Hi booklovers
Today I'm going to review Red Queen, which I read in February.
Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: YA, fantasy, dystopia
Format: Paperback
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: YA, fantasy, dystopia
Format: Paperback
*Story:
Imagine living in a world where people are divided by the colour of their blood: Silver if you're high class, Red if you're low class.
The Silverbloods - Silvers - have different powers, the Redbloods - Reds - are the impoverished, working class.
Meet Mare, a Red girl with deadly powers. Once the Silvers discover that Mare has special powers, the royal family wants to convince the Silvers that she is one of them.
Imagine living in a world where people are divided by the colour of their blood: Silver if you're high class, Red if you're low class.
The Silverbloods - Silvers - have different powers, the Redbloods - Reds - are the impoverished, working class.
Meet Mare, a Red girl with deadly powers. Once the Silvers discover that Mare has special powers, the royal family wants to convince the Silvers that she is one of them.
*Characters:
-Mare: a feisty Red about to be conscripted to go to war. She meets prince Cal - although she doesn't know he's the crown prince when they meet. Cal gets her a job as a serving girl in the palace. There, her powers manifest themselves and from there on the story unfolds.
I really like Mare as a charachter because she is a strong character. She tries to deal with all the stuff life has thrown at her. Even in her new situation she tries to fit in, even if it isn't in a way the Silvers - i.e. the Queen - want her to fit in.
-Mare: a feisty Red about to be conscripted to go to war. She meets prince Cal - although she doesn't know he's the crown prince when they meet. Cal gets her a job as a serving girl in the palace. There, her powers manifest themselves and from there on the story unfolds.
I really like Mare as a charachter because she is a strong character. She tries to deal with all the stuff life has thrown at her. Even in her new situation she tries to fit in, even if it isn't in a way the Silvers - i.e. the Queen - want her to fit in.
-Prince Cal: he's the crown prince who is forced to choose his future queen during the Queen's Trial. Even though he doesn't like it, he still thinks this is what's best for his country. Cal is a very strategic person who wants to be a just leader one day. It quickly becomes apparent that he's falling in love with Mare. At one point I thought some of his actions might be a bit predictable, but it turned out I was mistaken.
-Prince Maven: he is the second son, born of the king and his second wife - and current queen. Being the second son, he doesn't have the same responsibilities as Cal, but on the other hand, he's also has the feeling he's being overlooked more often than not. I immediately felt sorry for him, because it seemed like he was destined for a life in his brother's shadows. But then stuff goes down and my whole opinion of him changed.
-Kilorn: He's Mare's lifelong friend. He was an apprentice to a fisherman, but when his mentor died, he was goint to be conscripted. He doesn't really know how he feels about Mare's new life, he's not really fond of Cal or any other Silver.
-Julian: He's Mare's teacher in the palace. He is one of the few people who actually knows that Mare is a Red with Silver powers. Julian is an interesting side-character who tries to keep Mare vigilant. He's constantly reminding her that 'Anyone can betray you'. He wants her to remain herself. He knows firsthand how vicious and deceitful Silvers and more specifically the Queen can be, so he wants Mare to understand that everything is done for a reason and that no one can be trusted.
*Plot:
The distinction between the Silvers and Reds was maybe not very original, but still well excecuted. Sure, it might have been a bit of a cliché, but I still liked the storyline very much. I have to admit that at one point I feared it might become predictable, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that wasn't the case. I know a lot of people saw the plot twist coming, but I didn't.
SPOILER:
The love triangle - or even love square - was tropy and it almost made me roll my eyes. But because prince Maven turns out to be this incredible douchebag, this is somewhat countered.
*World building:
The contrast between the cities of the Silvers and the slumps of the Reds is very well described. Again, this may be a bit of a cliché, but isn't this the case with most dystopian stories? I found myself transported into the world very quicly.
SPOILER:
I liked how the revolution was portrayed and how the contrast between the Silvers and Reds becomes more and more apparent as the story progresses.
*Overall rating:
I really enjoyed this book. Despite some clichés, the story did grip me really fast and I was very curious to see how the plot would unfold further - I have since read Cruel Crown and Glass Sword.
I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.
Have you read this book and if so, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.
Bye for now
Annelies
The contrast between the cities of the Silvers and the slumps of the Reds is very well described. Again, this may be a bit of a cliché, but isn't this the case with most dystopian stories? I found myself transported into the world very quicly.
SPOILER:
I liked how the revolution was portrayed and how the contrast between the Silvers and Reds becomes more and more apparent as the story progresses.
*Overall rating:
I really enjoyed this book. Despite some clichés, the story did grip me really fast and I was very curious to see how the plot would unfold further - I have since read Cruel Crown and Glass Sword.
I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.
Have you read this book and if so, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.
Bye for now
Annelies
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