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R e d Q u e e n
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
"Power is a dangerous game"
I immediately borrowed the book when I found it as I have heard that it was a great read and I am happy to say those reviews are true! Red Queen is a dystopian, young-adult fiction book set in a world of Silvers and Reds. The Reds suffer from poverty and inferiority under the Silvers who have powerful, god-like abilities. The story follows a seventeen-year-old Red teenage girl, Mare Barrow, from the poverty-stricken town of Stilts who finds herself in the Silver's royal palace after a series of events only to realize that she too holds Silver like powers. Fearing her unknown ability, the royal Silver family decides to hide and mask her as a lost descendant of an old family house in order to keep her in control. However, within the confined walls of the palace, Mare strives to find out her true potential and start to support a rebel group, an act that could lead to her death. I found Red Queen to be a mixture of several books I have read: the rebellion over the royal palace in the Selection series by Kiera Cass and the idea of a hidden power from the Snow Like Ashes trilogy by Sara Raasch. I found Mare's character development a bit plain as I wanted her to become stronger and more independent. However, I was still satisfied with the ending and her choices. Overall, I enjoyed the suspense in the book and can't wait to get started on the next book of the series.
« r a t i n g : ★★★★★ »
W A R N I N G
You are now entering my rant about this book that will contain spoilers. If you haven't read the book and want to, I advise you to not go past this line. Otherwise, enjoy my (pretty long) rant!
r a n t
ALL RIGHT RED QUEEN. I really really do like this book. I've been in a royal fantasy mood ever since I finished reading the Snow Like Ashes trilogy, and this book quenched my thirst for it. I'm also currently having a thing for strong female characters who lead the pack. However, like I said in my review, I really wanted Mare to grow a bit stronger in her personality. I felt like she was just floating around and going along with the rules. I wished that she fought back and rebelled a bit more. With that aside, I'm still really proud of her for deciding not to choose anyone when Maven asked her in the dungeon. Both boys betrayed and lied to her, of course she wouldn't let her heart fall for any of them after what happened.
And that leads me to the two princes, Maven and Cal. If you asked me who I would pick between the two, it would be Maven, or actually, the pretend Maven. I shut Cal away from my heart right after he decided that the only way to take action against the imbalance of Reds and Silvers was to listen to his father and continue fighting, which means more conscripted Reds and more deaths. I thought Cal would turn out to be kind hearted and empathetic, but it turns out he was only sympathetic. I never liked him since then even though he might've shown some sadness over the issue. Maven, on the other hand, actually feels injustice and acts on it. He even joins the Scarlet Guard - a rebel group full of Reds - when he's a Silver of royalty, the people who the Scarlet Guard are after. He takes action and benefits the group by providing them with names and crucial information. He knows how hard it is for Mare to settle into this mask of being a lost child from a royal house and helps her overcome it.
It was such a shame that all of it was just an act, well played that it fooled everyone including me. It was then that I felt slight pity for Cal as he realised his brother was not who he thought he was and the horror he had to go through as he watched himself kill his father, his mind controlled by the Queen. The only thing that comforts me about Maven's huge betrayal was that his mother, Queen Elera, probably had a hand in brainwashing him into this. It ws a relief Cal and Mare hadn't died and that her small period of training managed to get her safe. The last shocker (wow what a pun) was SHADE. OMG SHADE. The book didn't exactly talk much about Shade, but the news of his death when Mare sneaked back home had me close to tears. So to see him alive and well was a huge relief. Even better when he revealed that he himself was of similar blood type to Mare with the ability to jump or teleport.
The blurb of the next book tells us that Mare is starting her search for others like her, so I'm expecting more of leader Mare to appear in the book. Till next time!