Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard Series: Red Queen #1
Published by Harper Collins on February 10th 2015
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Love & Romance, Royalty, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
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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.
reading red queen was a frustrating process; i was super interested in the plot, but everything else made me cringe.
the story is like any other dystopian: a poor girl is somehow different and special compared to everyone else. the king and queen notice her – and want her dead. there’s a rebellion going on. and don’t forget the confused love-triangle feelings! what caught my attention was the premise; a world split by blood: silver and red. people with red blood are ordinary peasants who live in the towns. those with silver blood have special powers. our main character, mare, is a red.
i wanted to love this book, i really did! my annoyance started off as just that – an annoyance, but it continued to grow as i read on. i was hoping that if i continued to read it, i would like it better, but it just went on and on and on. the situations was too predictable and stereotypical: our main protagonist is living a dull, ordinary life, then a bunch of things get worse for her. suddenly, she’s the symbol of a rebellion. sound familiar? (psst.. the hunger games) add in a prince trying to find a bride (echm.. the selection?) and a confusing love interest (um.. very misleading) mix it all together and you got red queen! yes, the story is super interesting (which is why and also how i managed to finish it in one day), but it’s predictable. i would be reading a chapter and think, “why am i getting a sense of deja vu? has this happened before?” buuuuut, i’ll admit the plot twist at the end is extremely shocking. (shocking to the point where it’s unbelievable. as in, this-doesn’t-make-sense-no-way-ohmygod) but let’s be honest, besides the interesting storyline and plot twist, i didn’t find this book enjoyable.
i’ve rolled my eyes too many times while reading red queen. it’s gotten to the point where my eyes should’ve rolled out of their sockets. it seemed like mare would constantly repeat the phrase, “i’m different.” yes, we know you’re different. not only have you shown us, but you’ve repeated the phrase six hundred times. i wanted to slap her across the face. however, there would be moments of clarity. it would feel as if the character actually had feelings: she was sassy, witty, and thorough. but then, mare would go back to being her annoying self and the alter-ego would *poof* disappear. she is (usually) indecisive and overdramatic – the typical ya “heroine.” i found it hard to connect with her thoughts – on second thought, i found it hard to connect with any of the characters. the closest it came to was, “oh, that’s nice” or, “um that’s unfortunate.” the main male character would either be a complete asshole or extremely compassionate. okay?? i couldn’t see any of the characters; they were murky and inconsistent.
the love triangle, square, hexagon thing is confusing to no end. it starts off with one guy, then another appears and the first guy is disregarded, then another guy appears and i don’t know what to think. if you want to be friends, then just be friendly. if you want something more, then make a move. she was teetering on the edge of just-friends and love-of-my-life for all three guys. please, make up your mind! it seemed like the author wanted to simultaneously make the romance a small and big part of the story.
overall, this book was irritating beyond my comprehension. the storyline had the potential to be so much better. i was expecting it to be so much better (which i clearly should not have). i will probably be reading the next book (ugh, more mare) simply because the cliffhanger was quite good and i’m giving it a second chance. not fun to read, but it was so interesting.. UGH. do you understand my struggles???
[rating-report]
how did you feel about this book? let me know in the comments!
xoxo,
alexandra
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I felt the exact same way! A lot of it was just like “ugh make up your mind already” but reading on because of the cool powers…
yes!! it was like a mashup of a bunch of YA novels that already exist, plus cool powers and annoying characters.
Great review. Had me chuckling at points xD
i felt the same way while reading red queen omg. the plot was sooo slow and i had to constantly make myself pick it up again and finish it. the love triangle/square/whatever it was was very confusing. i agree with you completely with the whole echoes of other stories thing as well. overall, it wasn’t what i thought it would be. with all the hype, i was sort of disappointed, as i spent my money to buy it in hardcover as well!