Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard


Release Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
400 Pages
Received: Borrowed
Format: Hardcover


Rating:





















Description: 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: This book has been one of my most anticipated books pretty much since it was announced. I have drooled over it, begged for it, maybe even dreamed about it. With that much hype I was afraid that it was doomed to not meet my expectations. I mean Graceling is one of my favorite fantasy books of all time, and I really enjoyed the first Selection book. But I can happily say that this book lived up to the crazy hype machine.

I really like Mare. She’s a very real and well rounded character, though I had to shake if off a little bit when she said she didn’t like reading. 🙂 I find her very easy to relate to and to respect. I just wish that there weren’t so many guys on her mind. But hey, she’s 17. As for the princes, I really liked one more than the other. Those who have already read the book will know how that worked out and how sad I am about it.

What I like so much about this book is that you’re never really sure who the true villain is. Is it the Queen? The rebels? The Silvers as a group? Until the end of the book you’re never really sure about anyone’s intentions other than Mare’s. Heck, I’m still not sure about some of the characters’ intentions. I like to be kept guessing like this. There’s a lot of grey in this world, and I enjoy that it’s not a black and white Red vs Silver, good vs evil kind of thing. Not everyone in every group is good or bad.

If you enjoy books that keep you on your toes then this book is for you. The politics are rich and any wrong move can get a whole lot of people killed, which is what I loved so much about Graceling. I predicted a few of the twists but that might just be because I’m thinking like a writer right now while I outline by own project. I certainly wouldn’t call it a predictable story. It really does live up to being one of my most anticipated books of the year.

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