Review: Red Queen
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: Orion
Format: Hardcover
Source: library
Pages: 383
Series: Red Queen series
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The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
~~
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started Red Queen (I didn't want to. Cue ninja skills of avoiding all reviews.). I'd seen it around the blogosphere a lot though.
To be honest, at first I was a little disappointed. The pacing was a little slow... there were a lot of things that reminded me of The Hunger Games. Like the Reds (district people) and the Silvers (Capitol people). The main character Mare was short, slender, and nondescript. Mare had a younger, talented sister. Nobody likes Mare really though because she's blunt, steals, etc. I could go on. Even though there were a lot of similarities, I decided to keep reading because it's hard to write about an oppressive society without being similar to the gazillion other YA books featuring oppressive societies. You need the oppressed and the oppressive, you want a character that your readers can identify with and not be intimated by gorgeousness. It's understandable even though it's a little tiring and disappointing sometimes.
One more disappointing thing (but also a work of art) was the romance plot. There was a love triangle. *groans* How long are authors going to keep writing these?? It's not realistic. I've read too many for me to even like them a little bit anymore in most cases.
I read past the first bits of the book though, and got into the complex Silver society and powerful families. And powers (uh, yes). And I felt like Red Queen redeemed itself with its characters and the twisting plot. The aspects of the powers and their origins was fascinating. Mare isn't another Katniss in my opinion.
Everything's jumbled and confused. You don't know who to trust, who's on your side, who could betray you. It's awesome.
I love books that crush my emotions and deal with heartbreak and betrayal and moving on. There was so much of that. I literally had to stop and collect my feels.
I know there are a lot of people who think that it's boring and slow or that it's a rip-off of the many other similar-genre books that exist. I can understand where they're coming from, but I think that Red Queen is a gorgeous work of art and I can't wait for the second book! *squee* It has a title (Glass Sword) and it's cover is going to be revealed soon. :D
My Rating:
LOVE your gif usage xD but yeah I've heard that Red Queen was a rip off of other stories too, but the thing is, I LIKE ALL THOSE OTHER STORIES. So, I'll probably enjoy Red Queen. Even if it isn't all that original, i still expect it to be entertaining as heck xD
ReplyDeleteHehe thanks :D Right? For me, even though I can tell there are parts of other stories in there I don't mind unless it's pretty much a clone. I thought it was pretty entertaining especially after the thing happened. ;) And you're my 40th follower! YOU BEAUTIFUL YOU.
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