Low Red Moon

Low Red Moon
by Ivy Devlin

The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can't, and there's nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she's ever experienced. When Ben reveals he's a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she's not the only one who can't remember the night her parents died. (description taken from Amazon.com)

This is another book about which I can't quite decide how I feel.

Though it was compelling...I started to read it last night and did not want to put it down to sleep, then finished it this afternoon (in about two hours total reading time)...it wasn't anything new or particularly special in the paranormal romance field.

I think what kept drawing me in was the sheer horror of what happened to Avery's parents and then others in the small town, the way that Devlin very carefully never outright spells out for readers exactly what is going on, and the fact that the forest was its own entity. To be perhaps more specific...there was a lot of suspenseful mystery in this book. Too many other books in the genre right now just say, well here...he's a vampire...or, Oh look! That evil werewolf is attacking people. Then it's up to the reader to just follow along as the hero/ine figures things out, defeats the bad guy, falls in love...

Another thing I really enjoyed were the subtle nods to "Little Red Riding Hood." Going off to Grandma's House. Avery's last name being Hood. The ax. This is not really a rewrite of the fairy tale...but it is...

Some of the things I wasn't as fond of were the use of the red lettering every time the word "moon" showed up in the text (I found it really distracting) and the fact that some of the characters felt very one-dimensional...almost like place holders in the story.

Overall, though, I think I liked this book more than disliked it, but it has not earned the right to be called a new favorite.