Merry Christmas to everyone- hope you’re having a lovely boxing day, whatever you’re doing!
[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…
[My Review]
I have mixed feelings about Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, the first in the ‘Red Queen’ series. I was so excited about reading it, having heard so much about it and having seen that it’s often compared to other series that I really enjoyed (The Hunger Games, for one). It started well, with a fairly gripping introduction to Mare’s ‘red’ world – and the opposite. co-existing world of the Silvers.
I found the story OK to read but nothing incredible, mainly because in all honesty I started getting a little bored. I found after the beginning it then remained quite slow for the next 50% of the book, at least, and I struggled to keep my attention focussed properly.
The premise is quite interesting but there is such a lot of information almost thrown at the reader that it kind of overshadows the storyline. Quite a lot is centered around Mare’s flirtation with the two princes and her training at the palace, which I found entertaining but not particularly exciting. The last 25% of the novel was where most of the action happened, but it was so densely concentrated in this section that I started to lose track of what was actually going on.
Overally I felt Red Queen was enjoyable enough but it didn’t have me clamouring to read the next installment, when it comes out. It didn’t grip me the way I thought it would, or the way it has impressed so many other readers- I’m aware that I’m probably in the minority here! For YA fans who love this genre it might be a winner, but sadly it wasn’t for me.
[My Rating: 3/5]
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this novel in return for an honest review.