Review: Red Queen – Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen – Victoria Aveyard

 

Series: Red Queen #1

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Published: February 10th, 2015

Links: Goodreads   Amazon

 

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.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is responsible for a very lethargic Adina at work recently, there in body if not in mind. I enjoyed this story so much that I just keep reading until the end and so I headed off to work with only a couple of hours sleep. Let just say, it was a quiet day 🙂

Red Queen introduces the world and unenviable life of Mare Barrow. Mare’s world is pretty miserable place, its populace divided by blood into the reds and the silvers. Those with silver blood have magical abilities, power and wealth. Those with red blood are essentially slaves living in poverty and misery. Mare is a red blood, her older brothers have been conscripted to the army and send to die in a futile war. This is the destiny that awaits Mare before a chance meeting with a disguised Silver changes their world forever.

Red Queen was a really enjoyable book. The plot and world were well developed. The contrast between the Silver and Red worlds was stark and heart-breaking. I liked how the author showed that although the life of a red blood was pretty miserable, there were also moments of happiness and laughter. Mare is an interesting main character, she’s tenacious and tough. She’s faced with many difficult decisions, with no easy choices and although her choices can be somewhat questionable, they are understandable. Mare is in a fight for survival.

The supporting were an interesting bunch and I liked how many of them also faced tough choices. I liked the shades of grey in this story, the lack of an easy solution.

All in all, Red Queen was a really good book, with an interesting world and set of characters.

My Rating: 8/10