3.5*

This was a beautiful debut by Sill Bihagia. The writing in this was absolutely beautiful. This book has so much slow burn in terms of character development and plot - which I loved and felt that it gave the book so much heart.

The worldbuilding was admittedly a bit confusing and overwhelming at times but the pacing was perfect for me and there was so much nuance and care given to each character. However, the first half of the book was much stronger than the latter in my opinion and left me feeling like I wanted more from the ending. It felt a bit rushed considering the careful pacing of the rest of the book though this may be cleared up in the following books in the series.

The heart of this story lies in Jesse's journey, his resilience and his found family.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Victory Editing and Oria Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝔻𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕟
𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗮

OMG, this book knocked my socks off, kicked them around the room, and put them back on. Red Demon’s storyline is as unique as it is intense.

Red Demon is fantasy mixed with science, including bioengineering. The fight scenes are intense and romance makes an appearance as well. It also holds fast to the importance of trust in relationships.

The plot zips right along and I found myself completely immersed in the story, so much so that it took me a minute to remember where I was when I stopped reading. This is a book I didn’t want to put down.

Starting strong, the uncomfortableness for the reader was very prominent. I was actually scared and my heart felt like it was in my throat. The emotional pain from the characters really comes through with the way the book is written. Not only that, but the way tension is built can literally be felt. The culture and spirituality created is absolutely amazing! I really enjoyed the unique names even though they were a bit hard to pronounce at times. I would love to read more stories from this world and can’t wait for more!

This sci-fi fantasy debut hooks the reader with intriguing world-building and a compelling protagonist. After his village and family are mysteriously wiped out, Jesse escapes the Red Demon and sets out to uncover the truth and seek revenge. Jesse is fiercely loyal, honorable, and stubbornly committed to his principles.

The world centers on two branches of humanity, and their long history of conflict explores the themes of identity and belonging. While the lore is fascinating, I often wished it was explained in greater depth. Some concepts felt overly reliant on vague references to genetics or Asri "magic," and I would have liked more of the glossary information incorporated into the story itself. I also found myself wanting more from the world-building. The novel introduces fascinating historical events, political tensions, and character backstories, but many of these elements are only briefly touched upon.

My biggest criticism is the ending, which felt a little too easy and somewhat underwhelming. Still, I appreciated the rich setting plus the action, which kept me invested. It's a promising first book, and I'm looking forward to seeing the world and lore expand in future installments.

This book was ok. Especially for a debut. I liked the ideas within the story and the found family aspect but I felt it lacked a bit in depth and world building for me.

Red Demon is an ambitious debut blending science fiction and fantasy in ways that feel both familiar and new. Jesse’s story of survival, grief, and hope bring the story together. The world-building was very dense, and weighed me down in this story.

4.5⭐
Red Demon is a sci-fantasy. It's full of action, trauma, and will they/wont they romance. Jesse is an strong mmc. Some of the scenes with Jesse and his friends were just so sweet and earnest and then at other times, I was on the edge of my seat worrying about those same characters. The world building is intense but it comes together well. I absolutely love Faruhar—her backstory and her character in general was just fantastic. She has a few wonderfully poetic sections from her POV, and honestly, I wanted more of those bits! Overall, this is an excellent sci-fantasy novel, and I highly recommend you read it

Red Demon is an ambitious debut blending science fiction and fantasy in ways that feel both familiar and new. Jesse’s story of survival, grief, and stubborn hope grounds the book, while Faruhar, the so-called Red Demon, is one of the more memorable characters I’ve read this year. The world-building can be dense, but it pays off with tension that builds steadily and fight scenes that have real weight. What stuck with me most was the emotional core, especially the themes of found family and resilience. It is a bold, engaging start to a series I’ll be following closely.

An incredible story!

The world building was very well done. I loved the storyline and the pacing.

Jesse was an amazing main character to follow. He has so much devastation, grief, and loss, but also love and comfort. I love the familial bonds he creates throughout his life. Ash was so true and honest. He absolutely shows the good side of humanity. Faruhar is such a complicated character.

The spice was very descriptive!

I’m very excited to see where Sill takes us in the coming stories!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I’ve not read a good Sci-fi book in a while, and this really scratched that itch.

On this particular plant, people are genetically modified to make them fight better and to survive. Jesse’s family is slaughtered by the Red Demon, and he vows to get revenge. Over the years, he grows head-to-head with his nemesis, until one time, she spares him. Jesse finds out that the Red Demon is not who he thinks she is.

This gripping sci-fi romance is a great debut. I can’t wait to read the next book (if there is one).

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

I would definitely say this is one of the more interesting fantasy books that I have read in a while, mainly in terms of the book's concept and the characters. There are like “modded” people in this novel, like changes in their code and it results in a bunch of different things, it’s very cool and it’s done so well for the story.

The dynamic between the characters is something I really enjoyed, Jesse and Asher aren’t brothers by blood but they have such a realistic brother dynamic, I have to believe that the author has brothers haha. Each character had such a unique role in the novel but Bihagia does a great job at making all of them work well with each other not only with their role in the plot, but their dialogue and personalities too.
On the note of dialogue, each character had their own cadence but Bihagia did a great job at characters speaking like their age and level of maturity. It was honestly really refreshing because some authors really struggle with that (I’ve read a book where a young child talked the exact same as their adult self).

Now this book does have a spicy chapter, for those who aren’t into spice at all, but it is done very well and was honestly a very important part of the book and a big moment for the characters. It wasn’t just a “hey let’s hook-up” deal, slow burn in the most non-romantic sense haha.
I also just love a fantasy where the characters are younger and fighting for the greater good in unconventional ways, it’s always something I’ve loved in a novel. The ending of this book is not what I wanted but it makes sense, but I’m angry at it. I found out after that this book is the first book of the series so I am excited to see what will come next.

Thank you to Net Galley and Oria Press for the ARC. This was less sci fi than I expected. Also I did not enjoy Jesse's pov.

Spice Rating: 🌶️.5 / 5

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My Summary: Jesse lives on an isolated planet where people have been bioengineered to survive. A century ago, Jesse's people, the Chaeten, and another people, the Asri, nearly wiped each other out. Even now, there is still hatred between these two groups. As a child, Jesse witnessed the death of his family and his entire mining town. The situation makes no sense--who was able to take out an entire town without leaving a trace? And why would they want to do it? From that day on, Jesse makes it his life's mission to discover what happened and at least take out the one person he knows had a hand in his town's destruction: the Red Demon, a feared bioengineered immortal left over from the war. Jesse will have to figure out how to survive without his family, assimilate with the Asri people, and discover what he's willing to do for vengeance.

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My Thoughts: Red Demon is an action-packed, thrilling science fiction/fantasy debut full of tense fighting sequences, found family, and enemies to lovers romance.

The characters are probably my favorite part of the novel. Jesse goes through so many ups and downs. Originally, he's fueled by rage and revenge--dead-set on finding the Red Demon who slaughtered his mining town. But through the help of his adoptive father and brother, Jesse finds peace and discovers that he might be able to move past the vengeance he's been seeking and live a "normal" life.

The world-building has major potential. An isolated planet discovered by the Chaeten, bioengineered humans escaping their own planet's demise, fighting a war against the humans native to the planet, the Asri? What an amazing concept! I loved learning more about the lore behind the world and the Asri's magic. However, I do think it could've been more fleshed out with explanations about the Chaeten tech and genetic coding as well as the Asri way of life.

Be prepared for a devastating ending that will leave you reeling for more. I'm excited to see where the author takes the story from here!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Red Demon follows Jesse, the only survivor of an attack that has slaughtered his whole village, including his family, by the Red Demon - a bioengineered immortal girl. Unsure why she spares him, Jesse is determined to track her down and kill her himself.

This story is a wonderful mix of science and fantasy. The worldbuilding is very unique and I feel so much care has been taken with it, it's woven into the story naturally. Everything is paced very well especially as there are time jumps.

Jesse was such a wonderful character to experience this story through. I could see his growth as time passed, his grief that was still there, his profound love for his new family. Faruhar was so enticing, despite the bloodshed she caused you're still so intrigued by her character and ultimately can feel her pain and turmoil as you start to understand her better.

"Mom taught me there will always be someone else to cling to when a pillar of our life falls down, and she taught me to be that pillar in turn."

A fast-paced, fantasy mixed with sci-fi, dark, mysterious book that I think is perfect for those trying to get into the genre! The world building keeps you questioning a lot about the lore but also gives plenty of context to become engaged with the story. Personally (and admittedly partially out of selfishness) I wish the world building was more fleshed out because there were many aspects of the referenced history, current political climate, and character backstories that weren’t able to be fully described either in the glossary or in the actual chapters. I also feel that for the length of the book, I would have preferred the contents of the glossary to be explained in the chapters, though I understand that others may be opposed to too much info dumping. Overall, the story was engaging and I enjoyed the characters. It’s also very obvious how much effort and editing went into this because the writing is great!

First of all I feel that the writing in this book is excellent. What a great debut novel and can't wait to see what this author does next!

Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me at 24% in and I will explain why. I don't think it is a flaw of the book, I am just not the reader for it. Rating 3 stars because I do feel that it is very well done and the level of story telling I've experienced in this first 24% does not warrant less stars, however I am not engaged enough to keep reading.

I was initially drawn to this book because of the unique aspect of getting the MMC's POV with the FMC being the "enemy" (let her be the villain for once, as a treat!!). However the book was a too sci/fi for me and a lot of the world building was going over my head. I craved more dual POV from the start. I know there will be a romance subplot but as a reader I really thrive off getting tension/banter as soon as possible in the story as it makes me invested and needing to know will they/won't they/how will they. I was shocked to learn how young Jesse was (14) as I envisioned him a lot older and this kind of shifted the story for me. I can stretch to relating to a male POV's but stretching to then relating to someone so young was tough.

I do feel like there are many readers out there who would LOVE this book. I feel like this could be a good read for those who typically read dystopian lit to dip their toes into fantasy.

Extremely ambitious world-building in this sci fi fantasy debut.
Jesse’s entire village (and family) mysteriously drops dead and any survivors killed by the Red Demon. Jesse escapes, determined to discover the truth and kill the Red Demon.

<b>Step one: survive the night. Step one thousand: kill the Red Demon. Somewhere in between, I’d do what Iden suggested: find other Chaeten, avoid Asri, get help from the empire.
</b>
In this world, there are two human lines who nearly wiped each other out rather than acknowledge their shared humanity. The Chaeten fled the death of their planet, coming as refugees. The Asri - the native humans, couldn’t agree if the Chaeten were coded human enough. Through the last few generations, the Chaeten changed their genetic code to belong.

I do wish this was explained more as things that seem too complicated are explained away by latent genes and Asri ‘magic’ - tech that no one really understands.

Jesse is a bi disaster. An honourable loyal friend, and unwilling to bend on his principles.
He discovers and cultivates a found family and the relationship between Jesse and his new ‘Brother’ is the epitome of heartfelt bromance.

The tumultuous feelings of Jesse is increased by the first person narration, however I have to admit to thinking of Jesse as a girl until 20%. Whoops.

I did find the ending too easy and slightly unsatisfying. This is a book one, so I am hopeful the world and lore will expand and deliver a satisfying story!

All in all, this is an impressive debut with a few teething problems.

Arc gifted by author.