Review: Red Hill by Jamie McGuire

Title: Red Hill
Author: Jamie McGuire
Genre: Adult, Horror
Source: Simon & Schuster Australia. Thank you!

Goodreads rating: 4.05 out of 5.00 (2,000+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Reading Room

When the world ends, can love survive?

For Scarlet, raising her two daughters alone makes fighting for tomorrow an everyday battle. Nathan has a wife, but can’t remember what it’s like to be in love; only his young daughter Zoe makes coming home worthwhile. Miranda’s biggest concern is whether her new VW Bug is big enough to carry her sister and their boyfriends on a weekend escape from college finals.

When reports of a widespread, deadly “outbreak” begin to surface, these ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances and suddenly their fates are intertwined. Recognizing they can’t outrun the danger, Scarlet, Nathan, and Miranda desperately seek shelter at the same secluded ranch, Red Hill. Emotions run high while old and new relationships are tested in the face of a terrifying enemy—an enemy who no longer remembers what it’s like to be human.

Set against the backdrop of a brilliantly realized apocalyptic world, love somehow finds a way to survive. But what happens when the one you’d die for becomes the one who could destroy you?

Red Hill grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go until its stunning conclusion. This is #1 New York Times bestselling author Jamie McGuire at her unforgettable best.

Review by Nara


Admittedly, I really disliked Beautiful Disaster, so I have to say that I didn't have particularly high expectations for this book. To be honest, I hadn't even read the synopsis and therefore didn't realise this book was going to be a zombie book. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I liked this book much more than McGuire's other novels- although it still wasn't particularly amazing.

While I did like the book overall, there were definitely quite a few flaws that I could pick up on. One in particular is that there really is nothing new about this novel. The plotline is a rather typical zombie novel- weird virus infecting people, sudden outbreak of people all zombie-like, BRAIIIIINS! In terms of the romance aspect, which was surprisingly not really the focus of the novel, I've read a couple of reviews where people have said that the romances aren't typical ones, but they kinda are...it's the whole people getting bonded by escaping together from danger cliche. Also, despite the imminent danger of being devoured by zombies and what not, the book is actually pretty slow.

I really didn't like the reason behind how the zombie apocalypse started- the flu vaccine?! Seriously?! (Sorry in advance, inner medical student is about to emerge) It's difficult enough to get people to get the vaccine already, but writing a book saying that you'll be zombified by getting the vaccine?! GAHHHHHHHH! Hopefully the people reading the book will be sensible enough to realise that it's pretty unlikely for that to actually happen. Also a rather unbelievable fact was that the ENTIRE apocalypse started at the same time in one day in the US. I mean, seriously, what happened? Despite everyone being inoculated at different times, did the vaccine/virus magically activate itself in everyone at the exact same time? PLOT HOLE.

For some reason, I felt really invested in Nathan's story. I don't even know why. I mean, he was okay as a character but I wouldn't say that he's particularly engaging or original. I guess I really liked the relationship he had with his daughter. In fact most of the family type relationships were quite interesting- and they were the main reason why I continued reading the book. They were a lot more interesting than the various romances or action or whatever.

The ending was pretty unsatisfying. I mean, I get that it's difficult to solve the problem of the apocalypse in one book, but the ending was just so....open. THE WORST KIND OF ENDING. Basically it was one of those "we must rebuild humanity in the wake of destruction" cliches.

I can really only recommend this book to people who have never read any zombie novels or watched any zombie movies. That way you won't be smacked in the face by the countless cliches.

It was okay

Ratings
Overall: 6/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 3/5