People don't realize how important having an editor is until you already have several works under your belt. It's almost like a Dunning-Kruger graph. The more experience one has with writing, the more one realizes how inexperienced they truly are. Writers so often have a clear vision of a story in their minds that they want to execute that they are willing to follow it right out of the gate. But nothing is perfect in its first conception. It needs outside eyes to mold it and provide an extra opinion. There are a lot of great ideas and moments within Red Rapture, but it definitely needed a little honing to make it the best version of itself it could be.
The book is stylized a bit like a colorized manga. Admittedly, it's not an art form I have a lot of experience in, but there's still a lot to like about this story. It takes place in the future when certain humans are granted god-like powers. For the most part, it seems as if these individuals are shunned by society, only allowed to use their powers on certain occasions. The core of the story revolves around a girl the boy attempts to shelter as captors arrive to bring them in. There's also a character arc of the boy questioning his religious faith in this cruel and unforgiving world.
The book works well for what it's trying to accomplish. The art fits the style and the story really picks up around halfway mark. Although there were plenty of crossbar I's to drive me crazy, the book does have a unique lettering style that worked for its eclectic characters. Once that halfway mark is reached, the action and stakes are palpable and the book can be enjoyed a lot more. It's getting to that point that's an issue. There is a lot of narration and world building to start, much of which is not needed. The story has a lot of "telling" instead of "showing" as the character's convictions are spoonfed to us, which an editor would have helped with a lot. Also, the dialogue could have used a lot of tightening. This opening chapter in the story probably could have been cut by half, which would have increased the pacing and eliminated a lot of padding. Hopefully, future chapters keep up the momentum that the second half of the book had rather than get trapped in the over narration of the first half.