Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Synopsis: Mare Barrow lives in a world where the color of your blood matters. It dictates whether you are one of the poor, wronged Reds, or one of the rich, powerful Silvers. Silvers rule the world with their power and their magical abilities. Reds don't have these abilities, and so they are forced to live the way Silvers tell them. Mare is special, though. Her blood is Red, but in her veins is a magic rare even amongst the Silvers. To keep her life and her secrets, Mare must become one of the Silvers, pretending to be the long-lost daughter of a dead general. Red Queen follows Mare as the Silver world begins to change her fate, her heart, and her loyalties.

Review: In the words of tumblr: This was a wild ride, from start to finish. The twists and turns in this book are so captivating that you can't help but get sucked in from the second you start reading. My suspicions were raised, quieted, raised again over and over. I held out hope for some characters, and wrote off others too soon, and at the end of this novel I was left sitting there, just staring at the wall, trying to process everything that I had just witnessed. I felt just as torn apart as Mare, just as angry. By the end of this novel, I wanted two things: 1) to immediately start at the beginning again, and 2) to get the next novel immediately (which is impossible, because it isn't out until February.)

It is going to be hard to review this novel without giving too much away. The plot twists in this novel are so fantastic. Every time I thought I knew what would happen, the opposite happen. Every time I had a bad gut-reaction too, I was wrong. If you want novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat and constantly second-guessing yourself, than you should definitely check out Red Queen. Aveyard has made a book impossible to put down once started.

The idea is unique and original. There is much that dystopian-lovers will appreciate about this novel. It is a good mix genres, reminding me a bit of the Throne of Glass world. The characters were all a jumble of surprises, each one coming up short in unexpected ways or showing up surprisingly in moments of need. Some fell a bit short for me, and I hope that Aveyard will expand more on certain relationships and characters in later novels. I have hope, because the first was so good. I think there is just so much that trying to put all of it into one novel would have been a bit overwhelming, especially with how much was already going on.

This book has been super hyped since it's debut, and I was a little weary going in. I knew that it could possibly be overhyped. I was pleased to find that it wasn't, though. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this book. It was an exciting, fun read that kept me entertained. I don't usually place books in the "entertainment" category, but this one definitely falls into it. I was also surprised at how I had managed to stay away from spoilers for so long, seeing as how there is so much in this book to give away. It's a miracle that I hadn't heard much of the plot before reading.

I would highly recommend this novel, especially for those who like dystopians, who like Sarah J Maas, and those who are looking for their next page-turner.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Cups of Tea


Your Pemberley Reader,
Acacia