Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Synopsis: (straight from the book)
Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood- those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles; she discovers a power of her own- an ability she didn't know she had. Except her blood is Red. To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to once of his own sons.
As Mare is drawn further into the silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard- the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince- and Mare against her own heart.
hey guys! this is my first review on this blog, so i hope you like it!
*i tried to be critical, but the book was just so good it was tough to say bad things about it!*
when i read red queen, i had just finished the harry potter series and was thinking "how in the world is any other book going to live up to this?!"
let me tell you, red queen certainly did not disappoint. it was one of the few books i read this year that was able to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. it was action packed and lovely. there were so many unexpected twists and turns and i loved it!
characters - 4.5/5 stars
mare: i'm a red girl in a sea of silvers and i can't afford to feel sorry for anyone.
i think she had the greatest character development out of everyone. she was brave, smart, sassy, and i absolutely loved her! always willing to fight for her family and friends in the scarlet guard, and always willing to fight for whats right. she was a strong character, and i can't wait to read more about her in glass sword!
cal: i like to see how things really are in the kingdom, instead of being told by advisers and diplomats. thats what a good king would do.
i was iffy about him throughout almost the whole book. it was always hard to tell whose side he was on, mare's or the king's. i ended up loving him by the end of the book, though! he proved himself to be a good guy, despite being the son of tiberias and elara.
maven: i told you to hide your heart once. you should have listened.
i was iffy about maven as well, but liked him better than cal at first. he was such a sweetheart to mare, helping make sure she adjusted to her new life. i found it intriguing that they shared this one thing in common: "being the shadow of the flame," or in other words, living in their siblings' shadows. mare in gisa's, maven in cal's. i think this was the main factor that really sparked their friendship.
kilorn: you've made your choices. now i'm making mine.
i'm really glad that he was in the story, that mare had a childhood friend around given her current situation. it was like having that little piece of home, that sense of familiarity while going through everything. i didn't like when they argued, though. their bickering got annoying at times, but i understood why it had to be included in certain points. overall their friendship was great and i ended up liking kilorn a lot more than i thought i would!
tiberias & elara: if you know someone's fear, you know them.
i didn't really like either one of them at first, mainly because they were the type of ruler who said they were doing what was right for their country, when everyone knows that they obviously weren't. they were both cruel and brutal, but i guess thats how its gotta be when you're king and queen.
julian: words can lie. see beyond them.
okay, does he remind anyone else of dumbledore? yes? no? maybe? he was like mare's mentor, helping her figure out who she was, just as dumbledore did for harry. anyways, i loved julian and was really glad that he always had her back. he was super smart, and his power was super cool. i mean, being able to basically hypnotize someone into doing what you want? scary, but cool.
lucas: you know, we'd get there a lot faster if you actually moved.
BROTP. even though we don't see too much of lucas in the story, i really liked how he and mare were able to just talk to each other on the way to lessons. i loved the friendship they had and how they both seemed like themselves when they talked. since this is one of my favorite BROTPs, i must include my favorite scene from the book:
M: "are you going to babysit me every day or just until i learn my way around?"
L: "what do you think?"
M: "here's to a long and happy friendship, officer samos."
L: "likewise, my lady."
M: "don't call me that."
L: "whatever you say, my lady."
the barrow family: gisa, don't be too much of a show-off even though you deserve to be. mare, don't be such a brat all the time, and stop beating up that warren boy. dad, i'm proud of you. always. love all of you.
FAMILY GOALS. i love every single one of them with all my heart. the fact that the bree, tramy, shade, and their father all went to war and came back alive is incredible. gisa was super talented in sewing and making clothing and stuff (something i always wish i could do). it made me both sad and happy that mrs. barrow cried so much over her children. like awww. if that doesn't shout LOVE, i don't know what does.
the scarlet guard: rise, red as the dawn.
coolest. rebel. group. ever.
farley always has a plan, and a backup plan for basically everything. walsh disguised herself as a servant and spied on silvers right under the kings nose. i mean, seriously?! how amazing is that?! i think the scarlet guard will do some pretty awesome stuff in glass sword, and i can't wait to read about it!
Plot - 4.5/5 stars
the plot in this book was INCREDIBLE. i never knew what to expect next, and like i said earlier, it kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time i was reading! THE BETRAYAL AND PLOT TWISTS IN THIS BOOK WERE UNREAL. SO GOOD, GUYS. SO. GOOD.
there were a few moments where the story moved a little too quickly, and i'd have to reread a paragraph a few times to comprehend what was happening. this was probably done so that we could get to the action-packed scenes quicker, but it was a bit much for me.
the world it is set in, where the silvers and reds are divided, was really interesting. victoria was able to describe it in such great detail. it was nice to be able to see the differences in their living standards, and this definitely helped me understand why reds hated silvers so much.
last but not least, THE SCARLET GUARD. rise, red as the dawn. first of all, thats such a cool name for a rebel group. second, they were a really strong rebel group. in previous books i've read that included a rebel group, they often failed quite a few times before managing to get anywhere. the scarlet guard was able to outsmart the king and queen, who then had to cover it up with a fake story and act as if it was just another casual mishap. HA.
overall, i give this book 4.5/5 stars! definitely one of my 2015 favorites and i highly recommend it! oh, and did i mention that the sequel, glass sword, comes out february 9th? I'M SUPER EXCITED!
