Felicity St. John is the wielder of one the most beautiful heads of red hair in Scarletville. Her hair is pretty enough to get her a popular, gorgeous boyfriend and a slot in the Miss Scarlet pageant. But Felicity has a secret, one that would ruin her life completely. Her beautiful red hair isn't real. When someone starts leaving notes hinting that they know her secret, she will have to play by their game if she wants to keep her status.

The concept of RED blows me completely away in a wonderful, red-haired way. The originality in this story is superb. I have never read a story quite like this, and I love every bit of it. Felicity, the seemingly kind of shallow main character, lives in Scarletville, a place that captures you from the beginning. In her world, red hair is more than nice to look at; it determines your rank in the town. Those with red hair are deemed the best and discriminate those of other hair colors. The depth at which the naming of places and activities go to show this is incredible and well-done. Most of the names are hilarious and clever and give frequent smiles to the reader.

Underneath all the fluff of the Miss Scarlet pageant is the story of a girl figuring out who she is, what defines her, and what she believes in. Felicity is a lovable protagonist, and seeing her character develop is the highlight of the book for me. She has a boyfriend, a hunky boyfriend, but she still wonders if that relationship is best for her after she connects with an artist she has class with. However, the story is not done in a love-triangle way, nor does it revolve around that. Felicity just comes to understand what it means to connect to another person and more importantly, what it means to connect with herself. She becomes such a heartwarmingly deep character that I wish the story was longer, so I could see more of her journey.

Overall, the originality and character development in this story is hooking and lovely. It makes for a wonderful read that I would gladly read a second time and maybe even a third. Alison Cherry has done a great job, and I look forward to seeing more of her work.