Book Review 34. Red Queen

Book: Red Queen
Series: Red Queen (#1)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Pages: 320
Published: February 10th, 2015

Synopsis: The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the center of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

“Once, I was afraid of these walls, frightened by such beauty. But I see the cracks now.” 

(I wrote this MONTHS ago, but I only just dug it out of my drafts and published it! It has nothing to do with Alice in Wonderland by the way. Red is in reference to the color of blood.)

First, I'm glad this book is the first part of the series, because this book did not end in a good place. It technically wrapped up what needed to be wrapped up, but I really want to figure out what happens next! Someone get me the next book right now!

So how this series' social hierarchy works is there are two types of people in the world: the Reds and the Silvers, named for their blood color. The Reds are the servants and workers, while the Silvers and the upper class and the royalty. And, to throw a little spice into this premise, the Silvers have super powers. Mare is a Red, but when she finds she has powers as well (a talent no Reds should have) she gets pulled into the Silver court. Her loyalties, however, lie with her blood type, and discontent and talk of rebellion are spreading through the kingdom.

This book took some time to get into. The first half way pretty "eh," but the second half was fantastic. After the party happened (those who read the book will know what I'm talking about), the whole book got kicked into high-gear and just got amazing! I was starting to like the book more and more up to that party, but the first bit kind of frustrated me. I feel like the events that happened to get Mare to the Silver palace just stretched my suspension of belief a little too thin (highlight for spoiler) I mean, come on! First of all, there is almost no chance that Cal would offer her a spot at the castle, even less likely it'd be on the magic-off/princess battle day, and even LESS likely Mare would be clumsy enough to FALL into the arena. And after that, there is no way they would let her be a princess. They would kill her, and claim she tricked everyone with science or something. But once the stage was set, the story and fast-paced and I got a better chance to enjoy it.

The characters were pretty good. We had Mare, and I respected her. She made some bad choices, but she was just trying to do what she thought was best. I really liked her relationship with Kilorn, her childhood best friend who she'd die to protect (and honestly, I ship them more than anyone else in the whole book). Not to mention her power is on the next level, at least compared to a lot of the Silvers. And the princes? She had the eyes of two dashing Silvers with control over the element of fire, one clever and a bit of a rebel and the one brave and loyal to his people. The queen, of course, was one of those villains you love to hate, and everyone else was just lovely in their own way. The real gem about all the characters was the powers. I really want just a master-list of all the different abilities people have, because that was far and beyond the coolest aspect of the whole book.

Actually, I take that back. The coolest part was the plot twist, which I didn't see coming, but totally should have. If this book did not have that fantastic plot twist, it probably would of only gotten three stars, and I probably wouldn't of even bothered to review it.

Alright, to sum it up, beginning is slow, plot twist is amazing, I ship Mare and Kilorn. Sorry this wasn't my best review, but if you're hankering for some YA fantasy, you might want to look here.

-Claire

Want another opinion? Here are some other reviews for Red Queen (may contain spoilers):
Knite Writes
That's What She Read
Words on Paper