Red Summer
Stone and Scale Book 1
by Ana Lee

Enter the Eadar—where an ancient cosmic war is brewing, and good will struggle to survive.

Seventeen year old Wilder Ansley is being followed. By who? He hasn’t got a clue. By people and creatures no one else can see. That’s a good enough place to start.

To make matters worse, he’s also able to do things that make no sense at all — like unintentionally setting fire to his foster brother’s bed. Without the help of a lighter or matches.

Wilder prides himself that recently, aside from a few unfortunate incidents, he’s been able to keep whatever happens when he loses his cool mostly under control. That is until a freak lightning storm alerts the mysterious New Orleans Council to his whereabouts.

And his burgeoning abilities.

Within hours, Wilder is thrown headfirst into a whole new world, hidden behind a Shroud, and it feels more like home than he cares to admit. Despite his initial hesitations, Wilder finds friendship, and maybe something more, among these new strangers. But it turns out uncovering his place in the Eadar might be harder than he thought. Wilder must force himself to face the truth about who everyone else believes him to be—all while a decades long war escalates within and beyond the Shroud, threatening not only the Eadar and his new found friends, but the human world he’s left behind.

Red Summer blends the high-stakes, coming-of-age journey of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments with the blazing romantic tension of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses— all with a distinct gritty and grounded Southern Gothic, New Orleans kick.

Suitable for older young-adult and adult readers.

5 out of 5 fairies

This was an interesting story, full of vivid imagery, twists and turns, and some unanswered questions at the end that will have you dying for book two! Lee does a great job of bringing the world and characters to life, and I liked Wilder from the outset. My heart really went out to him, and the hard life he’s had. I was excited to see how everything unfolded, from the moment he begins to recount recent events. Although this is set in New Orleans, you don’t see much of the city, we do get to see quite a bit of the magical side of things. The story moves along smoothly, and I appreciate that the romance wasn’t the main plot, instead the reader is learning and discovering things right alongside Wilder. The romance is more of a nice compliment to the main plot. Definitely recommend and can’t wait to dive into book two!

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