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…
Red Queen grabbed my attention right from the beginning of the book. I was intrigued by the world built by Victoria Aveyard. You are pulled into poverty, royalty, magic, fantasy, and everything in between. I absolutely loved getting lost in the lies and danger that this amazingly crafted world offered.
The book starts off with Mare Barrow who is a Red. Being a red in her society is not a pretty thing. It is not glorious, special, and some days not something worth living for. On the other side is the Silvers, who rule society because of their blood. Being a Silver comes with not just wealth and healthy living, but also a magical talent of some sort. When Mare gets thrown into the world of the Silvers in the least expected way, everything clashes and everything she knows changes.
As far as our characters, I admire that Mare came from nothing and refused to be swept up in the new world offered to her. There were also times when I wanted to slap her for missing things that were, a least to the reader’s eye, obvious. With Mare, I do not think we even scratched the surface with her story and I am curious to see how it will end up.
On the other side, this story is stacked with fellas galore. There are some that you like right off the bat, like Prince Cal and Mare’s best friend Kilorn. Then there are others that you have to grow to love like our other prince, Maven. The “romance”, if you can even call it that, drove me up a wall sometimes. I feel like the whole story Mare really was not interested in any one and there were no real tension moments that made me want to root for any couple. You know the moments I’m talking about… the melting, the gut-wrenching, and the sighing moments that just get you during a story. I didn’t really feel any of those and that disappointed me slightly. However, there was one guy I leaned towards purely because of his heart and actions.
With that being said, the world building in this book is what gets you. The story is so cruel in the most addicting way. I loved seeing all of the abilities that the Silvers have and how the story twisted and turned in such a gripping manner.
As I got the end, I was a little disappointed that the predictions I made were correct. I had to contemplate a little bit if I was completely blown away by the story or if I wanted a little more. I will say, there is one twist at the end that I was extremely happy about and I cannot wait to see where Victoria Aveyard will take it.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this story. Red Queen was a yet another cruel beauty of a book that I could not put down.
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