The Red Labyrinth is a bit different spin on a common premise, dystopian maze stories. The heroine, Zadie, is a blank, meaning she was born with no skills. In a society where skills are tantamount to social class rankings, she is a ridiculed outcast nothing. Conversely, her best friend, Landon, has what seems like innumerable skills. There sits a red labyrinth in their town. Blanks go in and don't come back. No one survives this monstrosity. Occasionally, Landon must go in and save someone, but Landon is skilled enough to do it. On the other side, sits a castle where allegedly their leader resides. One day, Zadie wakes up and people are nice to her. The townspeople also don't remember Landon. She knows the answers are on the other side of the labyrinth. So, in she goes. She encounters twists and turns and a surprise ending. Zadie is a sympathetic character. To be treated like garbage for something she has no control of, well, it sucks. She doesn't really show her strength and intelligence until she enters the labyrinth. She gains confidence and starts to realize she is not worthless. The world building is great. It's an intriguing place full of mystery. The writing is good and the story unfolds at a good pace. Dystopian fans will enjoy this book. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Danger waits at every turn in this fast-paced adventure.

Zadie is a blank, her hands branded to make sure everyone knows she's part of the lowest class. Non-blanks posses magic and look down on her. But Zadie has come to terms with that...more or less. Her town is the only inhabitable place left on the planet and protected by the leader who lives in a castle beyond the deadly labyrinth. No one has ever survived even being a few minutes in the labyrinth, only her best friend has been able to dash in and out to save someone who gets dragged in by the labyrinth's evil resident—Dex. But when her town is take over by evil forces and her friend disappears into the labyrinth, Zadie is determined to do her best to save them all. If she can survive Dex and the other deadly dangers.

When I started reading this, I was quickly reminded of The Maze Runner. Unlike Dashner's world, the people living in the town are doing fairly fine and aren't trying to escape. The break between the talented and blanks creates instant sympathy for Zadie, who is a kind young woman and knows 'her place'. She still has a bit of a rebel streak in her, but it doesn't overpower her personality. There's also a bit of sibling problems thanks to her older sister being talented and not wanting to show her care for Zadie in any open way.

The first chapters of this book had me bound to the pages. There is a lot of tension and secrecy surrounding the maze and Zadie's circumstances. Even the slight romance begins with her best friend hold and are sweet. It's when she enters the maze and meets Dex that things wobbled a little bit.

Dangers lurk around every corner in the maze—brutal and evil ones. The various traps and creatures are rich and create a very intriguing atmosphere. There is no easy way through, and to see how Dex and Zadie make their way through the maze did keep me on the edge of my seat. There are tear jerking moments and enough depth as well to make the characters vivid and worthy to root for. Still, there were holes in some of the world building, and logic didn't always hold or was simply contradictory. Even Dex...a character with so much dark potential...quickly fell into a normal, young adult role. The read was still intriguing, but it seemed to miss it's mark and left me a little disappointed. Even the ending wasn't what I expected and rushed through. Despite all of this, I still enjoyed the read, though. So, I'm giving it 3.5 stars and rounding up.

I received a complimentary copy and was drawn enough into this story to want to leave my honest thoughts. ( )

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for the ARC.

4.5 stars. I really, really, REALLY like this book. Zadie is our required super special, save the world MC, but with a twist: she's not special at all. She has PTSD, no special powers, and is pretty much despised by everyone except her best friend and her mother. I did question her judgement, on occasion, but for the most part she did/thought/said what someone who is ridiculously insecure (due to past and current abuse) would.

The Labyrinth has been there all her life, and for the life of even the oldest living Trinnean. The Labyrinth is dangerous. The Labyrinth is home to the Devil of Trinnea, an evil monster that kidnaps/destroys Blanks (the unskilled) and Skilled if they happen to wander too close the opening. Nobody can survive in there, and if they do come out alive...it might be worse than death. Who knows what goes on in the minds of those with the Labyrinth Stare? Only Zadie's best friend, Limitless Landon (so called because there seems to be no limit to the number of skills he has) can survive long enough to sometimes save those unfortunate enough to enter the Labyrinth.

After Zadie wakes up one day and nobody remembers Landon, and everyone is suddenly nice to her, she decides she will have to brave the Labyrinth, and the Devil, to save her best friend and her town. There are some similarities between this and other dystopian books (which I won't mention due to spoilers), and there are quite a few things that stand on their own. I absolutely love that the MC is a heroine with no real powers, except the drive to face her fears and not be a damsel in distress the rest of her life. I cannot wait for the next one. Getting an ARC is a blessing and a curse, lol. I've gotten to read this amazing book before most others, but now I have to wait even longer for the sequel. ( )