‘Red Queen’ by Victoria Aveyard

‘Red Queen’ by Victoria Aveyard.

“Their blood is a threat, a warning, a promise. We are not the same and NEVER WILL BE”.

Publishers: HarperTeen and Orion.

Published: February 10^th, 2015.

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian YA.

Page length: 383.

“This is a word divided by blood” – Red or Silver.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from the stilts, nothing will ever change. Reds will continue to be mistreated and treated as outcasts. Mare discovers herself working within the Silver palace, surrounded by those she hates the most. SILVERS! She quickly discovers that despite her Red blood. She possesses a deadly hidden power of her own one that threatens and endangers Silver control. But power it seems is a dangerous game. In this world driven by blood who will win? Will it be Red or Silver?

We finally went out and bought this book. The book that all YA bloggers have been talking about with the recent release of ‘Kings Cage’, the recent addition to the series!

Firstly, we absolutely loved this fantastic cover! Once you start to read the book, you will find that the colours shown on the cover will tie in with the plot. Throughout this world, the Silvers control everything. They are all ‘elite’ and they see themselves as important above the lives of the Reds due to their incredible skills. Skills like having the ability to control fire, metal and even minds. Whereas the Reds are portrayed as a waste of space, the dirt hidden underneath our noses. They are described as poor and insignificant, so they are given low paid jobs with the tasks of serving the Silvers.

Even though hearing some negative reviews of this book before we read it, all we can say is those people were wrong! We absolutely fell in love with the ‘Red Queen’. Even though the plot was quite similar to other dystopian novels that we have read like ‘The Selection’ and ‘The Hunger Games’, the novel had many unique aspects that we absolutely loved.

Mare Barrow the main character despises Silvers. However, she then unlocks a power that she never realized she possessed. She broadcasted herself to upper class Silvers during a pageant for girls of the highest houses in which showcase beauty, splendor and strength to compete in winning the hearts of the princes Cal and Maven; winning the rights to the title queen or princess. Mare is thrown into their world! Instead of instant death, Mare is betrothed to the prince Maven taking on her new title Lady Mareena Titanos. She joins a rebellion to overthrow the government to allow for change to stop the cruelness of how the Reds are treated.

We loved the way Mare grows over the course of the novel. She is intelligent and instinctive. Her sass and energetic wit is exhilarating throughout the novel. Mare works hard to achieve her goals, she perseveres throughout challenges and the threats that she might lose the people she loves. We can’t wait for her story to unfold throughout the next books in the series.

We were impressed by Victoria Aveyard’s writing throughout the novel. We would come across a passage and the words would be electrifying. They would be rebellious as they made our blood boil and our hearts squirm!

In the beginning of the book, we were dubious. In the middle, we were astonished, and by the end we couldn’t put the book down! After reading this book we were left in awe.

The biggest plot twist through betrayal, death and corruption will amaze you, you will not see it coming. The love triangle will have you on the edge of your seats.

Who will Mare choose, Cal or Maven and what could Maven have done to leave such an epic betrayal?!

Mind blowing and amazing, this book is highly recommended to YA and fantasy readers. It’s an extremely quick read and an intriguing story.

Book Rating: 5/5.