Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Summary from Amazon:

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.

 

My Thoughts:

     Mare Barrow is a Red, which means she is a mere human, and is destined to either work for the god-like Silvers as a laborer for the rest of her life or she is headed off to die on a battlefield.  Not much to look forward to, right?  But Destiny brings Mare to the Silver’s playground and she discovers that there is more to her than just a thief, a soldier, or a laborer.

     You suffer and worry for Mare and her family. You want to trust and care about the princes but are too scared to.  You want to trust and rely on some of the Silvers and some of the Red servants but you’re just not sure who you can trust….Red Queen takes you on an interesting ride through a very uncertain world!

     I have heard a lot of great things about this series so when book one, Red Queen, went on sale I thought to give it a try.  I wasn’t sure that another dystopian type saga was something I could get into but I liked The Hunger Games so why not? 

     At first, I had a little trouble getting into the story because there were just so many people and so many different places, houses, and names to remember that I wasn’t sure I could keep them straight but I shouldn’t have stressed myself! The author does an excellent job of keeping you “in the loop” with everyone and their special abilities so after a chapter or two I got past this issue and was able to enjoy the story.

     The book has a lot of twists and turns and although Mare finds people within the Reds and the Silvers that she trusts, I did not.  I had a feeling about how things would end up and I was right.  Normally, this would bug me, but in this instance it did not matter at all.  The characters are all so intriguing and even though you may guess the end results you will still enjoy the ride getting you there.

     This is considered a YA fantasy novel as all the main characters were teens.  If you enjoyed The Hunger Games or the Divergent series this is in a similar vein.  I liked The Hunger Games but wasn’t that into Divergent as much and in my opinion, Red Queen is better.

3.5/5 stars