Review Time: Red Right Hand

Red Right Hand 

by: Levi Black

Review!

I first of all must thank Tor publishing for sending me this book in the mail back in July when the book was released on July 26th! This book was one that I had not yet heard much about in my bookish community, however I gave it a try due to the intriguing synopsis and enticing cover. I will be looking into what Levi Black brings out later in his career, though this book did have some flaws. 

Plot: "Charlie Tristan Moore isn't a hero. She's a survivor. On a night when her demons from the past are triggered, she arrives home to something even more harrowing-an attack by three monstrous skinhounds, creatures straight out of nightmares. She fights but is outmatched. Just as hope seems lost, in sweeps The Man In Black, a rescuer even more monstrous and unlikely, dressed in a long, dark coat that seems to have a life of its own and with a black-bladed sword held in his terrible, red right hand. 

Her rescue comes at a cost. She must become his new Acolyte and embrace a dark magick she never knew she had inside her. To ensure she gives it her all, he takes her friend and possible love, Daniel, in thrall as a hostage to her obedience. The Man in Black, a Lovecraftian chaos god, claims to be battling his brethren gods, other horrors who are staging an incipient apocalypse. But is he truly the lesser of all evils or merely killing off the competition? Either way, will Charlie be strong enough to save herself, Daniel, and possibly the entire world?"(Goodreads.com)

General Thoughts: 

PC: Me

• I wanted to slap Levi every single time "The Man in Black" said her full name "Charlie Tristan Moore"!
• I understand names have power in this wold but dang; every time you need her attention do not say it again!
• I am going to be completely honest here: 
• The writing in the book was good however I found some sentences to be poorly written and have a choppy style to them. 
• The characters while unique in name choice, I felt as though I had read from their view before however not in the good sense. The characters while fine just did not seem to stand out quite as much to me. 
• The monsters in here were a "rip off" or skim on Lovecraft's infamous storys published many years ago. 
• I did however enjoy the so called "Cancer Monster" scene and found it to be incredibly original and thought provoking. 
• I love how Levi is able to spin some well known tales into his own ideas within this book. 
• I also am afraid to say that this book may have fell flat due to the wonderful and master craftswomen, whose amazing novel Ghost Talkers I just completed the day before starting this one.
• While this may be marketed under the Tor Teen branch, I would say it is surely an upper age range that should read this book! This book has mature language and scenes interspersed.

Writing: 

PC: Me

• For the majority the writing was fine, there was nothing especially notable about it.
• However in some cases there were sentences that were not crafted in a way that flowed with the rest of the narrative.
• He has a decent handle on descriptor passages, sometimes to the readers demise; you will know if you read the book the horrific (Weird) detailed scene.
• He has a good foundation for writing and I would like to see what he comes out with in the future, all in all a decent debut!

Characters: 

• The characters in general were really forgettable and frustrating at times. 
• Charlie made snap decisions that got her consistently in trouble however she never seemed to learn from her mistakes.
• Daniel was a "bait" for Charlie, and that is something I don't really agree with authors doing. Daniel seemed to be in the novel sheerly for the "control" of Charlie; and I would prefer all of my characters to have a greater purpose than a hook to drive the main character around by.
• The character I found most intriguing was a demon, the Cancer god blob! 
• He was a very cool and creepily whimsical rendition of a horrific disease that touches so many people throughout this world. I loved how Black handled this demon and how he made the otherwise lacking characters destroy the "Beast". 
• Some characters such as the Chthullu and "Man in Black" will be recognized from Lovecraft's work; however if you would like to see a well rounded character and not just a shell filling in the place for this otherwise epic character, I suggest you read the source materials.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Recommendation: I would say that if you are a fan of trying new authors out with a short and very ver fast paced novel, you can give this one a shot; however it just did not develop into something that is memorable for the right reasons for me. 

Though this book was not written to my liking, I would still like to thank Tor Teen for this review copy and I would love to see Levi Black hone his writing skills and bring us back into this world with more character development and descriptions. I do think that this author has an audience it is just one that needs to be found; if you are skeptical please check it out from the library as it would be free and you can see for yourself if you will enjoy it.

Links: 
Goodreads Page
Buy: Red Right Hand

Happy Reading!

I promise Friday will be a fun and uplifting post, so be sure to check back in then.