Story summary:
Set in a futuristic time place, Red Queen tells the complicated tale of a girl named Mare. Mare is a Red, which means she has red blood (duh), and Reds are at the very bottom of the social ladder. At the top? Silvers. Silvers, as Mare describes them, are like gods. Gods that have come down from the heavens and rule the earth. In a more literal sense, however, the Silvers are really just people with silver blood. But that silver blood makes all the difference. It gives them certian abilities that make them much more special—and powerful—than the Reds. Just to name off a few, some can control water, some can control metal, some can control minds. Of course, that's only a few out of the broad array of abilities that Silvers are able to possess. Because they have these abilities, the Silvers believe themselves to be better and greater than the Reds, and so, they spend their time living luxuriously as they rule over the Reds, who spend their time working and living under the poorest conditions possible.
Mare Barrow is just another Red. She's 16 years old, and spends her time adventuring with her best friend Kilorn and pick pocketing to help her family survive through the harsh every-day-Red-life.
One day, Mare suddenly finds herself caught in a whirlwind of events that lead her to discover that she, in fact, is not like any other Red. She has something about her that distinguishes her from both Reds and Silvers, and makes her more powerful than both.
Suddenly, Mare finds herself forced to play the role of a princess-to-be in the luxurious Silver world that she despises more than anything. But instead of sulking, Mare ultimately decides to take advantage of the opportunity to help the miserably-treated Reds, even though it may cost her her life—including those of whom she loves most. Caught in between two completely different worlds, Mare experiences everything from love and betrayal, only persevering for the sake of her people, determined to bring justice and freedom.
Review:
I honestly loved this book so much. The second I turned the last page, I could not believe that it was over! From start to finish, this book was such an attention grabber. Every last detail about the story—from the dystopian setting to the intricate social system—was completely captivating.
So, first, let's talk about the good stuff.
I really enjoyed the first person point of view in the novel. Personally, I'm more of a third-person lover, but this story's point of view was actually well told! The reason I usually dislike first-person novels is because sometimes being in the character's head for too long can result in me being flat-out annoyed with their thoughts by the end of the story. However, this was not the case with Mare in Red Queen. I genuinely enjoyed reading from her perspective. I love her cynical and sometimes satirical personality. It made the story much more interesting than it already was.
I also really loved the world building in this novel! What I have noticed a lot of the time with complicated dystopian novels, is that the world the author will try to build is so complicated that he or she will leave some unintended holes in their world building, causing the reader to have trouble understanding the world. Victoria Aveyard, however, did a very great job at explaining and describing the world of Reds and Silvers in her novel. It was wonderful, really.
Now, onto the ehh... stuff.
There was one thing that kind of irked me in this book—just a little—and that was the ending. Now, I understand that the point of making plot twists and unexpected endings is to leave the reader wanting more. However, I feel like there should be a limit as to how much plot twists you can have. To put it bluntly, I feel like Aveyard slightly overdid the amount of plot twists that should be accepted. Like, during the entire novel there weren't very many plot twists. But suddenly, as I reached the ending...BAM. BAM. BAM! One plot twist after another, and it was pretty overwhelming. I personally feel like it would have been a lot more pleasurable to even out the plot twists as the story went on.
However, please do not think that the ending ruined the greatness of the book. It did not. Not at all. It was very well put together and I know that I will surely read the next book the second it comes out, no doubt about it.
For Victoria Aveyard's debut novel, I truly am amazed. This book was what I called good writing! There is not one person that I wouldn't recommend this book to, as I feel like it is quite an enjoyable read for everyone and anyone!
Rating:
4.5/5
I honestly loved this book so much. The second I turned the last page, I could not believe that it was over! From start to finish, this book was such an attention grabber. Every last detail about the story—from the dystopian setting to the intricate social system—was completely captivating.
So, first, let's talk about the good stuff.
I really enjoyed the first person point of view in the novel. Personally, I'm more of a third-person lover, but this story's point of view was actually well told! The reason I usually dislike first-person novels is because sometimes being in the character's head for too long can result in me being flat-out annoyed with their thoughts by the end of the story. However, this was not the case with Mare in Red Queen. I genuinely enjoyed reading from her perspective. I love her cynical and sometimes satirical personality. It made the story much more interesting than it already was.
I also really loved the world building in this novel! What I have noticed a lot of the time with complicated dystopian novels, is that the world the author will try to build is so complicated that he or she will leave some unintended holes in their world building, causing the reader to have trouble understanding the world. Victoria Aveyard, however, did a very great job at explaining and describing the world of Reds and Silvers in her novel. It was wonderful, really.
Now, onto the ehh... stuff.
There was one thing that kind of irked me in this book—just a little—and that was the ending. Now, I understand that the point of making plot twists and unexpected endings is to leave the reader wanting more. However, I feel like there should be a limit as to how much plot twists you can have. To put it bluntly, I feel like Aveyard slightly overdid the amount of plot twists that should be accepted. Like, during the entire novel there weren't very many plot twists. But suddenly, as I reached the ending...BAM. BAM. BAM! One plot twist after another, and it was pretty overwhelming. I personally feel like it would have been a lot more pleasurable to even out the plot twists as the story went on.
However, please do not think that the ending ruined the greatness of the book. It did not. Not at all. It was very well put together and I know that I will surely read the next book the second it comes out, no doubt about it.
For Victoria Aveyard's debut novel, I truly am amazed. This book was what I called good writing! There is not one person that I wouldn't recommend this book to, as I feel like it is quite an enjoyable read for everyone and anyone!
Rating:
4.5/5
