Title: RED QUEEN
Author: Victoria Aveyard
ISBN: 9780062310637
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 383
Source: Private copy
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.
Official Summary
05 January 2022
Wow. That’s it, that’s the review, just wow.
Okay, so this book has honestly left me speechless. I finished this book at 3 am and I was tired but the plot twist at the end honestly woke me up instantly. This author is a genius.
This book is about two different blood types, silver and red. The silvers are born with special abilities and therefore have more power in this world. The reds however are poor, they don’t have any abilities and get conscripted to fight the silver’s wars. Through a series of events Mare, our main character, gets a job at the palace and soon she finds out that she was born with abilities even though she is red-blooded. The queen decides to keep her close and lies to everyone saying she was a lost daughter of a dead silver. Mare has to live like a princess and convince everyone that she is silver. She tries her best to help other reds, which is hard as she doesn’t know who in the palace she can trust. Maven or Cal?
The fact that you always knew there was a good guy and a bad guy in this book but you never knew who it was, was honestly the best part of the book. It had me on the edge of my seat as I constantly got various opinions from different perspectives and each bit of new information made me change my mind about who the bad guy is.
This book has a lot of conflicts, whether that was the politics within the silvers, the politics between the reds and the silvers and of course the red rebellion, which kind of rise against the silvers. The author did such a good job because all of the sides feel justified for their actions. There is no moral black-and-white even though you obviously side with the reds, you can see why the silvers behave the way they do and are justified in their own way.
My favourite character had to be Mare, as she was the only character I wasn’t suspicious of every second page. I will say every character was extremely well written. I loved and hated every side character at least once, it depended on which part of the book I was in.
The world-building in this was perfect. It was quick and got to the point. This makes the book so easy to dive into. I think by chapter three the world-building is pretty much finished, which is great as the beginning of a book is always the hardest part to get through.
This book is a quick read and an easy 5 out of 5 stars for me. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Easily one of the best books I have ever read.
I am starting the second book straight after this, so stay tuned for that review.
About The Author
Author Bio from the Author’s Site
Victoria Aveyard is an author and screenwriter, born and raised in a small town in Western Massachusetts. She has a BFA in Writing for Film & Television from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Her books include four #1 New York Times bestselling and USA Today bestselling novels, two New York Times bestselling novellas, a New York Times bestselling short story collection.
She lives full-time in Los Angeles with her dog Indy. Realm Breaker, the first instalment in her next young adult fantasy series comes out May 4th, 2021.
The Red Queen series is currently being translated into 41 languages and counting.
Thanks for reading let me know what you think in the comments below.
Goodbye, my little book nerds…
