Red Side Story

A Shades of Grey Novel Shades of Grey, #2

by Jasper Fforde

EPUB, 480 pages

English language

Published May 7, 2024 by Soho Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-64129-629-8
ASIN:: B0CKMMWKM2

The long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Grey—in an EXCLUSIVE EDITION for North American readers, complete with a never-before-published short story

“Fforde's books are more than an ingenious idea. They are written with buoyant zest and are tautly plotted . . . and are embellished with the rich details of a Dickens or Pratchett.” —The Independent

Welcome to Chromatacia, where life is strictly regulated by one’s limited color perception. Civilization has been rebuilt after an unspoken “Something that Happened” five hundred years before. Society is now color vision–segregated, everything dictated by an individual’s visual ability, and governed by the shadowy National Color in far-off Emerald City.

The long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Grey—in an EXCLUSIVE EDITION for North American readers, complete with a never-before-published short story

Twenty-year-old Eddie Russett, a Red, is about to go on trial for a murder he didn’t commit, and he’s pretty certain to be sent on a one-way trip to the Green Room for execution by soporific color exposure. Meanwhile, he’s engaged in an illegal relationship with his co-defendant, a Green, the charismatic and unpredictable Jane Grey. Negotiating the narrow boundaries of the Rules within their society, they search for a loophole—some truth of their world that has been hidden from its hyper-policed citizens.

New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde returns to his fan-favorite Shades of Grey series with this wildly anticipated, laugh-out-loud funny and darkly satirical adventure about two star-crossed lovers on a quest to survive—even if it means upending their entire society in the process.

2 editions

Amber Herbert reviewed Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde (Shades of Grey, #2)

A Serviceable Middle Book in a Planned Trilogy

4 stars

This sequel is not nearly as entertaining or well structured as Shades of Grey. Fforde spends a fair amount of time reestablishing what you learn from the first novel and occasionally removes Eddie from important happenings, stripping the book of its predecessor's charm and effortless immersion. While Red Side Story isn't a poor read, it does, unfortunately, suffer from middle book syndrome. You learn a lot more about the vast workings of this futuristic world but don't get much closer to Jane's and Eddie's goal of titanic change. This novel is also far less humorous, taking on a straighter approach that isn't inherently a bad thing but does leave a different impression.

Rain's Reading Log reviewed Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde (Shades of Grey, #2)

3 more years for a conclusion

4 stars

Spent a little too much time reestablishing what we already knew in the first third of the book but all in all a good follow up. The pacing is a little off but I chalk that up to being a middle book in a trilogy. I really hope I can still be interested in this series when the final book comes out.