Red Summer- Stone and Scale Book one by Ana Lee

 

Red Summer by Ana Lee is a compelling new adult fantasy that follows Wilder, a boy with unruly red hair and slate-gray eyes who has spent his life in foster care. Wilder has always seen strange, otherworldly things—like a tiny knight riding a mouse—and has an unsettling tendency to start fires unintentionally. After his latest incident, he faces yet another move, this time out of the city. Instead, he runs. With a storm brewing that mirrors his emotions, Wilder encounters a mysterious white owl that seems to be guiding him. He follows it to a crumbling building, only to discover that it conceals a grand Victorian structure behind its illusion. There, he's greeted by Terra, a new girl at his school, who informs him he's not human at all, but likely a Summer Fay—his bright red hair being the giveaway. Wilder is introduced to a hidden world of Vampyrs, Lycans, Magem, and other Fay. Among them, he finally begins to feel at home. With a war brewing in the shadows, Wilder and his new friends may hold the key to saving both the human and Eadar worlds. But secrets still buried in Wilder's past could change everything. Where does he truly belong, and can he face what lies ahead?

Reminiscent of authors like Cassandra Clare and Rachel V. Knox, Red Summer by Ana Lee is an engaging and highly readable fantasy with a strong emotional core. The pacing rises and falls in rhythm with the characters' emotional journeys and the action, creating a dynamic flow. The author's thoughtful use of vocabulary adds richness to the various supernatural groups, enhancing the atmosphere and helping each character feel fully realized. The novel also tackles weighty themes such as abandonment, the foster care system, and the quest for identity, grounding the fantasy elements in emotional reality. Power struggles between light and dark, good and evil, and the hunger for vengeance are central, and Lee shows how long some characters will wait to seize the future they believe they deserve. The world-building is creative and immersive, with clear distinction between the human world and the magical Eader realm. THe writing is fluid and believable, never feeling forced or overly stylized. While it begins with a familiar “boy who feels different” trope, this story quickly proves itself to be far more nuanced. Red Summer is a thoughtful, well-crafted novel that stands confidently on its own within the genre.