Red Queen || Discussion and Review

"Many things lead to this day, for all of us. A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, a brother with a long shadow, a strange mutation. Together, they've written a tragedy."

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 

'Red Queen' by Victoria Aveyard is set in a world divided into two - into the elite Silvers, who have power and abilities, and the poverty-stricken Reds, who are doomed to live serving the Silvers. The book follows the story of a girl called Mare Barrow, a Red girl who will soon be conscripted, but due to unforeseen circumstances, finds herself in the midst of the royal Silvers with a power of her own. A power she should not have. I'll leave the synopsis at that because I think it's best if you go into this book not knowing a whole lot about the plot. Now, for the spoiler-free review.

'Red Queen' is an amazing read, with a great and interesting cast of characters. Some of them are loveable, some are snarky, some are scary, and some you can't even make your mind up about because they're that complex. The plot of the book is fantastic! There are so many twists and turns that I definitely did not see coming, and if I take one thing away from this book it is that anyone can betray anyone. The pacing was also very well done, I always looked forward to turning the page, wanting to know what happens next. Until of course, I got closer to the end, and I dreaded turning the page, knowing that soon I'll finish the book and I will have to wait for the sequel to find out more. This book is just that great!

The tone of the book, to me, was reminiscent of 'Throne of Glass', so I'll say that if you're a fan of that series, definitely pick up 'Red Queen'. Even if you're not a fan of 'Throne of Glass', even if you're only very slightly interested in Silver-blooded metahumans, pick up 'Red Queen' anyways because you will love it more than you might think you will. That's it for the spoiler-free section of this review, so if you haven't read the book go and read it and come back. If you have read the book, click below to read more about my thoughts.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Oh my gosh, that book turned out to be more than I ever expected it to be! Firstly, MAVEN. I did not expect that at all. Looking back, I feel like I should have expected it because he seemed way too good to be true, but I just never picked up on it. I should have known that no one would turn their back on their parents and the world they were brought up in that fast. It sucks, too, because I was really rooting for Maven and Mare to be together, and I really really loved Maven. I still love him, though not in the way I did before. He's definitely a villain that I love to hate.

Despite that big twist, I always knew Shade wasn't dead. There's a rule within fandoms that if you don't see a body or don't see the death happen, then they could still be alive, that they probably are alive. This holds true for the dearest Julian. He can't be dead. He needs to come back and offer Mare and Cal some more guidance. Maybe he can come back and join the Guard? Also, since we're talking about deaths, can we have a moment of silence for Lucas? I really liked him and I may have teared up a little bit during his execution.

Can I just talk about how awesome Mare is? She's such a great female lead! She's in control of herself, and she's so confident and powerful in her own little way. She's in control of her feelings and she doesn't let her emotions cloud her judgement, and I love that. I feel like in YA lit, it's difficult to find heroines that do that. Mare is so fiery. She fights and fights and fights and doesn't lose her head, always keeping an eye on what's important, always thinking about others and fighting for her people. She's just such a strong female lead, and I love it!

Now to discuss book two or future books. I really want to see Queen Elara die, but I don't want to see Maven die. I want to see them suffer, definitely, but I think it'll be too cliche to have Maven die. But I kind of also don't want Maven to turn good, or maybe I wouldn't mind. It all depends how it pans out I guess. And also, I'm not sure if I trust Cal or Farley or anyone. Cal seemed really determined to keep what he believed was "balance", and he could still fight for that - to keep Silvers on top - but now Maven is in power, maybe he will join the Guard. And now Farley. I don't know what it is, but something about her is a little shady. I just don't completely trust her yet.

So that is what I thought about 'Red Queen', and what I think will happen/want to happen in the next book/s. What did you think of the book? Did you predict Maven turning evil? Who do you now trust What are your theories about the next book? Let me know in the comments.

'Til the next chapter,

Patricia x