Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release: February 10, 2015

Series: Red Queen

Pages: 383 (ARC)

Review: 5 Stars

Synopsis:

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.

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Review:

If you haven't noticed, I've been neglecting the blog a little bit. While there were many factors (one being my extreme laziness) I also have been in a MAJOR reading slump! But I have returned to the world, this time with a wonderful book in tow!

First Impressions:

If you haven't heard of this book, you must be living under a rock. It is definitely one of the most hyped books that come out this winter, and BOY does it deserve it! I had a chance to get this ARC a week or so ago, and I pounced on it. I've been going through a major reading slump, and decided to go with my instincts and read this. I am so glad that I did. It filled a hole in my heart, I'm pretty sure. A hole left by books such as Throne of Glass and The Darkest Minds. Right off the bat, I knew this was the book for me. If the cover isn't enough, I don't know what I'll do about you. Also, the title, unlike some books, makes sense fairly quickly into the story.

Characters

On of the first major points of wisdom in this book is "Anyone can betray you" which has never been more true. While I generally suspected the betrayers ahead of time, Victoria does an AMAZING job of making me doubt myself. One of the best things was that the main character wasn't necessarily perfect. She was willing to do things to keep her family alive, and wanted to help her people, but she was scared. So scared, that instead of sometimes standing up and shouting "What's wrong with you people?", she waits, feeling guilty all the way. It's nice to know that a character can feel guilt. This novel is definitely character driven. While some books rely on outside sources, this is all within. Ever bad thing that happens, a character did it, even if others don't know that. At certain times, I even managed to sympathize with characters that I hated, which I almost never do. There were characters, who I wanted dead, I hated them so much, but when certain stuff happened, it made even me feel their pain.

Writing

The writing was spot on. I am prone to skim reading, but Red Queen has made me want to break that habit. Multiple times, I found myself missing part of a paragraph and going back to read it. Every word is important. Generally, you have to tell a story in as few words as possible, and this book achieved it with shining glory. I savored each word and wouldn't have it any other way.

World-Building

The world building was done in such a way that it leaves a bit to the reader's imagination, at least for now. The reader does not know if it's a dystopian world where abilities and silver blood manifested over time, a magical world with advanced weaponry, or a combination of both. What the reader does know, is that this world has a LOT of history. I really hope that in the next book we get A) a map and B) some background on the world. It was not imperative to this novel, but I'm simply curious! The world has entranced me for sure. I definitely look forward to finding out what happens next to this story and these characters!

Author Bio:

Born and raised in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a small town known only for its traffic rotary, Victoria grew up painfully normal. The daughter of schoolteachers, she spent most of her time reading books and watching movies, looking for distractions and stories that could take her away. When she was accepted to the University of Southern California, Victoria took her chance and moved cross country. After graduating with a BFA in Writing for Screen & Television, she decided to try her hand at writing a novel. RED QUEEN came out of the terrifying, unemployed year after college.


Currently, Victoria is hard at work editing the second book in the series while pursuing other projects in publishing and screenwriting. She splits her time between Massachusetts, Los Angeles, Target, and Barnes & Noble.

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