Review: Red Queen

Posted 27th February 2016 by Emma in Reviews / 1 Comment

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Also by this author: Glass Sword, King's Cage , War Storm
Series: Red Queen, #1
Also in this series: Glass Sword, King's Cage , War Storm
Published by Orion on February 12th 2015
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, YA Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: from Netgalley
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle, Audible
One Star

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart . . .

Firstly thank you to Orion for accepting my request via Netgalley. I have had this book on my shelf for such a long time and I had heard so much about it that I thought it was about time I read it.

The first thing you notice about this book is the influence of other YA fantasy books. I don’t think this is a bad thing. I enjoyed those books so this gave me hope for this book.

Mare Barrow thinks she’s just a regular red who will live a red life and nothing exceptional will happen to her. She however is very wrong. Mare’s life changes dramatically in this book. I like Mare. Sometimes I thought she was a bit naive and a little too trusting but on the whole she’s a good person and she’s just fighting to survive.

The twist in this book was good. Like really good. I didn’t expect it and that made it all the better. I don’t want to ruin anything so I won’t mention any more on it.

I’m so glad I finally got round to reading this book and I immediately went on to book two (review coming shortly). I honestly cannot wait for book 3.

About Victoria Aveyard

Victoria Aveyard is an author and screenwriter, born and raised in a small town in Western Massachusetts. Both her parents are public school teachers, as well as avid film, television, and literature fans. Victoria grew up on a steady diet The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and LOST. She pursued a degree in Writing for Film & Television at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. After graduating college in 2012, Victoria moved home from Los Angeles and began writing the manuscript that would become Red Queen.

She has since published three #1 New York Times bestselling and USA Today bestselling books, two New York Times bestselling novellas, and continues pursuing her writing career while living full-time in Los Angeles, California.

The Red Queen series is currently being translated into 37 languages and counting.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: