* Disclaimer: I received this book as part of One ARC Tours.
Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin was a great read. For the most part, Avery was a great character. My heart broke for her as she tried to accept and understand the senseless and brutal murder of her parents. For most of the book, I felt that Avery was a strong character, and someone I could have been friends with in high school. The only time I didn't particularly love Avery was when she was swooning over Ben. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Ben. I actually thought he was a good love interest, and a great addition to the story, and I liked almost all the scenes where they were actually together. However, it got a little old listening to Avery having the same thoughts about Ben over and over.
I also loved the descriptions of the forest. I have always loved trees and the woods. When I was younger, and playing those imagination games, I used to pretend that I was being chased through a thickly wooded area by someone just faster than me. But, my unknown pursuer was also bigger and less agile than I was, and kept running into the trees and brambles that I so nimbly avoided. Oddly enough, this was never a scary game, it was always one that left me feeling empowered and free. (Don't ask my why... I'm sharing potentially embarrassing childhood information here, give me a break!) Reading about the forest in this book brought all those great memories back. It makes me want to look around for some wooded areas to run through, preparing myself for that inevitable day when being able to run through the forest will be what saves my life. It isn't often that a description in a book brings back such vivid memories for me.
I've also always loved fairy tales, and although they were very subtle, I loved the slight elements of Little Red Riding Hood this book contained. The fairy tale elements aren't overt or anything, are in fact subtle enough I could very well be imagining them, but either way, I feel like it added a lot to the story. I won't share them, other than a young girl going through the woods to live with her grandmother because it is fun to look for them on your own, and several of the connections I noted are spoilers. I had such a great time reading this book and watching everything unfold that I wouldn't want to ruin that for anyone.