Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

by Victoria Aveyard

Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood--those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play 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 everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard--a growing Red rebellion--even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Reviewed by inlibrisveritas on

3 of 5 stars

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3.5 Stars
Red Queen is a book of political intrigue and revolution, focused on the rift between the Reds and the Silvers. While Re Queen was a fun read i found that it didn’t bring anything new to the table.

The world-building for Red Queen is almost there, but never quite gets around to answering some of those big questions I had. Silvers are the upper class, separated by their silver blood and their strange abilities. The abilities are definitely really awesome, but I have no clue why they have them or why Mare develops her own. I really liked the overall world that Mare lives in, and the idea of a super powered higher class…but it’s unfortunately something I’ve seen in other books. However, I did enjoy the overall writing style though as it’s quickly paced and Aveyard let’s her characters lead the way.

The characters are where my biggest problem lies. As much as I wanted to love Mare, I could only get myself to like her. She’s sort of…one note and reminds me of a basic version of several other dystopian heroines. Even after a few days of finishing the book I found myself having issues conjuring up what exactly she was like. It didn’t help that instead of focusing on her as a person,especially the person with whom the revolution is connected to, it focuses on her relationships with two princes and her best friend back home. I’ll never get why love geometry is a thing…like is it too much to ask to simply be friends? Not everyone has to fall in love during the single most stressful time in their lives.

I’m definitely interested in seeing how the story plays out because there are some great villains that don’t get enough page time in this one and the rebellion story, while not mind shattering, is pretty good and holds a few promises of surprises to come. But overall I found that this one lacked the depth I needed to truly enjoy it, though it’s certainly fantastic for those who enjoy lighter fantasy fare.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 26 March, 2015: Finished reading
  • 26 March, 2015: Reviewed