Book Review: Red Queen (Red Queen, #1) – Victoria Aveyard

Published February 10th 2015 by HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover, 383 pages
Characters: Kilorn Warren, Gisa Barrow, Tiberias Calore “Cal” VII, Mare Molly Barrow, Maven Calore, Evangeline Samos, Diana Farley, Tiberias Calore VI, Elara Merandus, Julian Jacos, Lucas Samos

Blurb: 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

I know I’m late at the party but since my schedule wasn’t full last week, I was able to finally get my hands on this mega-hit young adult series. ‘even got me  paper back copy of it.

I’m actually not disappointed. I somehow had this preconceived ideas about it because of all the hype and most of my “reader” friends were raving about so I figured that this would be worth my time and I was fairly surprised that I find myself getting its second and third installments on ebooks after reading this first one.

Red Queen is more like the Divergent series meets The Hunger Games although what separate it from the two is the high element of fantasy the author cleverly incorporated with the story. Plot-wise, it isn’t as original but I loved the development of each characters in it.

The pacing of the story was also something to laud about the book. I loved that Victoria Aveyard didn’t drag any part of the story. She was able to really focus on what’s important in each sub-plot.

The only reason I am not giving this a five-star rating is its predictability. It was actually good-predictable but I was maybe hoping for something more original because from the get-go, I’ve already figured who will turn against our protagonist.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I’ve actually finished the second and third book upon writing this review. For the record, I’m not a fan of the brothers. I am 100% #TeamKilorn.

About The Author
Victoria Aveyard graduated from USC, where she majored in screenwriting. RED QUEEN is her first novel. She splits her time between Massachusetts and Los Angeles. You can visit her online at www.victoriaaveyard.com.