Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red QueenRed Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen #1
Published by: HarperTeen on February 10, 2015
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 400
Source: Edelweiss
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn't know she had. Except . . . her blood is Red.

To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.

From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.

I need to say right off the bat that THE ENDING KICKS ASS!! It was so exciting, intense, and full of death! OMG!

Aaaanyway!

There was a bit of a romance/love triangle in Red Queen but it was subtle. I was glad for that because I don’t think the romance was a strong point. The focus was really on the politics, caste system, oppression, and ‘abilities’.

My favourite thing about the book (besides that KILLER ending) was how much I loved to hate some of the characters. There’s nothing better than a good villain (or two… or three…). I love having someone I can truly despise!

My one complaint about Red Queen was that the betrayal didn’t come as much of a surprise. The book was set up to make me distrust EVERYONE. Even if someone seemed nice and genuine, a character would make a comment or something would happen to make me suspicious. The author constantly reminded us that “Anyone can betray anyone.” Therefore, I was on high alert for SOMEONE to betray Mare at any minute. As a result, the big ‘twist’ at the end wasn’t really a surprise. I think I would have preferred it if the author didn’t make me so suspicious and lulled me into a false sense of security instead.

Overall, Red Queen is a fabulous start of a new series. The ending was so action-packed and really got me pumped for book two! Come on, Red Queen! Kick some Silver ass!

The Verdict

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32 comments

    1. Yeah, I almost feel bad saying this, but betrayal stories are awesome. πŸ˜› They’re just so intense and dramatic.. I love that!

    1. I really hope you love it Tara! I know a few people who didn’t.. so it seems to be a love it or hate it kind of book. Hopefully you fall on the “love it” side!

  1. So I’m torn with this one. I loved the plot or the idea of the plot. But the romance was UGH, BLECH! It wasn’t just a triangle, it was a QUADRANGLE! WTH? I actually think it could have been left out completely and it would have mad for a better story. I will definitely read the next one b/c, yes, the ending! But I was not as impressed as so many others were. Oh and I found it kind of predictable. I was not surprised by either of the twists at the end. I knew both would happen. That killed it a bit for me, as well.

    Brooke recently posted: Stacking the Shelves #55
    1. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it more Brooke. πŸ™ I totally see where you’re coming from!

    1. I completely agree Michelle! Normally predictability can be a big downfall, but I didn’t mind it here because I was SO excited to see everything unravel, even if I was pretty sure I knew what would happen.

    1. Yay!! I’m so glad you’re loving it Lenore! I know a few people who really didn’t like it and that makes me sad because I loved it soooo much!

  2. I really enjoyed this book; the first half wasn’t great in my opinion but the second half was fantastic, I didn’t see some of those twists coming.

    I know a lot of people have said that it’s not the most original book out there, and I can agree with that, but it didn’t really bother me because I was so hooked during the second half. Does it matter if a book is unoriginal if you’re hooked on it? I don’t think so.

    1. I totally agree Rosie. I honestly don’t care if a book is unoriginal if it hooks me in and gets me completely addicted. There are plenty of unoriginal books that bore me to tears, but this was not one of them.

  3. Aw, I’m glad you enjoyed this one – I wasn’t a huge fan, but I did love the ending and that cover is beautiful πŸ™‚ I look forward to the next installment in the series.

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