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Natasha reviews Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

red queenTITLE: Red Queen
SERIES #: Red Queen #1
CHARACTERS: Mare & Cal
AUTHOR: Victoria Aveyard
PUBLICATION DATE: February 10, 2015
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

REVIEW:
Would it be too much to ask to have a YA book that does NOT include a love triangle, or one in which not every single male character is secretly in love with the heroine? Just. One?

Ok, I just needed to get that out. Now, while this book has many of the to be expected aspects of a YA novel that I am so sick of, it was still interesting enough for me to finish – I just rolled my eyes several times and pushed through. The world that Aveyard created is interesting, but we don’t get a good grasp of its scope and purpose in the first book. We spend most of the book in the royal palace learning about the goings on of the elite Silvers. I’m hoping the world will be expanded much more in the subsequent sequels. Mare is a pretty likable heroine. She speaks her mind, is strong willed and makes mostly sensible decisions. I liked how she handled the various situations she was thrust into throughout the book. Cal will take some getting used to – right now I’m left with an ‘I don’t hate him but don’t really like him’ opinion. I am pretty excited about his character development though. I think Aveyard can do really interesting things with his character in future books that can really make the series intense. Overall the plot was stimulating, with pretty predictable conflict points and ‘mean girl’ antics just with various “abilities” added in. I will say that I loved the end of the book and was genuinely shocked. It was the best part of the book. For that reason I am going to continue with the series and am really interested to see how it will progress. If you enjoyed Red Rising by Pierce Brown, you will likely like this book. I didn’t enjoy Red Rising much, but I noticed the similarities between the series right away. They have similar premises but are executed quite differently; it’s an interesting comparison.

Disclaimer:
I purchased a copy of this book. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

3hearts-68-77

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