Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin. It is her first YA novel under this name but has written others under a different name. It was published by Bloomsbury books on 7th February and is 256 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for review.

Plot
Avery Hood's parents are dead. She was extremely close by when it happened and was found covered in blood but she has no idea what actually happened. No matter how hard she tries, she can only remember very little about that night. The only thing she remembers is a flash of silver, which doesn't give her any clues at all. Until she meets Ben.

Ben is the new boy at school. He is mysterious and Avery instantly feels a connection to him and it is unlike anything she has ever felt before. Ben isn't like other boys at school though. He's a werewolf. Avery knows this and trusts him but then things start to go wrong. Every time she sees the flash of silver in his eyes, she begins to remember the night her parents were killed. Surely it couldn't have been Ben. Could it?

What I thought
The cover for this book is beautiful. The whole book cover is metallic red with the title being in raised, white writing. It definitely stands out from other books because of how bright it is and also because of it being metallic. Even though I really liked the cover, it did annoy me. As soon as I began to read the book, the covers began to curl a lot and after having a really thick, heavy book sat on top of it for two weeks, they aren't much better. I have a bit of a thing about my books looking as close to perfect as possible and this one doesn't anymore now. The presentation inside the book is lovely though. The title of the book and name of the author on the tops of pages as well as pictures of trees to begin each chapter and at the bottom of the pages are printed in red, in keeping with the title of the book. I liked this about the book and thought it gave it something that little bit extra.

The story is told from Avery's POV from the day she is found covered in blood. I did feel sorry for her to begin with. She had just lost both of her parents and forced to live with her Grandmother, who she hasn't really gotten along well with for years. I could empathise for her and her situation but it was when she met Ben that I started to think differently about her. Considering how she knows very little about him and that she has some strange feelings going on, she isn't too careful around him. She was far too quick to trust him and for that reason alone, I was left feeling very unsure about her. As quick as Avery was to trust Ben, she was also quick to stop trusting him. Numerous times. I think she either trusts him or she doesn't and if that had been me, I probably wouldn't have, no matter what crazy connection I had with him.

Ben was a character I did like though. Even though he was very mysterious and you don't get to find out an awful lot about him, I liked him from the start. I think some of that was due to the fact that he was so mysterious and also, the wolf thing is hot. Ben was also very sensitive and sweet, not wanting Avery to see him in his wolf form. Not knowing if he could control his temper, Ben decides that hiding this part of himself is the best idea, even though Avery tries to talk him out of it. I felt as though the relationship worked a lot better from Ben's side due to what he is and the explanation of the connection. I also felt as though he really cared a lot more than Avery.

The story had quite a long build up, explaining what had happened to Avery's parents and what direction her life was going to go down. I would have liked for Ben to have been introduced and featured earlier on so that I got to find out more about him and for him and Avery's relationship to have had the chance to be more realistic. The mystery aspects were fantastic though. Although I had my suspicions as to who had something to do with Avery's parents' death, I was never 100% sure. Ivy Devlin kept me guessing right up until the very end and not only with that. Avery seems to have hidden secrets that even she doesn't really know and Ben shows a lot of promise. I really hope there is a sequel so that I can find out what will happen next.