Reviews

Redder Days by Sue Rainsford

maxxesbooktopia's review against another edition

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2.0

Redder Days is a story following Anna and Adam (who are twins) as they wait for the world to end in an abandoned commune as the rest of the world slowly succumb to the virus that turns humans into all shades of red and changes their behaviour depending on which animal has passed the infection to them. Their former commune leader, Koan, hasn’t been in the right state of mind ever since the commune dispersed, but he still exerts virulent control over Anna and Adam’s daily rituals. When one of the previous inhabitants returns, Anna becomes sceptical of their surrounding while Adam remains oblivious.

This book has everything I enjoy reading in a story: unreliable narrators, cult ambience, a leader who abuses his power and status, bits of information thrown into every page for you to connect the dots to look at the grander picture, brainwashing the inhabitants of this commune, the mental and emotional state of children who are abandoned by their parents, and how humanity persevere in this dolorous situation. Yet, none of them hit the mark for me, except the last two points that I mentioned.

Ever since Anna and Adam’s mother – Eula – left them in the commune to fend for themselves, Anna hasn’t been able to forgive her mother. Whenever she thinks about her, she shuts it down forcefully to keep those thoughts from arising. As for Adam, he thinks about his mother frequently and he wishes to be with his mother, and he also misses her. After their mother’s abandonment, Anna takes on her mother’s role to care for the both of them. I thought the topics on the emotional and mental state of the children and the perseverance of humanity in the worst of times were really well executed because the author really emphasizes them instead of taking these topics on a whim.

This novel contains an abundance of forgettable characters that will only be recalled if you try really hard to remember. Honestly, I couldn’t really remember any of them until I skimmed a few pages of this book to write this review. Anna and Adam are the unreliable narrators of this novel and I did not find them appealing at all. They don’t really have any definite personality and their actions confused the crap out of me. Sometimes I can understand why, but most of the time, I couldn’t. I thought their actions were very nonsensical, confounding, and unnecessary.

The writing style of this novel is not my cup of tea. It doesn’t feel cohesive to me and I felt oddly detached from the story while I was reading it if that makes any sense. The author also replaces quotation marks with dashes for the dialogues which is an incongruous choice. I, unfortunately, didn’t enjoy the direction and the outcome of the story. I thought the story went in outlandish directions and the bed crumbs and clues didn’t lead to anything that we didn’t already know as the author has already established all the facts at the beginning of the novel. The idea of the leader exploiting his power and using his status to indoctrinate the inhabitants didn’t bring anything new to the table; it felt like I was reading every other common dystopian novel in the dystopian genre while I was reading those scenes.

Before I comment on the scene that scared the living life out of me, I would like to give a bit of context on Adam’s mental illness. I liked the ambiguity of his illness; the author didn’t explain much about what Adam is dealing with, but she did leave a trail as to who aggravated his mental state. With his worsening condition, there comes a scene where Adam grabs Anna’s private part which he calls it the “moisture around her sex” and Anna swatting his hands off of her and I don’t understand why the author decided to leave that scene in the book because there isn’t any repercussion after that revolting scene. I was waiting for it to be addressed, but the author let me down by not addressing it and letting it run free with no consequence.

I am going to lay this out there and say I did not like the ending of this novel. I thought it was extremely unsatisfying and I had gotten more questions than answers when I got to the end of the book.

In conclusion, this novel is going to receive a score of 30% (E) from me. If you are looking for a better novel with an unreliable narrator and a disease contaminating everything that has succumbed to it, I would suggest reading Wilder Girls by Rory Power instead.

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eshalliday's review against another edition

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2.0

I didn't mark this novel down as a ⅖ stars because it's - as others point out in their great, very articulate reviews here - the kind of book that refuses to draw the reader by the nose and the kind of book that builds its 'horror' through suggestion rather than explicit scenes (although we do have a few of those described). I rated it low because I felt that Rainsford really could have done more with this fantastically imagined set-up and such vivid, compelling characters.

I rated 'Follow Me to Ground' very highly and so, was very excited for this release, but, having just finished the novel, I have to admit I'm disappointed. I didn't want Rainsford to spell things out and tie up loose ends, as you might put it, but I did want her to explore more fully the issues that she sets up here with this wonderfully original world she has created. I don't want to present any spoilers, so I'll just say that it seems to me as if Rainsford has tried to include almost TOO MUCH here. There are too many suggestions to follow, rather than delving deeper into a few connotations of 'the Storm' and 'red'. I yearned for a more profound exploration of, say: motherhood; or female subversion; or mother-daughter relationships; or women's ties with Nature, tides, animals; or misogyny; or blood symbolism. Gosh, the author could have done so much with any one or combination of a few of these themes. Instead, I feel that Rainsford threw too much in the pot when this novel was cooking. Really promisingly meaty motifs are obfuscated by too many other themes and the effect is that this novel feels like it just scores the surface of a lot of issues, rather than investigating and exploiting and laying bare one or two (or three) main ideas.

Watered down? Is that what I mean? Maybe that's too strong. Spread too thin. That's what I feel the issue is with 'Redder Days'. I'm only so disappointed because I know that Rainsford is an excellent writer. Touches here in this book prove that she is, as does her debut. I'm disappointed because I can almost see the other book that this could have been, and it would have been so rich and so fulfilling. When an exceptional writer like Rainsford doesn't deliver what you know they COULD have delivered, I feel doubly disappointed, because this idea and this world she created was just so full of potential for really meaningful, deep exploration of important ideas.

missbookiverse's review against another edition

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3.0

While I loved the authors debut novel, [b:Follow Me to Ground|52220595|Follow Me to Ground|Sue Rainsford|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577621760l/52220595._SX50_SY75_.jpg|62477132], I was disappointed by her second work. It is one of those books you quickly realize will only make sense once you have reached the end. Hopefully. This one actually stays vague und murky until after the last page. Generally, that's fine, some stories you have to work for and use a lot of your own imagination and ideas to get something out of but I found that Rainsford did it better in her previous book. Follow Me to Ground was strange and weird, but it was easier to just follow along and still understand what's happening on a basic level. In comparison, Redder Days seems unnecessarily confusing, using pronouns instead of established names, jumping between timelines, and never clearly explaining what is going on. There are overall themes of a changing environment, a looming apocalypse, a cult, and incest but it's all so hard to grasp and make sense of that I got annoyed and exhausted half-way through. I still think Rainsford is a talented writer and Redder Days is not without its merits, but I do hope her next book will feel more like her debut again.

nerfnerder's review

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dark tense fast-paced

3.5

This isn’t the usual style of book that I would read, which at times made it a challenge to understand what I was reading.

The author drops you straight into the story. There is no scene setting, or character building. Each chapter is told from the perspective of each of the various characters. However, each one is an unreliable narrator, so we are left to piece together the story from what each one does and doesn’t tell us. 

Once I’d settled into the rhythm and style of the writing I enjoyed it. But the ending was predictable and the inevitable conclusion. 

I was between 3 and 3.5 stars and ultimately bumped it up as I feel like it’s a personal preference that I didn’t enjoy the style of the book.

henrymarlene's review against another edition

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3.0

In a strange and unsettling time, a mysterious illness is wiping out the population (yep, another dystopian story for me). We do not know where this world is, or when it is either. There is no idea how to stop the illness, how to stop the “red” bloom on the skin. We watch twins Anna and Adam take turns guarding a commune led by Koan, making sure no-one comes close with the redness. Koan was once a scientist, who with Matthew noticed and witnessed the redness as it began to spread. He initially provided sound advice and counsel; yet when we meet him, Koan is very much subdued and malingering. With the desertion of Matthew and his wife, and Eula (mother of the twins), we observe the rwins and Koan waiting for the Storm, the end of all things. There are themes of rebirth through nature, of misogyny and sexism, along a timeline that does not stay in one place. There is protection through Anna's hawk, who soars above her, flaunting its independence. There are interruptions in the present with flashbacks, journal entries accounting for what had happened as well noting what wasn't done as well. We see Anna and Adam, dealing with who were becoming after being left by their mother. We see the red everywhere: not only as a disease but through the life of a woman, the love of siblings, fear and death. We feel the roughness and coarseness of life, and the salt that grinds away the impurities of the unknown. The writing speaks like poetry. Disjointed prose, almost with a deliberate intention to throw you off the scent of what could be happening, and whether there could be hope, or a future to save anyone.

'Carmine, ruby, garnet, puce - when you see it you start running. Salt your hands and wash out your eyes when you see the red man coming.'

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beytwice's review

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2.0

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy of this book! Redder Days is an atmospheric, stream-of-consciousness style dystopian read at its finest; the imagery is horrific and downright surreal and probably the strongest point of the book for me. Rainsford does an excellent job of capturing the fear of the ‘redness’ and I enjoyed the dipping back and forth between characters and unravelling what was really happening. I didn’t mind the ambiguous narration and felt it lended to the book, however I think some characters bled into one another and became quite unmemorable, while some chapters and scenes felt unnecessary and lacked follow up. With some tight editing I think Redder Days could have had major potential but as the plot felt so scantly strung I struggled to read along and remain invested. Nonetheless I loved the writing style and will look out for more from this author.

megamog's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

feedon's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

lost_in_a_leabhar's review

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challenging dark mysterious

4.0

sineadcstories's review against another edition

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5.0

I was stunned while reading this entire book, underlining whole paragraphs to pick apart later. Sue Rainsford returns to the viscera in this compelling and uncomfortable piece of magic realism, using language so primitive and raw that I couldn't take my eyes away.

Twins Adam and Anna are living in a derelict commune, a commune they had been born into. They are alone there except for the commune's former leader, Koan. They live there waiting for Storm, what they presume to be the apocalypse. They are taught to fear 'redness,' an infection where the body's animalistic desires seem to manifest itself outwardly. At least, that's what I think redness is - Rainsford doesn't spoon feed but instead she places a lot of trust in the reader, dropping you in to her world with precision and care.

This book is easy to speed through, but I had to take my time because of the absolute poetry of it. This read was disturbing, shocking and beyond heartbreaking. The characters were all brilliantly portrayed and Rainsford paints images so instinctually

I adored this read and was so honoured to be given this advance copy by Netgalley and Penguin Books Ireland. Out on March 4th and I can't recommend it enough!