Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart …

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Song for This Book: Princess of China by Coldplay ft. Rihanna

5/5

I’m writing this review after reading this book for the second time. Not because it took two tries to get through it, just because life circumstances led me to barely remembering it by the time I read it the second time.

I will admit that it’s not the most original thing in the world – lots of common themes that you find in other YA novels: dystopian, racism and discrimination, heroine with special abilities, so on so forth. The same, old themes that we’ve seen time and time again since the Hunger Games got really popular. What makes this book good is not using the tried and true genre of the generation. It’s every other part of it.

The Good Points of Red Queen:
-The characters are fleshed out well, with their own personalities, ideas, and abilities.
-Secret motives!!! Anytime an author gives their characters secret motives deserves bonus points in my book, and everyone in this book seems to have one. These motives really drive the story forward, and catch you off guard just as you think you’ve got it figured out.
-It’s fast-paced enough to keep you hooked, but not so much that it feels rushed.
-The world is well thought out, and while we don’t get as may detail as I would have liked, it’s clear that the author knows their world well, and how to work things within it. Everything fits together nicely.

The Downsides of Red Queen:
-I would have liked to know more about the red and silver world. A bit of history just to help understand why it is the way it is.
-It’s not the most original story in the world. There’s something to be said for being able to take a popular genre and subject matter and make it great, but it would have been nice to have a few surprises along the way.
-Maven is not a real person, and I therefore cannot punch him in the face for annoying me the entire book.

Great book, definitely one you should at least give a try. Now, on to Glass Sword!