how the subject was handled, but I went in expecting something akin to a deconstruction of race relations under the guise of hair color. Instead, I got a rather inane story - that I still liked, that I still thought was cute, that I still enjoyed - about a girl in a strange town where red hair is held high above all, who is hiding the fact t I don't know what I was expecting when I opened RED on my Kindle and started reading. Maybe I was expecting the wrong thing, or maybe I was just confused by how the subject was handled, but I went in expecting something akin to a deconstruction of race relations under the guise of hair color. Instead, I got a rather inane story - that I still liked, that I still thought was cute, that I still enjoyed - about a girl in a strange town where red hair is held high above all, who is hiding the fact that she's not a true redhead at all.

While RED isn't a ground breaking story that explores the depths of prejudice and racism, it is a cute, fun young adult title about what it means to be yourself in the face of adversity. Plus, it gave me flashbacks of Drop Dead Gorgeous, but maybe I just really like beauty pageant satire.

YOUNGER TEENS REJOICE

A few days ago I posted a discussion about the rise of extremely dark young adult fiction with graphic violence, sexy sex, and just plain darkness. Well, younger teens and readers of all ages who aren't into that kind of thing, rejoice - RED is the book for you. It's light, airy, and definitely a book for people who don't want violence and sex, just a heavy dose of backstabbing and good old teenage antics. RED follows Felicity, a girl groomed from birth to be Miss Scarlet, Scarletville Iowa's answer to Miss America for redheads only. Felicity has the reddest hair in school, but surprise - she's really a strawbie, the lowest of lows unless you're blond or brunette, in which case you automatically suck.

The story reads more middle grade than young adult at times, and Felicity's situations are more akin to what a tween might experience than a real adult. Then again, this story wasn't really deep in any way. It's about a girl who has a secret and doesn't like her airhead boyfriend, while she dreams of being an artist, while her mother insists that her sole purpose in life is to be a redhead (really, I didn't get her mother or like her, and while she has eyes for a non-redhead boy who would ruin her red cred (really, that term is used) if people found out they liked one another.

NO COMMENT

I think what I was expecting was a deep tale about a girl living in a dystopian world where redheads are the chosen class. Sadly, this was a contemporary novel about a town where being a redhead was akin to being the chosen race. It's not very plausible, and even the explanations to show why it should make sense don't make sense. These girls are raised from birth to have one real feature - beautiful red hair. They go to classes that include The History of Redheadedness. Like that'll really get you into college - except in Scarletville, it seems like your only choice in colleges is the community college in town. You never leave Scarletville, it seems.

Wait, was this really dystopian?

Well, one of the biggest parts of the novel that peeved me was the ending, where our heroine has the chance to make a stand, and doesn't. She basically burns every bridge in her life and makes no attempt at anything except to leave. I wish there had been something deeper to this novel, some kind of a moral, but it just felt like a silly story about a very implausible town, very implausible events, and a very implausible girl who needed a bigger wakeup call than being blackmailed by a non-redhead.

VERDICT: RED is ultimately a forgettable novel that doesn't make any real comment on anything, only serving as a pseudo-dystopian tale about a city too preoccupied by redheads to realize how silly they sound, and a girl too caught up in her own life to realize her own foolishness.
...more

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Oct 09, 2014 Wealhtheow rated it did not like it

Shelves: ya

Felicity is a popular pageant contestant, but she harbors a dark and terrible secret--she dyes her hair red. In Scarletville, redheads are the only people that matter. Felicity is on the cusp of achieving her mother's greatest dream: being crowned Miss Scarlet. But then a classmate discovers her secret and begins blackmailing her. The blackmail starts small and escalates, and Felicity feels increasingly trapped. She can't tell her friends what's going on, and her boyfriend is a lunkhead. Her onl ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Trisha rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-physical, a-z-challenge-2017

Actual rating: 3.5

I did like this one. I like the odd town - that red heads are so loved and so glorified. It gave the idea that a trait, like hair or eye color or skin color, could make you a different person. I loved how silly it made it seem - because it's so true.

But I also love that the characters are people. You don't necessarily like Felicity but you can see her POV. You don't necessarily hate Gabby, Haylie, Ivy, Brent, Cassie or any other character in the story but they aren't perfect. T ...more

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May 22, 2013 Angela rated it really liked it

Shelves: awwwwwwwwwwww, ebooks, didn-t-expect-to-like-it-so-much, are-you-freaking-serious, why-are-the-people-so-stupid, not-what-i-expected, read-2014, finished-in-one-day

You know those books where you find the synopsis utterly ridiculous? But you have to read just to see if the book is actually joke or not? I seriously thought this book was a big joke when I first read the summery. Red hair gets you the golden pass in life? wHAT. it's so ridiculous I had to read it. I was SO ready to give a full blown rant about how this book was stupid. Welllll, I guess now I can't. Because it wasn't, and it took me by one hell of a surprise. I actually ended up enjoying this a You know those books where you find the synopsis utterly ridiculous? But you have to read just to see if the book is actually joke or not? I seriously thought this book was a big joke when I first read the summery. Red hair gets you the golden pass in life? wHAT. it's so ridiculous I had to read it. I was SO ready to give a full blown rant about how this book was stupid. Welllll, I guess now I can't. Because it wasn't, and it took me by one hell of a surprise. I actually ended up enjoying this a lot, but had a few issues still.

(below is how I, ANGELA, comprehended this book. it might be off, it might be beside the point, heck, it might be even completely wrong but it's okay.)

To me, I think is book is still more or less a joke. The concept, at least. The meaning and message is NOT a joke, but it uses the red hair as a way to convey this message. At first you might think, WTF. Red hair? A town that loves red hair? If you got it, flaunt it. It gets you places, in this town. Front of the line and all sorts of other discriminatory luxury things. What even.

The red hair might just represent how beauty, or other skin deep attributes and how humans are twisting those attributes to be worth more than they are. I mean, red hair is great, but you don't just give the power to those who have red hair. Or beauty, for example. If you got the "ideal" traits (which is pretty much bullshit), humans automatically place them above others who do not. I'm not getting into a discussion about what is "beauty" and the meaning it. I'm not. And I won't.

In Scarletville, everyone who has red hair is respected. Felicity has gorgeous, coppery red hair so she is also popular, has great friends, a hot boyfriend and is on her way to win the pageant. When you just read what I wrote, is it not ridiculous? Now, let's compare it to something else like high school. Everyone has those popular girls in their school, am I right? And what do all those girls have in common? Their freaking looks. Most of them all are pretty. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I'm not saying that all pretty people are "popular", it all depends on the person. They've got lots of "friends", boyfriends, gets invited to all the parties, etc. This doesn't mean they are good people, it just means their looks make people "like" them more than their personality. Which is pretty much very goddamn screwed up.

We might have paid attention to this before, but perhaps we didn't think about how stupid it is. Your LOOKS, determine your social standing in life. Um, what? Okay maybe not life. I'm still young, I don't know what is life yet. Let's still stick to high school for now. I'm not saying that this is always the case, because it's not. It's not, so DONT GET THE WRONG IDEA. But it is, for a lot of cases and it's totally irrational. It's ridiculous. It is, isn't it? Now is it such a big joke that the people in Scarletville treasure red hair, and place them high on their undeserving pedestal? Maybe not.

It's stupid, and illogical and I think maybe the author is trying to get us to realize that through this book. We don't realize how idiotic it is, but this book does a wonderful job of shedding some light on this subject. WAIT. Maybe, I am wrong. Maybe the author and none of the crap I just wrote in mind while writing and it's just about a town who loves red hair. Maybe. Maybe not.

Besides all those opinions I shared above (I'm kinda cookoo sometimes), this book is addicting. It's surprisingly suspenseful, agonizing and made me realize how shallow I am. I REALLY NEED TO START WORKING ON THAT. It's interesting and kept me reading till I finished. The book includes a lot of stereotypes, some annoying characters who were so damn stupid but overall is enjoyable. The romance wasn't heavy, kind of a background thing going on. It was cute, but the story wasn't centred on it so it wasn't overwhelming.

*please do not get offended by my use of "beauty" above. don't try to talk to me about deep philosophical shit about what beauty means and I didn't consider it and how I used the example of it wrong because beauty comes from within blah blah blah don't. don't. I'm only speaking of it in the relative sense, so use your common sense and don't argue about what is beauty because I am not in the mood.*

Give this book a try. Let it enlighten you. :3 ...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it did not like it

Shelves: arc

Alison Cherry’s Red was among my most-anticipated books of 2013. The concept sounded hilarious and Alison’s tweets and blog posts always made me laugh. How could this possibly go wrong? Clearly, I need to stop thinking this way, because while Red was certainly a quick read, but sadly not a good one.

Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.

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Nov 02, 2012 Rose rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-or-galley, contemporary, fantasy, great-premise-lacking-execution, netgalley, pretty-cover, quick-read, romance, young-adult, a-to-z-ya-challenge-2014

Initial reaction: Extraordinarily cliche and cheese, but parts of it managed to be entertaining. I didn't love it or hate it, but I think it could've established the satire much better than what it did for the themes it wanted to touch on. And there was a part of me that thought Felicity could've stepped up to the plate far more than she did.

Full review:

Ooh, what to say about Alison Cherry's "Red"? I'll admit that I was actually curious to read the galley for this title for a long time. The cove ...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Miss Bookiverse rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: f-ebook, xx-better-than-expected, ge-contemporary-fiction, age-ya, t-dramarama, read-in-my-20s

Ich gebe es ja zu: das Buch klingt unglaublich albern. Eine Stadt, in der Haare nur heimlich in einem Hochsicherheitsfrisörsalon gefärbt werden können, damit auf keinen Fall jemand herausfindet, dass man gar kein echter Rotschopf ist. Eine Schule, in der Brünette und Blonde an den schlechtesten Cafeteriatischen sitzen und keine Chance haben je Ballkönigin oder -könig zu werden. Alles nur wegen der falschen Haarfarbe. Bescheuert oder?
Schon, aber so wie Alison Cherry es beschreibt, funktioniert’s. ...more

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Nov 04, 2013 Alise (Readers in Wonderland) rated it it was ok

I was not entirely impressed with RED, even going in with relatively low expectations. I was expecting a fun, light novel but this one was a little too cliquey and middle grade for me. There is a great moral and life lesson attached though, which was RED’s redeeming quality.

RED takes place in the town of Scarletville, where, you guessed it-everyone who is anyone is redheaded. Felicity has the most coveted hair in the whole town, and is revered by her fellow redheads. The only problem is Felicity ...more

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Apr 11, 2017 Reading is my Escape rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, read-2017, realistic-fiction, young-adult

Red - Audiobook review
Interesting premise: in the town of Scarletville, having red hair is all that matters. Felicity is popular and she has it all. She has gorgeous red hair, loyal best friends, a hot boyfriend, artistic talent, and it looks like she will win the Miss Scarlet pagent. But then she receives an anonymous note. Someone knows her secret: she dyes her hair, and has been doing it her whole life. It's her junior year in high school, and if anyone finds out she's a fake, she could los ...more

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Oct 08, 2012 eileen rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary

Check out more of my reviews at ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***!

I expected to love Red way more than I did. Unfortunately, although it was a somewhat addicting read, I couldn't get past the shallow stereotyping of this town and how ignorant everybody was.

Our main character Felicity had been harboring a secret for seventeen years of her life: she dyed her hair to the perfect shade of red. In Scarletville, that was a pretty big scandal, and there was even a demeaning term for these types of Check out more of my reviews at ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***!

I expected to love Red way more than I did. Unfortunately, although it was a somewhat addicting read, I couldn't get past the shallow stereotyping of this town and how ignorant everybody was.

Our main character Felicity had been harboring a secret for seventeen years of her life: she dyed her hair to the perfect shade of red. In Scarletville, that was a pretty big scandal, and there was even a demeaning term for these types of people—arties. A majority of Red was spent with Felicity in a mad panic over how she had to protect this shocking secret, and I honestly didn't understand it. The entire population of Scarletville discriminated against brunettes and strawberry blondes—artfully named strawbies—which I found to be so shallow and stereotypical. How on Earth could this town have survived seventy-five years without one redhead taking a stand? They seemed to be in their own little world, separated from everybody else, not-so-silently judging everybody. It wouldn't have bothered me if all of the redheads were favored above everybody else.

The blondes and brunettes were picked on constantly, and if a redhead cut in line, it was okay. A redhead was shown favor over a blonde when it came to picking spots on a team or in the Miss Scarlet Pageant. To put it bluntly: the redheads were put on a pedestal and had no concept of treating other people who weren't redheads equally. What kind of parent would willingly put their son or daughter in that position? I would never want my future child raised in a place where there was so much prejudice against people simply for their hair color. It's okay to have a town centralized with redheads, but the complete audacity of those redheads to expect special treatment definitely rubbed me the wrong way. And when Felicity and her friends Haylie and Ivy went shopping outside of Scarletville, Haylie automatically expected to be allowed to the front of the line for the dressing rooms, cutting past a blonde who said something along the lines of, "Those Scarletville redheads think they're better than everybody else" after telling Haylie to wait, which was so true I wanted to high five her.

Speaking of outside society, Red explored a topic where the town was so isolated that Felicity was literally in shock over the fact that a town outside of hers willingly dyed their hair and that there were hair salons that dyed hair outside of Scarletville. That was just another clue that the entire town was skewed and that all of the redheads inhabiting Scarletville were so sheltered and used to being treated like they were gold. Felicity, no matter how much she irked me as a character for being so obsessive about her hair, did earn my sympathy by the end because she did start to realize things like how people were proud of their dyed hair in neighboring towns. Most of the characters were really shallow, as was expected, and that was where most of my annoyance stemmed. There is a fine line between portraying accurate characters based off of their environment and creating characters that just added to the town's bad reputation as a whole. Unfortunately, most of the characters did end up on the wrong side of the spectrum. The two characters I even remotely liked was Ivy, for doing what she wanted, and Jonathan, for being so accepting.

Overall, I couldn't find it in me to enjoy Red by Alison Cherry. The town's overall demeanor was way too much for me and I couldn't look past the extremities of their prejudices and biases. ...more

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Jan 04, 2014 Danielle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Read more reviews at What Danielle Did Next

3.5 Stars

RED was a fun, cute, quick read with an entertaining albeit slightly ludicrous plot and a strong moral message that I enjoyed.

Felicity has it all, living in Scarletville, the world's only Redhead Sanctuary, she is popular, well liked, dating the hottest guy in school and a shoo-in for the upcoming Miss Scarlet pageant. Life should be perfect but Felicity is hiding a scandalous secret...she may benefit from the privilege of being a redhead but Read more reviews at What Danielle Did Next

3.5 Stars

RED was a fun, cute, quick read with an entertaining albeit slightly ludicrous plot and a strong moral message that I enjoyed.

Felicity has it all, living in Scarletville, the world's only Redhead Sanctuary, she is popular, well liked, dating the hottest guy in school and a shoo-in for the upcoming Miss Scarlet pageant. Life should be perfect but Felicity is hiding a scandalous secret...she may benefit from the privilege of being a redhead but gasp! she is living a lie and really her hair is a shade closer to reddish blonde, dark enough to be called "carrots" anywhere else in the world but in Scarletville is a one way ticket to the back of the line and a life as a second class citizen. When Felicity receives an ominous note revealing that someone knows her secret Felicity knows her world could come crashing down at any minute. Will she bend to peer pressure or will she stand and challenge the status quo?

I went into RED with a slight air of trepidation as reviews appeared to range widely however I have to say I found it fun, fresh and cute. I will say I think this book is more suited to be classed as MG and as such I read it with that in mind which I think helped me to enjoy it more as I was willing to overlook the fact that Scarletville was not set in some strange, dark and forbidding dystopia where redheads are an endangered species (which would have been tons of fun) but instead was simply a town in a contemporary novel that lauded those with a ruby hue.

Despite the “out there” premise, the main plot of the story was one that I connected with and I sympathised with Felicity and her dilemma. I liked Felicity as a character, continuously pushed by her mother to fit a certain mould and always show the face that pleases those who are considered important rather than being allowed to embrace her individualism and pursue her own dreams. One scene that really got to me was when Felicity was discussing her future and it was clear it never occurred to her that it could and should be possible for her to develop her skills in art, her passion, rather than simply settling for the local school. Constantly badgered to play a part rather than be herself meant that when the initial threat of exposure is revealed to her she cannot comprehend this being anything other than a disaster. Felicity’s mother Ginger infuriated me and I willed for Felicity to stand up to her and demand to be allowed to experience her own happiness rather than having to fulfil Ginger’s hopes and dreams and be her meal ticket.

Because of the slightly younger feel to the text it was unfortunate that the themes of prejudice were never fully developed however I adored the message to be true to yourself, that marching to the beat of your own drum is never easy but is worth it. Happiness is something that is hard earned when there are people in the shadows ready to try and steal it from you but it is something that when embraced from within rather than sought from outside sources can flourish in the most unlikely of ways.

I particularly loved the characters Ivy and Jonathan. Both have accepted their differences and won’t sacrifice their truth for anyone and it was heartening to see at times particularly when Felicity was struggling to keep everyone happy.

Overall I think RED is an assured debut with interesting characters, a cute storyline and a positive message to remain true to yourself in the face of adversity.
...more

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Nov 20, 2013 Sarah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2013, r2r-complete, read-with-abbie

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Quercus books and Netgalley.)
Felicity lives in Scarletville, a place where redheads are revered. Felicity has envious red hair, but would die if anyone knew that it was only red due to frequent trips to a top-secret salon.
When someone discovers Felicity’s secret, and begins to blackmail her, Felicity sees no choice other than to give in to her blackmailer, even if it means being made to look a fool.
Who ...more

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Jul 30, 2013 Thalia rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, gpoy, shipping-it

This is yet another book I initially read about a year and a half ago, but since I remember enjoying it, I decided to reread it so I could review it better. To my relief, despite lower-rated reviews I read from friends, I found that I still enjoyed Red for all its goofiness and craziness.

The second I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I needed to have it. I’ve been dying my hair a coppery red since I was fifteen, and it’s actually astounding how many people feel slightly betrayed when they ...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Christina Farley added it

Here's my review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUeZIg...

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Dec 07, 2013 Michael Jones rated it it was amazing

Scarletville, Iowa, bills itself as a National Redhead Sanctuary. Indeed, it’s a town where the vast majority of the populace are redheads. A town where gingers are worshipped, and the redder the better. Where strawberry blondes are disparagingly referred to as “strawbies” and looked down on as “not red enough.” Where those who dye their hair to fit in are dubbed “arties” and outright ostracized for their false redness. It’s the town’s dirty little secret, that blondes and brunettes are shunned, ...more

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Jun 25, 2018 Bethany rated it liked it · review of another edition

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

Red is a smart, entertaining book about a teen girl living in a town where everyone (well, everyone that matters) is a redhead and social capital is based on how red your hair is. But Felicity has a secret: her beautiful red hair is actually dyed *gasp*. When someone finds out the truth and begins blackmailing her, everything is turned upside down and she must grapple with who she really is.

This was a quick, light read and the plot is somewhat predictable, but it was sti ...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Leigh Collazo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: summer-session-to-read-list, best-of-2013, pub-date-2013, net-galley, read-in-2013

More reviews at Mrs. ReaderPants.

REVIEW: One part Stepford Wives and one part Mean Girls, Red is a fresh, funny, creative story that highlights society's prejudices. While much of the story takes place at the local high school, the prejudice and discrimination against non-reds heavily infiltrates the entire community. Hair dye is not permitted, and the local colorist has to hide her salon with a series of clandestine elevators, secret passcodes, and strategically-located broom closets. These peo ...more

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Sep 20, 2014 Amy rated it did not like it

Shelves: what-might-have-been, awful

Red reminded me of Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone: The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival. Not that the books are at all similar, but my reaction to them has been. They are both odd, slightly disturbing plots with extremely memorable premises that left me confused and with a feeling of disquiet. Except I came to appreciate Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone and I learned it was apparently an allegory or something like that. I don't think that will happen with Red.
Unless there is a more Red reminded me of Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone: The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival. Not that the books are at all similar, but my reaction to them has been. They are both odd, slightly disturbing plots with extremely memorable premises that left me confused and with a feeling of disquiet. Except I came to appreciate Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone and I learned it was apparently an allegory or something like that. I don't think that will happen with Red.
Unless there is a more subtle, interesting sub-plot than the obvious one of discrimination, this book is basically what you see is what you get. And I am kind of disappointed with what I got.
The writing engaged me at first but remained fairly teenybopper throughout. The overall premise - a "sanctuary" for redheads - was extremely clever. As a redhead, there was no way I was not going to give this book a try.
Unfortunately, it never quite transcends the YA genre into something interesting or worth reading. Felicity St. John, our intrepid heroine, is extraordinarily shallow and uninteresting. I found it difficult to relate or like her. I don't think she ever shows much depth, even during her big climax. Her friends are equally uninteresting, except Ivy who was awesome and almost got this book an extra star just for being awesome. However, I would probably take that star away for Felicity's Mom, whose motivation was totally confusing.
Once into the story line, the plot was predictable. The romance was unbelievable and annoying. Plus, soap box here, I can't stand heroines who compromise their own values for popularity, or in this case, "red cred." Felicity dates a guy she "isn't it love with" because he is the guy everyone wants to date. And he really isn't that bad...or he is? The author can't seem to make up her mind. Sweet but dumb? Cruel and discriminatory? Jealous and...? I don't even know anymore. He had no real motivation. And...sigh. Abstinence, people. Please. Why do YA novels feel the need to throw in sex scenes, or almost sex scenes? Even if in this case "nothing happened", the author still had to go there. Just, urg.
Anyway.
What took this book from being merely a mediocre, 2 star teeny-bopper read (besides the weird, discriminatory, arbitrary world it is set in) to a 1 star failure is the treatment of its main topic: redheads. There is something unique about being "red". Redhead Days in Chicago was one of the most memorable experiences of my life - there were redheads, everywhere! My sister and I went up to total strangers and took pictures with everyone. It was so cool. There were shared stories and emotions and an overall sense of what it meant to have this odd, mutant, recessive gene. I think this book had the potential to capture that emotion. But it doesn't.
Substitute "Scarletville" with "Blondville" or "Brunetteville" and it really doesn't matter. Nothing about this story line makes it unique to redheads. Maybe that is because this book is supposed to be a commentary on discrimination or something but it is too over the top to work. It falls flat and awkward.
It wasn't that I expected my new favorite book (I did, after all, read the description), I just thought Red would offer something more. Something deeper or more relatable. Instead I got a mediocre at best novel with unlikely characters and a pretty typical YA romance. Girl Online has a challenger for biggest disappointment of 2016. ...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Princess Bookie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read2013, 2013-debut-challenge, a-net-g

My Thoughts: Oh how I enjoyed this one. When I started it, I wasn't sure I would! We are introduced to Felicity who has red hair, or at least everyone thinks so. See, Felicity is from a town called Scarletville where everyone adores redheads. They get royalty treatment. There are so many redheads that they are in control. HEHE. Since everyone thinks Felicity is a redhead too she’s popular and everyone likes her.

Felicity’s mom has been grooming her whole life for the Miss Scarlet pageant. Not onl ...more

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Dec 13, 2013 Charli - To Another World rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Read this review and many others at To Another World!

Author: Alison Cherry
Publisher: Quercus (UK)
Date of Publication: January 2nd
Pages: 320
Source: eARC via Netgalley
Goodreads | Amazon

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley via Quercus in exchange for a honest review. This does not affect my review/opinions in any way.

Ever since I heard about Red on Twitter, I was really excited about it, so when I was approved a copy, I read it immediately! Although it didn't really sound like my ty ...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Farah Jay rated it really liked it

In Scarletville, Red is what matters. Redheads are considered as royals, and brunettes and blondes are frowned upon. Redheads have privileges, while others don't. Felicity St. John has the perfect life. She's pretty, has amazing friends, and a hot boyfriend who every girl is drooling over. Felicity's mother, who also happens to be the manager of the Miss Scarlet pageant, is obsessed into preparing her daughter to win the pageant. In truth, Felicity doesn't even want all that, because in truth, s In Scarletville, Red is what matters. Redheads are considered as royals, and brunettes and blondes are frowned upon. Redheads have privileges, while others don't. Felicity St. John has the perfect life. She's pretty, has amazing friends, and a hot boyfriend who every girl is drooling over. Felicity's mother, who also happens to be the manager of the Miss Scarlet pageant, is obsessed into preparing her daughter to win the pageant. In truth, Felicity doesn't even want all that, because in truth, she's all fake. It's pretty shocking, but it's true. Felicity's mother has been dying Felicity's strawberry blonde hair bright red all her life. No one knows her secret, and if anyone does find out, she'll be known as a "strawbie" and will be at the lower class.
Reading this sounded a bit childish. Like, who would discriminate against hair color? It's just HAIR, but that's not the point. Looking at the bigger picture, this book shows how you aren't supposed to change who you are just to please others. Through this book, Felicity gets blackmailed into doing things because someone found out her secret. She sacrificed a lot, and I just thought that it wasn't worth all the hard work. Felicity was a great character to read about. Her mother, Ginger, was a really annoying character who just wanted to shape her daughter the way she wanted. I just felt like chocking Ginger, because how can she not see that this isn't what her daughter is passionate about? The plot of the story was great, and it was really interesting to see what Felicity would do every time she gets another note from her blackmailer.
Overall, this wasn't a fun contemporary, but it was definitely a great read. Gives a great message to all those teenagers out there. Do what you love, and don't let anyone decide anything for you. Not only that, but this book also shows that each and every person is equal. We shouldn't care weather that person is a "redhead" or a "blonde". In the end, I loved the book, and I was definitely rooting for Felicity throughout the whole time. Will definitely be looking out for Alison Cherry's future books! ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 A Canadian Girl rated it liked it

Shelves: 2013, delacorte, 3-stars

When I first saw the summary of Red by Alison Cherry, I thought it sounded like a weirdly interesting read. Only after I read Red did I realize that it’s a satire. If you substitute being redheaded for different cultural ideals of beauty, you quickly see that it’s not just in the fictional town of Scarletville that some people have a higher status than others based on some absurd criteria.

In terms of the characters, I found it easy to empathize with Felicity because her mom is one of those pare ...more

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Nov 20, 2013 Abbie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-to-review

(I received a copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review)

Actual rating - 2.5

Red was an okay story, but it started to get boring at around 30%.
I kept on waiting for something to happen, but nothing did until near the end.

Felicity annoyed me at times, but not as much as her mum.
I really couldn't stand her.

The notes in Red reminded me a little bit of Pretty Little Liars, but they were less dramatic.

There was a couple of things that didn't really make sense.
How did Felicity have shiny ...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Amy Parker added it

This book was a fun, engaging read. I love the concept of a red head sanctuary and the idea of clandestine dye jobs. What impressed me most was the way Alison dealt with deeper social/class type issues in a new and creative way. Very well done. Tightly plotted, well-paced with sharp and funny lines that I'm still mulling over.

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About Alison Cherry

Alison Cherry

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Alison grew up in Evanston, IL. She is a professional photographer and spent many years working as a lighting designer for theater, opera, and dance. Now she lives in Brooklyn and writes young adult novels full time. She is represented by the lovely and amazing Holly Root of Root Literary.

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