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 Berls on

5 of 5 stars

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I've had my eyes on this book since the COVER REVEAL. So please, tell me why it took me so damn long to pick it up? If a friend hadn't loaned it to me, I wonder if I still would be waiting to read it. And I loved it.

I love this concept. It entertains the part of me that loves magical powers you find in magical, fantasy worlds. And it entertains the part that likes dystopian worlds where a group are treated unjustly for some ridiculous reason. In this case it's the color of their blood - the Silver bloods rule and have magical powers, the red bloods don't have anything special and live poor, and are basically fodder for a decades (centuries?) long war.

And then you have the special snowflake. Yeah, I know it's been done. But its fun and I enjoyed seeing her thrust into another world and coming into powers. And what makes it great is the twists and deceit all around. Several twists that I was like "no effing way!!"

Very much looking forward to where the series goes!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 25 May, 2017: Finished reading
  • 25 May, 2017: Reviewed