The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
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At last I have found another novel that I can pine over for a few years like my previous obsessions which included Twilight, Vampire Academy, The Hunger Games and House Of Night. Red Queen was such an amazing and gripping read, the reviews I saw/read prior to reading this novel obviously did not lead me astray.
Red Queen is the type of fantasy novel you would read if you enjoyed The Hunger Games or series I've heard of that are similar such as Red Rising or The Selection. This read had me constantly wanting more; as much as it confused me and had me writhing in emotional pain, it has to be one of the best books I have ever read. I love how Mare is so straight forward in her thinking and how she feels about the superiority of the Silvers over the Reds. She doesn't give two shits about what anyone thinks of her and she would do anything for the ones she loves, even if it means that the Silvers will take Mare and leave her loved ones to live their lives in peace and safety.
I felt like the relationship between Mare and Cal wasn't really developed as much as I would have liked it to be, but now that I think about it, too many novels have ended up making the protagonist and love interest fall in love or develop a relationship too fast and this makes me realise that this is more of a realistic situation which makes the whole story all the more interesting. Maven was definitely a great character and I loved him through the majority of the novel. He was so convincing and made me even ship him and Mare even though I wanted Mare and Cal to be together so badly - for some reason there's always something intriguing about a forbidden romance. Unfortunately I never really thought that Kilorn had a chance with Mare because the relationship between the two at the beginning was more of what a friendship would be or a relationship between a sister and a brother. Funny enough I always thought that Maven was better suited for Mare's sister, Gisa. Imagine that plot twist!
The plot twist at the end was so mind blowing and confusing that I had to stop reading for a moment and let it process in my mind for a bit. I never saw that coming and I definitely think it will stun readers alike. I knew of a plot twist whilst reading the novel and never did I think that it would be what it was. My mind has been reeling ever since my eyes left the last page.
Victoria Aveyard has done an amazing job writing this novel. I have never read anything by her before, nor had I heard about her or any of her screenplays that she has created. Thankfully I can advise my readers and viewers that she is definitely an author to consider as her book has been written so beautifully and has been thought through so well that it has made me rethink my approach on how I want to write my own book.
I have given Red Queen 5 out of 5 stars because I really can't find anything I don't like about it (apart from someone who I really liked ended up dying which kind of hurt my feelings!)
