Book: Red Queen, #1 of 4
Series: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher and Publication Date: Harper Teen, 02/10/15
Pages: 383
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian, Paranormal Romance
Rating: 
My Review in a Nutshell:
How amazing is the Red Queen? Well, I was so engrossed, that I attempted to eat hot wings and read at the same time. I put an entire bone in my mouth without realizing and almost died. It’s that good.
What’s It All About?
The world is divided by blood, if you bleed Red, you are the inferior race, forced to live in slums and work for the Silvers and fight their wars, and the deaths continuously rise. The Silvers, well, bleed Silver, but their god-like powers is what makes them “special”, and in control of the Reds. Mare, a seventeen year old Red girl with no skill-set has somehow landed a position as a maid in the Silvers palace, being surrounded by the people she hates, is challenging. Even more so when Mare and the Silvers discover she has Silver powers. The Silvers force her into being a princess, hiding her in plain sight from the public, and if she steps out of line- she’s dead. Mare learns rather quickly that you cannot trust anyone, and everyone is out to get you. Even so, Mare boldly assists the Red Guard (a secret army of Reds), in an attempt to bring down the Silver’s kingdom. Freeing the Reds from a life of slavery.
My Thoughts?
The Red Queen reminded me of Hunger Games, but not so much to where it felt like a knock off. The first forty pages kind of dragged, then immediately picked up the pace in an explosion of 50 sporadic climaxes filled with action and heart-stopping moments. Aveyard dances to the beat of her own drum: love triangles? Psshh.. More like love SQUARE; making you wait 200 pages for an issue to resolve? NOPE, more like 20 pages. My husband told me this would be an insult to Game of Thrones, but I am not a very good listener, so…. The gore, politics, soulless characters and their betrayals gave me that same “WTF just happened” vibe as GoT. Sorry, Husband.
On to the good stuff! Romance, there IS romance, but it’s laced throughout the story rather than being the focal point. Which surprisingly, I enjoyed. The main plot was interesting enough to where I didn’t feel as though I was being jipped out of a good love story. Not to mention, Mare manages to deal with the obvious crisis, while not drowning in teenage love issues. Basically, she isn’t a love-sick idiot, I adore her as a heroine. She is witty, strong, determined and has her priorities in check. Dystopian/romances have been done to death, as well as current world issues being at the center of it all (corrupt politicians, racism, unfair wages), but by combining all of the other amazingness that I mentioned, Red Queen stands out as an original.
This book is worth reading, paranormal addicts will be happy, as well as dystopian lovers. You can’t go wrong with this combination. The plot, characters, action and romance all receive an A+ from me! GO BUY IT! You won’t regret it. Three cheers for Mare!
My Favorite Quotes:
“The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.”
“Anyone can betray anyone.”
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