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A review by afterplague
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Red Rabbit was quite a pleasant surprise for me! I had heard this recommended online at one point, and I thought a horror western was something that I haven't really seen very often. This book delivered well on the promise of a found family, historical fiction with some excellent horror elements.
Red Rabbit is about a cobbled together group, starting with Old Tom and a young girl he calls Rabbit. She's injured one night by a falling branch from a tree Tom was nailing a totem to in an attempt to kill a wanted witch, Sadie Grace. Two cowboys, Ned and Moses, join Tom in his journey after helping Rabbit recover from her injuries. A recently widowed schoolteacher, Rose, feels like Rabbit shouldn't be alone with all these men, and joins the crew to take care of the girl.
Each of these characters is so interesting, and the author did an excellent job at providing each of them a voice, a memorable appearance, and pieces of backstory that align well with how the story progresses. It's left unclear to the audience about whether Old Tom is a real competent witch hunter or just an old fool, and the reveal was so impactful and exciting. Beyond that, I think Tom is generally a better man than he lets on, and his ending was unexpected and surprisingly sad. Ned and Moses' long friendship and shared history felt natural, and the way they knew each other's habits, quirks, and opinions was realistic to that long history. (Also they're definitely gay for each other, I don't care what the canon says.) I liked both of these characters a lot, and I appreciated that they were competent, kind, and protective over the rest of their crew. Rose played an interesting role, as the only woman of the crew. She has a protective instinct for Rabbit, and she often has the intelligence and social awareness to know when the crew needs to be wary of others. However, her skills are tempered by a lack of combat capability. Rose has to rely on the men in the crew to keep her and Rabbit safe.
It's interesting to me how much of this world is magical. There are witches, real witches who actually have the ability to cast spells, but there are quite a few other mythical creatures. There are ghouls, people who have been transformed from eating the flesh of others. There are demons, or at the very least demonic creatures, who can possess bodies and perform magical acts. There are ghosts, and one of these ghosts is Rose's husband. He feels that she's in dangers, and follows along on her journey to ensure that nothing happens to her. The ghosts in this world are mostly bound to the area in which they die, but Old Tom's spell freed him. Ghosts have some interesting abilities, mostly in regards to the fact that they exist outside of time and have, to a small extent, some control over the way time works. This is a bit of ghost lore that feels pretty unique to Red Rabbit, but it also makes a lot of sense, and I enjoyed the subtle world-building on top of a horror monster that has been utilized a LOT.
The atmosphere was very well-done, and it was extremely immersive. It's been a while since I was sucked into the world of a novel, but Red Rabbit was a world that was hard to resist. All of the characters and environments were vibrant and easy to picture, and the writing flowed very well. The horror elements were described perfectly, and they were truly horrifying at times. Specifically, the events at Paradis Ranch were not easy to stomach.
There are a very few reasons why I wouldn't give this book five stars, but unfortunately they are kind of big reasons. I didn't really like the endings for the majority of the characters. I understand and can follow the logic of the endings for Rose, Rose's husband, Rabbit, and Sadie Grace. I didn't really see the twist coming between Sadie and Rabbit, but it was foreshadowed and made a significant amount of sense. Rabbit was a little bit of a difficult character to root for, though. She essentially treated the other characters in her party as disposable, and didn't really seem to form a bond with anyone except Rose. It makes what happened to the rest of the party a little harder to swallow. I was fine-ish with Ned's ending, but Benito's really made me quite irritated. I don't think there was any real reason for what happened to him. It felt a little bit like the author just wanted a majority of the characters out of the way to make it a more "fair" or exciting final fight. I really didn't like what happened to that little boy at the end of the novel, too. It didn't really advance the story in a meaningful way, and I wasn't emotionally impacted in the way I think the author hoped I would be. It just kind of made me roll my eyes.
The ending just left me feeling a bit more bitter towards the story as a whole, and it was a real shame because I really liked this book! It was a nice, smooth ride that suddenly rumbled over a bunch of rocky terrain. I would still recommend Red Rabbit. I think it's an excellent story and it's extremely well-written! I would just prepare yourself to feel a bit off by the end.
Red Rabbit is about a cobbled together group, starting with Old Tom and a young girl he calls Rabbit. She's injured one night by a falling branch from a tree Tom was nailing a totem to in an attempt to kill a wanted witch, Sadie Grace. Two cowboys, Ned and Moses, join Tom in his journey after helping Rabbit recover from her injuries. A recently widowed schoolteacher, Rose, feels like Rabbit shouldn't be alone with all these men, and joins the crew to take care of the girl.
Each of these characters is so interesting, and the author did an excellent job at providing each of them a voice, a memorable appearance, and pieces of backstory that align well with how the story progresses. It's left unclear to the audience about whether Old Tom is a real competent witch hunter or just an old fool, and the reveal was so impactful and exciting. Beyond that, I think Tom is generally a better man than he lets on, and his ending was unexpected and surprisingly sad. Ned and Moses' long friendship and shared history felt natural, and the way they knew each other's habits, quirks, and opinions was realistic to that long history. (Also they're definitely gay for each other, I don't care what the canon says.) I liked both of these characters a lot, and I appreciated that they were competent, kind, and protective over the rest of their crew. Rose played an interesting role, as the only woman of the crew. She has a protective instinct for Rabbit, and she often has the intelligence and social awareness to know when the crew needs to be wary of others. However, her skills are tempered by a lack of combat capability. Rose has to rely on the men in the crew to keep her and Rabbit safe.
It's interesting to me how much of this world is magical. There are witches, real witches who actually have the ability to cast spells, but there are quite a few other mythical creatures. There are ghouls, people who have been transformed from eating the flesh of others. There are demons, or at the very least demonic creatures, who can possess bodies and perform magical acts. There are ghosts, and one of these ghosts is Rose's husband. He feels that she's in dangers, and follows along on her journey to ensure that nothing happens to her. The ghosts in this world are mostly bound to the area in which they die, but Old Tom's spell freed him. Ghosts have some interesting abilities, mostly in regards to the fact that they exist outside of time and have, to a small extent, some control over the way time works. This is a bit of ghost lore that feels pretty unique to Red Rabbit, but it also makes a lot of sense, and I enjoyed the subtle world-building on top of a horror monster that has been utilized a LOT.
The atmosphere was very well-done, and it was extremely immersive. It's been a while since I was sucked into the world of a novel, but Red Rabbit was a world that was hard to resist. All of the characters and environments were vibrant and easy to picture, and the writing flowed very well. The horror elements were described perfectly, and they were truly horrifying at times. Specifically, the events at Paradis Ranch were not easy to stomach.
There are a very few reasons why I wouldn't give this book five stars, but unfortunately they are kind of big reasons. I didn't really like the endings for the majority of the characters. I understand and can follow the logic of the endings for Rose, Rose's husband, Rabbit, and Sadie Grace. I didn't really see the twist coming between Sadie and Rabbit, but it was foreshadowed and made a significant amount of sense. Rabbit was a little bit of a difficult character to root for, though. She essentially treated the other characters in her party as disposable, and didn't really seem to form a bond with anyone except Rose. It makes what happened to the rest of the party a little harder to swallow. I was fine-ish with Ned's ending, but Benito's really made me quite irritated. I don't think there was any real reason for what happened to him. It felt a little bit like the author just wanted a majority of the characters out of the way to make it a more "fair" or exciting final fight. I really didn't like what happened to that little boy at the end of the novel, too. It didn't really advance the story in a meaningful way, and I wasn't emotionally impacted in the way I think the author hoped I would be. It just kind of made me roll my eyes.
The ending just left me feeling a bit more bitter towards the story as a whole, and it was a real shame because I really liked this book! It was a nice, smooth ride that suddenly rumbled over a bunch of rocky terrain. I would still recommend Red Rabbit. I think it's an excellent story and it's extremely well-written! I would just prepare yourself to feel a bit off by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Animal death, Rape