Loved the spin to the maze idea for this book. The main character Zadie is extremely relatable as the underdog of the story. Never knowing what challenge she will face the plot is captivating and with a good ending that sets up a possible sequel.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This sounded like it had an interesting premise to me. It definitely gives off Maze Runner vibes. Enjoyed the female mc, Zadie, who is an outcast Blank among the Skilled, which is an interesting sort of class system and the story follows her attempt to save her friend from the Labyrinth. In the end, the story was just only mildly interesting, I didn't love it and it didn't pull me along or hold my attention that well.

I requested this title because it gave me Maze Runner vibes, and I love that series. This book takes on some social issues in a non-preachy way, which I immensely appreciate. It also keeps some suspense and a storyline growing throughout the whole book. It might not be filled with super unique elements and tropes, but it is done nicely and enjoyable. The characters have their flaws and strengths which makes them interesting to follow around. The story concept, Dex, and the labyrinth were my favorite parts. I was hooked to the story from the beginning and the twist at the end was a good one that I wasn't fully expecting.

I expected to like this more than I did. I felt a little let down by how bored I felt. I think the book could've done more with its exciting premise, but it didn't fully "go there."

I really enjoyed this fast paced story. The main character Zadie is extremely likable and very brave and resourceful. I loved the the plot and how it really helped to potray the loneliness and isolation that comes from living in a labyrinth and how oppressive and suffocating their society is. I feel like in isolated societies it is really easy to become oppressive and stay that way since everyone has grown up with the same ideas and there is no way to introduce new ones. There was a lot of dialogue in this book which definitely made this story move very fast but I would have enjoyed it to slow down at some points. All in all this was a good quick read.

If you love an underdog this book is for you!
The MC Zadie is born 'blank' which means without powers and of course blanks are treated like crap
but Zadie is smart and resourceful which essentially means shes a badass

This story is a fast and easy read - easy to read in 24 hours honestly!
who doesn't love a death trap filled maze?

When I read the synopsis of this book I thought I would find a good dystopian book, but I was wrong. It's no like the other dystopians, it's worse.

This was definitely an enjoyable read. I really hope Meredith Tate continues the series as I felt it ended very abruptly with a lot more scope to continue the story

The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate is a full-on dystopian fantasy that is a fascinating read. The setting is unique, and I love how enemies must work together for the great good! This one will be enjoyed by all teens.

I love everything Labyrinth. Labyrinths creep me out and I love them for it. This was a fun adventure and I really enjoyed it.

I LOVED IT!..
This book is a fantasy adventure that I didn't want to stop. It was so mysterious and creatively well written that hooks you through and leaves you with a twist at the end.

A thrilling, fast-paced book about a powerless teenage girl riddled with years' worth of childhood trauma, as she goes on a literal life-or-death journey in the deadly labyrinth in hopes of saving her loved ones.

Going straight into this, I admit it got pretty confusing for me at first. But as I continue along with the story, everything in Trinnea quickly made sense as the "Skill" system is pretty straightforward, and I was immediately immersed in the story.

Now, let me just get this out of the way: I was head over heels in love with Landon. He's the best friend of our main character, Zadie, and he was just a darling. I lived for their dynamic together, romantically at first—OH, HOW I LOVE THE SECRETLY-IN-LOVE-WITH-MY-BEST-FRIEND TROPE—but most especially for their strong friendship. The book walks us through what has happend in Zadie and Landon's childhood where they first met and how, in every awful moment they had to endure, they've been there for each other. Their friendship is so genuine and fleshed out, and that is exactly what I love to see in books.

For the main character herself, Zadie is definitely one of the strongest female protagonists I have read about so far. Despite being Blank, I see great strength in her person. Having experienced such horrid things at such a young age, which only ensued until her teenage years, Zadie is constantly being haunted by the ghosts of her past. Nevertheless, she did not buckle under all of that. She remains determined to save Trinnea, even though most of them were the cause of her life-long torment, so that says a lot about her character I think.

Meanwhile, Dex is another interesting character. I particularly enjoyed reading the scenes where he is present and I am just a sucker for brooding villains.

I also had to commend the author for coming up with such brilliant challenges in the labyrinth. The traps throughout the journey were decidedly not easy and each of them allowed us to get to know the characters in a deeper level. More than that, I was constantly at the edge of my seat from all the excitement and thrill in the labyrinth! And it wasn't all action as well, there were a few funny moments sprinkled along.

The one thing that did felt lacking for me was the world-building. There was Trinnea, sure, but there wasn't much other than that. The few details that were given about Trinnea and its past were rushed, and I think it could have been incorporated along the story better.

Towards the end, I had an inkling as to what the plot twist would be. But having said that, I did not expect that this book would end the way that it did. I am still unsure about how I feel about the ending, but all I know is that it left an opening for a possible sequel and I will definitely be on the lookout for that.

Overall, The Red Labyrinth is an exhilarating read, with a female protagonist remaining strong in the face of danger. If you're looking for a fast-paced dystopian novel with a great friendship dynamic, but don't mind the lack of world-building all too much, then I suggest you try this one!

The synopsis for “ The Red Labyrinth” by Meredith Tate immediately made me think about the Maze Runner series. Meredith offers a different spin on this dystopian tale. I loved the characters in this book. The storyline/ plot was a little predictable at times and the ending left a lot to be desired. I need answers! But yeah, it just kind of ended a bit too abruptly in my opinion. Hopefully, there will be a sequel in the future. Overall, it was a good read.

3.5 rounded up to a 4 .

The Red Labyrinth was a total surprise for me. I enjoyed every bit of it and it is getting a solid 4 stars. I’d highly recommend this to fans of YA, dystopian and fantasy books.

This book takes on some social issues in a non-preachy way, which I immensely appreciate. It also keeps some suspense and a storyline growing throughout the whole book. It might not be filled with super unique elements and tropes, but it is done nicely and enjoyable. The characters have their flaws and strengths which makes them interesting to follow around. The labyrinth was exactly what I wanted out of "To best the boys".
Even though tecnically this book seems to be classified as fantasy I believe it has a hunch of SciFi in it - and a whole big dystopian vibe.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am disappointment in myself for waiting so long to read this book because it absolutely gripped me from the very first chapter. It was an easy read but so enticing and well developed. Red Labyrinth is a YA dystopian, fantasy/adventure story. I do want to mention this book is definitely the start of a series, however Tate has not written the continuation quite yet and my understanding is that the publisher has not given the green light as of now. Either way I am demanding there be a sequel because I must know what happens to Zadie and Dex. I must know!

As I mentioned, I was absolutely enthralled in this book. I read it in 3 days. I could not put it down. The writing is simple and not wordy, but it lends to the reader's imagination and I was still able to envision an entire world and atmosphere. The setting of the book is a town called Trinnea, where the population of people is mostly those who have Skills and a minority that do not who are called Blanks. People with Skills may have 1 or more abilities which vary from supersonic hearing, speed, invisibility, pyrokenetics etc. People who are Blanks have no skill and are identified at a young age. Blanks are the lowest being on the societal hierarchy and are normally indentured to a person with Skills.

Trinnea is protected by the desert on one side and a red maze on the other. The maze is in place to protect the people from the outside world, as there has been a worldwide drought and fight over water. At the end of the maze is a castle where the Leader lives who rules over the people of Trinnea. Those who enter the maze are said to either die or end up in a trance. As I was reading I felt the maze reminded me of mix of the movie Labyrinth with Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie and Alice in Wonderland.

Zadie is the main protagonist of the story and she happens to be a Blank. As a Blank Zadie has faced a lot of animosity, struggle, rejection and feelings of worthlessness. Throughout the book Zadie challenges these constructs, systematic oppression and self perception. Zadie's best friend, who she grew up with, and crush is the town hero Landon. Landon is a Skilled person who seems to have an unlimited amount of skills and your friendly boy next door type. When Trinnea is put into a daze, Blanks do not seem to be affected and Zadie must enter into the maze to save the town.

Dex is the Skilled monster that lives in the maze and is called the Devil of Trinnea. I could not get enough of Dex. He is constantly trying to steal Blanks and drag them into the maze. He's the typical brooding, quiet bad boy, but throughout the book we see his vulnerabilities come out. As a read I just wanted to know more and more about him and as a reader you only get a little bit at a time. By the end of the book the characters have made some self progress, but there is still a lot of growing to be done by Zadie and Dex.

This book had some very obvious themes and I commend Tate for tackling some sensitive subjects. Tate broaches the subject of systematic hierarchy and racism. The reader is easily able to make the parallels between Skilled and Blanks to white privilege and minority groups. I think Tate did a great job of specifically talking about systematic oppression and racism through a monologue by Nadine to Chantry and continued with Zadie near the end of the book. Another theme was mental health, specifically PTSD. Throughout the entire book multiple characters experience PTSD and guides their decisions and behaviours. Zadie from her childhood experience and experience within the town has been in a constant state of survival, even when she is "safe". The behaviours was something I noticed throughout the book and Tate does not blatantly draw attention to this theme. She did a good job of including in the characters' regular state, but at the end of the book the characters start to really recognize why they feel and perceive things a certain way. As a social worker, I picked up on this theme almost immediately, but it does not distract from the story telling.

I will say it again I need a sequel!!!! I'm not sure how to make this happen but I must know what happens to Zadie, Dex, Landon and the people of Trinnea. The book ends on a cliffhanger and I have read that Tate intended for this book to be a series, so it needs to happen. I could not put this book down and probably would have finished the series in a week had it existed. All I can say is please please finish this series!!

I received an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book in one sitting because it was just so good for me. The book was well-paced and the writing was easy to understand. I loved the concept and all the twists. The labyrinth really peaked my interest especially with all the interesting traps it had. Zadie is a character I really liked and I love her strength, her perseverance, and how she grows throughout the book. Although the book can be predictable in some occasions, it still left me fully interested and engaged in the story and how it will progress. 4.5/5

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy of The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate.
This is a YA dystopian fantasy about a city of water impoverished people that live behind a walled city protected by a labyrinth. Our main character is Zadie and she is from a minority group that forced into the fringes because she was born without magical abilities. And it is Zadie who feels the burden of saving the city when it is forced under the spell of a group of outsiders.
I liked Zadie although she made a lot of risky choices but she also had a very tragic backstory that showed why she was working so hard to save the people she loved.
I felt like the best part of the book was where Zadie fights the various parts of the labyrinth with the mysterious Dex. But the weakest to me was the last 15% where the story behind the creation of their city and the people that rule it is revealed.
This would have been a 4 star review but the last part fell apart for me unfortunately.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Actual rating of 3.5

In Trinnea, your life is determined by your caste, either you're skilled, or you're blank. Zadie is a blank. Like all the other blanks who managed to gain freedom from the Warden and the mines and return to Trinnea and live with their loved ones by paying a hefty price, Zadie is ridiculed and ostracised because she has no skills. Only her Ma, her best friend Limitless Landon, and her work colleague - Barton, offer her any kindness. The rest of Trinnea thinks she is disgusting, an abomination who is not worth the dirt on their shoe. Separating Trinnea from it's esteemed Leader, is a maze. The maze sits at the edge of town, and everyone fears it, for it is well known that the Devil of Trinnea, Dex, the one who lives in the maze, will kidnap any who come too close, and steal their minds turning them into emotionless vegetables who will spend the rest of their lives living in the asylum. So when Zadie's best friend Landon disappears into the maze, she knows what she must do, the townspeople are acting strange, and they don't remember Landon at all, so it's up to her, and her alone to traverse the maze, get to the Leader and pray that he will be merciful enough to save Landon and the Trinnean's. The thing is, no one has ever completed the maze, except Dex, he is her only hope of saving everyone, but is the Devil of Trinnea willing to help?

I'm not sure why it took so long for me to get to this one. The premise and the cover are what drew me in and left me with no choice but to request a review copy of this book. Honestly, I know what took me so long, I have a severe problem and I cannot stop buying and requesting books, that's my damn problem. Anyway! Let's move on.

The premise of this story really had me intrigued, after finishing it, it came across as a bit of Maze Runner, a sprinkling of the Hunger Games and maybe the tiniest hint of Divergent (I'm talking the most minuscule hint). I would place this as a young adult dystopian fantasy, and honestly it was pretty good. The story was incredibly well thought out, and I'm hanging for the follow up instalments because I need to know what happens. The story doesn't end of a massive cliff hanger per-se, but it is left open, things aren't wrapped up at all, though we are given the answers to some of the questions that were raised throughout the story. We do find out the thing behind the mysterious Labyrinth Stare as well as a few other things along the way. That's all I'm going to give you because I don't want to ruin anything, but we do get SOME answers.

The characters were okay, honestly, I enjoyed Dex the most, he was a mystery wrapped in an enigma and I just wanted to know ALL there was to know about him. His character was just SO interesting! Zadie I found to be a tad annoying, she seemed a lot younger than her supposed age and was incredibly gullible, but I can also appreciate how difficult it is to write a character that isn't a perfect Mary Sue while also ensuring they have enough flaws to make them believable and not the most annoying person on the planet, so I can get over it. The other characters were only given a small amount of screen time so felt a little more two dimensional to me, but I'm holding out hope that they will be given the chance to grow and develop should future instalments actually happen.

The world is interesting, but at this stage it's very generic dystopian, there were some revelations at the end that made it even more interesting which again makes me really hope we get the rest of the story some time soon because I NEED TO KNOW MORE! The main thing in this story is obviously the maze, which is fine because I found the maze to be pretty awesome.

I did feel as though this story had the ingredients to be one of those absolutely amazing stories in the vein of Laini Taylor and Erin Morgenstern, a story that is so whimsical and full of wonder, danger and terror yet at the same time so beautiful in it's horrors, but it fell a little bit short, and I'm not sure why. I honestly can't put my finger on what it was missing. It was all there, maybe it was the narrative that let it down a little? The writing just didn't have that same lyrical prose that the other two that I mentioned have, but this is something that can be built upon and grow to hopefully reach that stage because it honestly did have the potential to. Some of the descriptions of things in the maze had me thinking this, so it is there.

All in all, this was an entertaining story, but it didn't grab me as much as I had hoped it would. It did leave me really wanting the rest of the story and I sincerely hope we get it some time soon. It has the room for more character and world development which is great, and it definitely has room to become something absolutely magical.

This was a pretty good fantasy read for me! I like the idea of the book, though I feel like the trope of classifying people into 2 groups has become pretty common in the YA genre. I like that Zadie may have had a hard life, but also had a strong, loving support system behind her. This was a really fun fantasy read that I enjoyed.

Zadie crushes on her best friend, the hero of the village, who has saved more than one person from the labyrinth that borders her village, a labyrinth full of booby traps and deadly creatures, including a boogeyman named Dex. When her friend disappears into the labyrinth and becomes history to the village, Zadie is the only one willing to risk the labyrinth to rescue him. Tate spins Dear Reader’s head with unlikely allies, exploding expectations, and astonishing revelations. YA fantasy fans will add this author to their list of favorites. I received this wonderful story from Flux through NetGalley.