Red by Alison Cherry

What they say: A hot new high school comedy for redheads and all who love them. 

Top student. Beauty queen. Girlfriend of the hottest football jock. Felicity's got everything. And it's all down to her red, red hair.

Felicity lives in Scarletville, the world's only redhead sanctuary, where red hair is celebrated, protected – and the key to success.

But Felicity has a secret. A red hot secret. And if anyone finds out, she's finished. Because Felicity's actually a natural blonde.

And in Scarletville, blondes need not apply.

• Expected UK publication: 2nd Jan 2014 by Quercus Books - ISBN: 9781780878904

Author Spotlight: Alison Cherry is a natural redhead, and Cherry is her real surname. She is a professional photographer and spent many years working as a lighting designer for theatre, dance, and opera productions. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Red is her first book.

I received a copy of Red from Quercus via Netgalley in exchange in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: Red is a zany story about a fictional American town called Scarletville. The town is a sort of haven where redheads are idolised and the few non-redheads are seen as lesser. Felicity is beautiful, popular and the reddest redhead in town - or is she? Felicity and her controlling Miss-Scarlet-beauty-pageant-organiser mother, Ginger, go to extreme lengths to cover up her strawberry blonde hair.

On the surface, Felicity has the perfect life with the jock boyfriend (who's actually kinda dull and shallow), the great friends and a good shot at winning the pageant and prize money. But in actuality she lives in fear of being discovered, doesn't really care about the pageant (other than the pressure from her pushy mum) and wants to go away to Uni.  I understood Felicity's fears but didn't always find her all that endearing - it was like she wanted to be a better person and be more than a shallow redhead, but at the same time she enjoyed her place in the popular crowd and tried too hard to fit in.

My favourite scenes were with non-redhead and art student Jonathan. He brought out the best in Felicity and supported her when other's didn't, and most importantly he supported her even when she probably didn't deserve it.

I enjoyed the concept and idea behind Red and found the twist on the stereotype very fun.  Alison Cherry includes some very important messages in the story involving prejudices and challenging expectations. She encourages Felicity to fulfil her potential which I would hope reaches out of the page to younger readers. 

I didn't always believe the story and would have like Felicity to have more determination. I also wanted certain characters to get their comeuppance and to show more maturity. The teen drama seemed a bit younger than the actual age group at times, but in general I enjoyed Alison Cherry's debut book and found it very clever and entertaining.

3.5 - 4 Stars in my Sky!