Gifted a copy to review, Red Summer is filled with a unique, gritty Southern Gothic flair, set against the vibrant backdrop of New Orleans. Red Summer gives you hints of a high school Harry Potter orPercy Jackson.
Red Summer (Stone and Scale Book 1)
Published: August 4, 2025
Genre: Urban fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy/ Paranormal fantasy
Ages: Older Young Adult/ Adult Readers
Synopsis –
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.
REVIEW
Red Summer: Stone and Scale is “Harry Potter” meets “Percy Jackson” on Bourbon Street. Our hero here is Wilder, an orphan with a reputation for so-called trouble. Things happen around Wilder, and oh, there are those creatures he sees that no one else can. When another episode occurs, landing a foster sibling in the hospital, Wilder’s future looks slim. When he decides to run away, only to encounter and follow an annoying owl, Wilder enters into a whole new realm, and that is in the midst of a war to discover who and what he is. It’s up to Wilder now and his newfound friends to help protect the magical worlds as well as learn more about himself.
Red Summer was a fun read. It reminded me of a darker take on Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, yet it was its own thing as well. Our protagonist, Wilder, is a good character, and I love his progression as a character so far. Lee also creates a lovely world-building, with the human realm and the magical realm, filled with lycans (werewolves), fae, vampires, witches, halfbreeds, and more. If you feel you’ve outgrown “Harry Potter” or “Percy Jackson?” Graduate to the grit and magic of Red Summer: Stone and Scale.
My rating is 4 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ana Lee is the debut author of Red Summer—the first novel of the upcoming dark, gritty, and fast-paced epic contemporary fantasy series, Stone and Scale.
Ana lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she spends her time reading, writing, or dreaming about reading and writing.
Her influences include (but are definitely not limited to) Cassandra Clare, Rebecca Yarros, Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Follow Anna and her books at @analeewriters on Instagram.
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 