BOOK REVIEW | RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard

Title: RED QUEEN 

Author: Victoria Aveyard (Website | Twitter) 

Publication Date: February 10, 2015

Publisher: Orion 

SYNOPSIS 

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? 

GOODREADS 

Pre-order links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks

With a very stunning cover and enticing synopsis, I’m sure that readers will be patronizing Red Queen once they set their sights of it in book stores near them. I actually have been lusting over this book since June 2014 and after several months, I finally (Yes finally!!!) had the chance to read it already. I can certainly say that Red Queen lived up to the hype that it’s been getting from bloggers across the globe and especially with my expectations.

You want a kick-ass debut novel? Then you better grab a copy of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. She definitely laid down her offering of a thrilling trilogy starter with this one and I can see readers eating it up.

Red Queen’s story takes place in a world wherein people are divided in to two social classes: Silvers and Reds. The Silvers are the powerful people in their community. I’m not just pertaining to them in a sense that they are the ones ruling their society but these Silvers are gifted with god-like powers. As for the Reds, they are mere commoners. Reds are plain human beings with no power and who are constantly suffering from poverty and of being dragged into the front lines of the on-going war in their nation.

The story line and conflict for Red Queen is basically rooted from the cruelty being done by the Silvers to the Reds and Mare’s (our main character) will to change their society. Her determination to change it will lead her into the depths of the Silvers, confounded with how things work for them and be dealt with a trick card on whom to trust.

Red Queen is vividly and deliciously written. The world Aveyard created was easy to imagine and to follow through since she wrote it in such a way that you won’t be put off with different aspects of the book being thrown in your way. Once I started reading it, I can’t even put it down. It’s a very addicting read. I was fascinated with the different powers that these Silvers have. The labels are very appealing and easy to remember. Strongarm. Swift. Telkies. Greeny. Oblivion and many more. The lessons and training sessions were so much fun to read too. 

The pacing worked perfectly well in keeping the readers up on their tippy toes and by having the story flow so smoothly with no dull moments. But in turn, there were some parts that were forfeited and didn’t become too believable for me; such as the decision-making phases and the romance thingo going-on in the story. Hah, maybe that’s why I was able to see through the story and anticipated that plot twist.

That plot twist!!!

Even though I’ve been anticipating for it to happen, it still hit me hard and got my head spinning countless number of times. I have to give it to Victoria Aveyard, for she really knows how to toy with her reader’s minds and emotions. Just wow with the intertwined betrayals in this book. Betrayals at its finest, guys! I’m still mind blown with how this book ended; it was perfect for a debut novel and first book of a trilogy. It ended with a promise of great things to come in the next books.

“Anyone can betray anyone.”

There were some elements in Red Queen’s world/story that tend to be reminiscent of other books, though. Red Queen gave me a mix of book feels – The Hunger Games, The Selection, X-Men, Game of Thrones, Grisha Trilogy and more. I guess this could go both ways – some will enjoy it and some will be annoyed. As for me, I did enjoy it to some extent but there were parts that made me roll my eyes. Like when this particular line appeared, “Revolution needs a spark and even sparks burn”. Too much Hunger Games and Katniss-ish feel, right? But despite that, Victoria Aveyard was still able to deliver and manage to suck me into her intricate and awesome fantasy world. Thinking about it know, this actually made me excited more to continue on with this trilogy and got me real curious as to how Aveyard will separate it from those mentioned book. That's going to be a challenge for her. 

For me, Mare Barrow’s voice is already there but still lost among the sea of awesome YA female leads. Maybe because I was waiting for a defining moment here in Red Queen on who Mare Barrow is. Yes, at the beginning of the story she showed that she’s brave and will do everything she can to save someone she loves. But then as it progresses I got disappointed with her because she turned into this character who easily trusted people and has been effortlessly swayed numerous times to whichever direction/decision she’s being propelled to. I know, I know that those were used to move the plot along and add in several layers to the story as well but then those aren’t the ones you would want for your character to be remembered, right? So surely, I’m expecting more from her character in the next book and hoping that her own personality will shine through already.

Just thinking of how Red Queen ended, I’m sure Book 2 will definitely be a crazy read! There are a lot of things that’s bound to go down in that book and so much world building elements that need to be explored further. There are overlapping conflicts between characters that are needed to be dealt with and heinous villains present in the story.  I’m so excited for the next book! That being said, I definitely recommend for you to scour your book stores now and pick up a copy of Red Queen! It’s a book you surely wouldn’t want to miss!

We will rise, Red as the dawn.

RATING