Do you ever have that moment where someone recommends something to you and it just changes everything? A new coffee place that has the best mochas. An old film you might have heard of in passing, but now can’t stop watching. Just some serendipitous circumstance that gives you such good feelings.
Love is Red is my serendipity. I read it in one sitting. I cannot remember the last time I was so completely enthralled with a book that I’ve neglected everything else to read it. Up until it was put into my hands, I had no clue it even existed.
Hannah Wood, associate editor at Harper, reached out to me about the book. Normally, I’m pretty knowledgeable about books coming out, but this one wasn’t even on my radar. The cover reminds me of a YA novel, which isn’t a genre I read often, and admittedly, I was skeptical. I couldn’t exactly nail down the genre, but that’s really part of the beauty of the book. It’s not just one thing. It’s fantasy. It’s thriller. It’s romance. It’s horror.
And it’s good. Real good.
Katherine Emerson is just a woman living in New York City, a woman who is unknowingly part of a pretty serious prophecy. TRIGGER WARNING: When a serial killer, known as the Sickle Man begins leaving women carved up with all manner of symbols, the entire city becomes trapped in this grip of fear. But this murderer isn’t a mere man and he’s only after one goal: Katherine.
However, he has to wait. Katherine has to become red. She has to be in love. Emotions correspond to colors. Anticipation. Desperation. Panic. The killer must collect color after color, waiting for Katherine’s red. And that’s all I’m going to tell you, because my enjoyment of this book rested heavily on the mystery of Katherine & her relationship with the killer.
The book alternates between three sorts of chapters. Katherine’s POV, the Sickle Man, and what I’ll call “the book.”
Katherine is funny and likable. There was never a time when I felt annoyed to be part of her thoughts; I tend to shy away from first-person for that reason. The chapters of “the book” were a wonderful augment to the story. The pages look as if someone scanned a book from a library, and these parts tell of a maiden who destroyed a kingdom. Then there’s the Sickle Man. Admittedly, these chapters were my favorite.
It reminded me a lot of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, where the narrator, Humbert Humbert, is a despicable individual, but it’s difficult to not be charmed by his prose. The Sickle Man is creepy, yet charismatic. He’s even funny. His chapters are told in second-person, which really blew me away. By using “you,” instead of “I” or “he”, it just accentuates how chilling this person really is. It also doesn’t give away his identity.
There were times when I thought I had everything figured out. The Sickle Man’s identity. Katherine’s role in the prophecy. The prophecy’s origins. But my thoughts and predications constantly changed, and that’s rare. I’m usually the one who figures out the mystery before the big reveal (I know this is humble bragging). Sophie Jaff got me on this one.
For most of the book, the pacing is spot on. There’s a nice easy build, but once the Sickle Man starts his reign of terror in the city, the plot is full speed ahead. Guns a-blazing. It was something I missed once the climax happened, and I was a little disappointed by how much of a stop and start it was.
I’m still a little confused about the prophecy and what it all means. Sometimes I’m not the greatest with symbolism; it was the bane of my undergrad lit classes. That being said, this is the first book in a trilogy. Perhaps there is still more to reveal. I honestly have no clue where Jaff is going to go, but you can bet your ass I’m going to be along for the ride.
Love is Red is a hard book to pin down and describe, but I’ve been sent into frantic bouts of word vomit every time a friend asks me what I’m reading. Jaff’s debut is more than just a whirlwind thriller, and the fantasy aspect adds that perfect bite to separate it from one genre. For me, it’s really unlike anything I’ve read before.
If Sarah would’ve let me, I would have just submitted a random string of words, as I slammed my fingers down on the keys in uncontrollable squeeing. I know this book won’t be for everyone. It can be graphic at times. But if this even seems remotely interesting, do yourself a favor. Read it.
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After reading this review, I ran to Amazon to download a sample. Then I saw the price… $12.99 for a new to me author just isn’t going to happen. Never.
Sadness.
This sounds really good.
The way you describe the differing viewpoints reminds me of The Shining Girls.
Sold! Well, on a library read anyway, though as I’m apparently on a waiting list, it might be a minute. 🙂 It almost sounds like something Mo Hayder would have written, but lacking that “OH MY GOD WHO COMES UP WITH THIS THAT’S SO DISTURBING” quality… seriously, Mo Hayder writes amazing thrillers, but in a very, very dark “can’t look away from this accident” sort of way. She’s good if you don’t mind that, and if you like complicated female protagonists.
I do understand Dee’s reluctance to shell out big bucks for an unknown author, though. I have been burned SO many times on stuff I was SURE I’d love, and I just can’t afford to take gambles these days.
@Dee & @Leah: I completely understand. The book pubbed today, so I don’t know if they’ll have a sale price soon. Do give it a try through your library if you can!
@Algae: YES! I haven’t read The Shining Girls, but I did read Broken Monsters in one sitting and I loved it.
I immediately went and put this on hold at my local library. It says it’s coming soon so I’m not sure when that will be, but I’m very eager to read this!
I want to thank this group for opening my eyes to new authors. You’ve expanded my horizons.
For those unwilling to pay $12.99 for a new author (waving my hand here). Put it on your Amazon Wishlist & check back periodically for price drops – there’s even a filter specifically for that.
Just ordered for my library… thanks for the review!
It’s not a case of me being unwilling to… it’s literally being unable to. 🙂 Even if I know an author’s books personally, these days I can’t afford to drop 13 bucks on a single book. I would dearly love to be able to support indie and up-and-coming authors because, trust me, I KNOW the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into writing anything of any genre or length, and I know what sales figures mean to publishers, but I just can’t do it anymore. I always keep an eye out for sales and discounts, but more often I have to rely on my library… which can be a bummer, since while they do have a LOT of the books I want, many of the books from newer, self-published digital, or even simply less well known authors just aren’t available.
I actually do have an ARC of Love Is Red(not sure if I really requested it or not) and wasn’t too sure about it. This review is certainly making me rethink giving it a try!
Your review has me so excited to try out this book. It’s on my wishlist, waiting for a price drop. I’ve gotten a little better at the patience thing. Maybe that’s just due to the no money thing. 🙂 But I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on it. Thx.
The book I’m squeeing about is A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin. Tell me someone here has also read it and is squeeing with me!
I’m a long time follower of the site, but a first time commenter. This book is causing me to break the seal. 😉 After reading your review last night, I bought this book and had the same reaction that you did. I made the mistake of staying up waaaaayyyy past my bedtime to finish the book. It’s completely engrossing. It’s one of those books that stays with you the next day. I would not recommend this to the more sensitive reader, but if you love a chilling thriller, this is definitely the book for you. I am interested to see where subsequent books will go.
@Sarah: Oh my gosh! That is so great to hear! Really glad you enjoyed it.
So I snagged this via my library’s digital service and came back to say that I mostly really enjoyed it, with the caveat that I feel like the chosen narrative style actually got in the way of the narrative at times. I liked Katherine’s relationship with Sael, and that it was built on him recognizing her as an imperfect but wonderful human being instead of this flawless female ideal, because I feel like most romances shy away from acknowledging the petty nastiness everyone is capable of, and then acknowledging those flaws and failures doesn’t mean someone is any less worthy of love or happiness. I felt that the identity of the Sickle Man was a little too predictable, and I could have done without certain themes towards the end personally (though it was an interesting perspective on the legend), but it was still a very tense and scary book. Lucas was sweet without veering into plot moppetry, which is hard to do with kids, and I wish we’d had more of his mom Andrea.
I think a lot of this actually reminded me of parts of Stephen King’s Rose Madder… not as “OH EM GEE RIPOFF” (though I thought there were some parallel scenes and ideas) but more in that they both dealt with the concept of women fighting tooth and nail for their survival in very primal, ancient ways rather than relying on the Bad Guy (TM) tripping up somehow and accidentally dropping a gun or whatever. Women don’t typically get to fight for themselves and their lives in ways that leave their hands dirty, so I appreciate a book, like this one, that examines women as complex human beings that push back when pushed to the brink rather than fighting back “acceptably”.
I do sort of wish Katherine had a more active role towards the end (avoiding spoilers is haaaaaaaaard) as I felt like while she was a complex character I could root for, she was a little too stupid-because-the-plot-requires-it at certain times, and I would have liked to see HER take more action than simply running away. I guess I felt she was a little too passively “Chosen One” in the way that the Sickle Man refers to her and didn’t do much beyond be in the right place at the right time.
Still, it was a good book. I think I liked most the way different emotions were articulated as feeling, smelling, and sounding, in ways that seemed random but were still very apt. I’ll look forward to the other two books in the series, even though I’m not necessarily sure I don’t feel the book is more powerful as a standalone story than a connected trilogy.
@Leah…interesting that you bring up Stephen King. This book actually reminded me of Insomnia, as part of the story had to do with the color of auras…at least I think it was Insomnia.
@Leah: It’s so hard to talk about without spoiling anything, right?!
I loved Andrea too, but I think the reason why we didn’t get more of her was intentional.
For me, I constantly waffled back and forth on who the Sickle Man was and I don’t necessarily think the book could operate as a standalone. I think there are still some unanswered questions, or at least answers I didn’t pick up on the first time around. So I’m very interested in seeing how the next two books will go.
But I’m glad you read it, Leah!
I got a copy from the library. The writing was strong, but the buckets of prose got old after awhile. I found the characters’ personalities to be icky. The paranormal aspect wasn’t well developed, as Leah alluded to. I hate the “old blind woman has second sight” trope. Well written, nice scary parts, but overall it just didn’t work for me.
So I just got this from the library. Unlike Amanda,I’m having to read in chunks because it’s so haunting. I’d figured out what the Sickle Man was by page 70;WHO he is I’m not sure of yet.
I have a pretty heavy background in the esoteric, the occult, and Christian Mysteries. So far this book reminds me of Bless the Child, the novel, more than it doesRose Madder, and I’m curious to see if that will change.
I’ll come back after I’ve finished it.
So, I am probably super-late to the party but:
I read the book based on Amanda’s rec and it was very entertaining/engrossing! Thanks a lot Amanda, it was an amazing way to get some rest after working on my comps for the past couple of months!
That said, I am not sure I got the ending at all! I know the book is part 1 of a trilogy, and that more will (hopefully) be revealed in the following books, but I just wanted to throw a couple of questions at whoever has read it, mainly to understand if it’s just me who missed something. Beware of possible SPOILERS! (I am not sure how to hide text).
SPOILERS!!!
So: is the Sickle man the antichrist? A demon? I was confused?
Katherine is the vessel.. for what?
What is the relationship between the Joseph bit and the Maiden?
What was the point of the Maiden at all?
@Anna: I’m glad you liked it and, admittedly, I’m a little confused as well. Jamie in the comments mentioned she has a background in this sort of thing, so she figured the whole Sickle Man thing out. I, however, have no clue about any of those things, and I have to be hit over the head when it comes to symbolism. So I’m hoping there will be more explanation in the next book for people like me 😛