Review: Red Queen

Title: Red Queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Pages: 383

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: February 10th 2015

 

Synopsis via Goodreads:

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.

 

REVIEW:

Red Queen as you all probably know has had beyond lots of hype around it for months. This was one of those cases for me where I think the hype hurt it. I know I am probably the only person in the world who thinks though. I went into the book expecting to have my mind blown but this didn't happen for me. I did enjoy the book though! I just spent a lot of the time wondering why everyone thought it was so exceptional. If there hadn't been so much hype I may have given it a higher rating but because of this hype I did find myself disappointed.

 

Don't take what I said above as a "I did not like this book" because I did. I definitely did enjoy the book. The plot was interesting and there was action but I thought it was up to par with lots of other fantasy books out there not above them like others think.

 

The one specific downfall for me was I did not end up feeling a connection with or between any of the characters. I felt disconnected from them and because of that I don't think I was invested in the story as much. Which made the reading a little slow going for me, I also did not see the chemistry in any of the possible romances.

 

The writing in the story was great though and I really enjoyed the plot. I thought the plot was well planned out and I did think it was unique. I really enjoyed the aspect of the rebellion too. I enjoy books about the lower class coming together to over throw the higher power. I also did not see the plot twist coming. This added a little more oomph to the book at the end. I give Aveyard a ton of credit for this. I am excited to see where she takes this story next and will be picking up the sequel.

 

If you enjoy fantasy books about war/rebellions, deceit, and betrayal I would suggest picking up Red Queen.