She and Miranda just so happen to meet there regularly, and spend a ton of time in the woods. It just so happens that the latter character was found murdered in the woods, and not far from both Lauren’s grandmother’s house and a particular, lightning struck tree that the kids affectionately call the ghost tree. It begins by introducing us to a young, fourteen year-old girl named Lauren diMucci, and her life, which involves an incredibly smart and mature four year-old brother (David), a nagging mother (Karen), a developing best friend who’s obsessed with boys (Miranda) and a deceased father (Joe). This particular book is called The Ghost Tree, and it centres upon a group of people living in a fictional Illinois town called Smiths Hollow. I’ll blame this on having too much on the go, which is something I’m working on. I forgot about it, and didn’t start reading until the end of this summer, just prior to its early September release date. The publisher approved me, and I meant to get to it almost right away, but that didn’t happen. I knew I wasn’t her biggest fan, but the premise really intrigued me, and I quickly hit the request button. When I saw a new Christina Henry piece appear on NetGalley, and read that it was an original, at least horror-adjacent novel, it piqued my interest. It just felt like she shoehorned the politics in at the detriment of her own story.

I say this even though I agreed with most of what the author was trying to convey. The ending was disappointing, the story never truly capitalized on its opportunities, and there were so many forced politics embedded into the novel that I was taken out of the story at times. It was honestly okay at best, and underwhelming in some respects. However, while its premise - regarding an American plague that started with a cough, and a young female amputee who attempted to make a journey from her home to her grandmother’s house despite the dangerous woods - really intrigued me, I didn’t end up enjoying the book as much as I’d hoped. As you’ve likely surmised, The Girl in Red was similar, and was a dark and modernized take on Little Red Riding Hood.

Henry is someone who likes to put her own spin on popular fairy tales, like Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. It actually wasn’t until early this year that I finished said title, The Girl in Red by Christina Henry. That led me to borrow it from the local library last winter, during which I read the physical book and listened to the audiobook while at work.

I can’t remember how or where, but one of her novels appeared while I was aimlessly browsing the Internet, and it caught my attention. Although Christina Henry is an accomplished author with a good following, I hadn’t heard of her or her work until just last year.

The ghost tree christina henry ending