After sitting in my TBR pile since June, I finally finished
reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, and can I just say I can’t believe I
waited so long to read it because it is five stars amazing.
To briefly summarize the book, the story takes place in a
world separated by blood color, silver (elite class with powers) or red (low
class with no powers), and the main character is 17-year-old Mare Barrow with
red blood. However she soon
discovers that she has her own power just like members of the silver
elite. Due to circumstances she begins
living at the palace with the silver elite. Fed up with the mistreatment the Reds receive, Mare joins
the Scarlet Guard, a Red rebellion group trying to bring equality. Choosing between the two princes, Cal
and Maven, Mare is forced to make choices and learns first hand that any one
can betray.
Once I started reading Red Queen I literally could not stop
reading. I found myself reading faster just to find out what was going to
happen and I am glad I did. The story is well written and the only part that I
felt was rough was the romance/relationship between Mare and the two princes. I
felt like they were awkward and not very smooth in terms of development,
however it did not ruin the story. I am not sure about others, but maybe
because I watch a lot of Korean dramas, I could sense the betrayal and had
“what if” situations running through my mind as I was reading. Even though there was romance and Mare
was falling for the prince (not naming), her character was never weak. From the
beginning of the story, before she even realized she had powers, you could see
that she was independent and aware of the mistreatment between the
classes. When she joined the
rebellion, despite her feelings towards the two princes she never lets that
cloud her goal to fight for the cause. Even with the greatest betrayal and what
she thought would be the end, she continues to fight and comes out stronger.
And now readers need to wait until next year to find out how much more Mare has
grown, how the relationship with the prince will change and if the Scarlet
Guard will get closer to their goal.
I give the book five stars and if you were a fan of the
Hunger Games, or books of the fantasy/dystopian/romance genre, then definitely
give Red Queen a read.
