A review by readwritedrinktea
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
1.0
Red Queen has an interesting idea that has the making of a good book.
Unfortunately, the execution of plot, prose, and having interesting characters is woefully mismanaged. The bones of the story is good. The world is interesting, and the story line could have been too.
It was hard to connect with any of the characters, especially Mare, the main character. She's supposed to be a thief who is good at getting out of sticky situations, but we never see her actually get herself out of trouble. She's constantly saying how strong, smart, and savvy she is but we are continuously shown the opposite.
For example:
* We don't see her win a fight until the end of the book (if you want to call that winning).
* Literally EVERYONE tells her not to trust Silvers (even Silvers) but she decides to completely trust the prince that she was unwillingly hitched to with every tidbit of important info
* She signs up with the rebellion without knowing ANYTHING about it besides that its anti-Silver.
The bad guy was foreshadowed WAY too much. The only surprise with that reveal was how drastically his personality changed. The fight scenes seemed like they wanted to have weight but they were half-heartedly written and Mare's narration was unhelpful with immersion.
Honestly, I skimmed the last few chapters before starting the next book, which
I had to DNF because it was worse. With Glass Crown, for me, the breaking point was her calling herself "lightning girl" every other page, and talking about how powerful she was but how no one knew it.
Unfortunately, the execution of plot, prose, and having interesting characters is woefully mismanaged. The bones of the story is good. The world is interesting, and the story line could have been too.
It was hard to connect with any of the characters, especially Mare, the main character. She's supposed to be a thief who is good at getting out of sticky situations, but we never see her actually get herself out of trouble. She's constantly saying how strong, smart, and savvy she is but we are continuously shown the opposite.
For example:
* We don't see her win a fight until the end of the book (if you want to call that winning).
* Literally EVERYONE tells her not to trust Silvers (even Silvers) but she decides to completely trust the prince that she was unwillingly hitched to with every tidbit of important info
* She signs up with the rebellion without knowing ANYTHING about it besides that its anti-Silver.
The bad guy was foreshadowed WAY too much. The only surprise with that reveal was how drastically his personality changed. The fight scenes seemed like they wanted to have weight but they were half-heartedly written and Mare's narration was unhelpful with immersion.
Honestly, I skimmed the last few chapters before starting the next book, which
I had to DNF because it was worse. With Glass Crown, for me, the breaking point was her calling herself "lightning girl" every other page, and talking about how powerful she was but how no one knew it.