A review by justjoel
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
4.0
I really didn’t know that much about Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard when I started reading it. I purchased it last Christmas when it was on sale after seeing it mentioned several times on Booktube. I figured for the price it was worth a shot. At the very least, there was no possible way it could be as bad as Divergent, right? That said, I think keeping the details of the book to a minimum is a good idea for the purpose of this review.
Thankfully, I liked Mare (Red Queen’s lead character) far more than I liked Tris (or anyone else in Divergent for that matter). In this post-apocalyptic world, the haves and have-nots are divided into Silvers and Reds. The Silvers not only have all political power, they also possess special abilities (think X-Men) that enable them to keep power and enforce their rule. Oh, and they have silver blood.
Reds are the worker class, who live in slums, are treated like crap, and basically exist to perform all the functions the Silvers don’t want to do. Their blood is—you guessed it!—red. Mare is a Red
At 18, Reds who are not apprenticed to learn a useful skill are conscripted into the army to fight the enemies of the Silvers. Not a whole lot of time was spent explaining this war, but it has been going on for quite some time, and it is not uncommon for Reds to die in combat.
Mare currently has 3 older brothers on the front. She has a younger sister who is apprenticed and is therefore safe, but Mare is approaching her 18th birthday, is not apprenticed, and is in danger of being sent away. Using the only skill she knows she possesses—pickpocketing—Mare does her best to provide things for her family to assuage the guilt she feels for leaving her younger sister to care for both their parents.
After a series of misadventures and a chance meeting, Mare finds herself working for the royal family. While there, she learns truths about herself that she never expected, and soon finds herself living a duplicitous life in order to keep her family safe.
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I felt like the romance was a bit awkward, the main “twist” was not anything even remotely resembling a surprise, and I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and incomplete, but not quite cliffhanger status.
Still, I am interested enough to continue the series (though I hope more on the war and why the higher-powered Silvers don’t just use their abilities to end it are dealt with in future books). 4 out of 5 stars.
Thankfully, I liked Mare (Red Queen’s lead character) far more than I liked Tris (or anyone else in Divergent for that matter). In this post-apocalyptic world, the haves and have-nots are divided into Silvers and Reds. The Silvers not only have all political power, they also possess special abilities (think X-Men) that enable them to keep power and enforce their rule. Oh, and they have silver blood.
Reds are the worker class, who live in slums, are treated like crap, and basically exist to perform all the functions the Silvers don’t want to do. Their blood is—you guessed it!—red. Mare is a Red
At 18, Reds who are not apprenticed to learn a useful skill are conscripted into the army to fight the enemies of the Silvers. Not a whole lot of time was spent explaining this war, but it has been going on for quite some time, and it is not uncommon for Reds to die in combat.
Mare currently has 3 older brothers on the front. She has a younger sister who is apprenticed and is therefore safe, but Mare is approaching her 18th birthday, is not apprenticed, and is in danger of being sent away. Using the only skill she knows she possesses—pickpocketing—Mare does her best to provide things for her family to assuage the guilt she feels for leaving her younger sister to care for both their parents.
After a series of misadventures and a chance meeting, Mare finds herself working for the royal family. While there, she learns truths about herself that she never expected, and soon finds herself living a duplicitous life in order to keep her family safe.
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I felt like the romance was a bit awkward, the main “twist” was not anything even remotely resembling a surprise, and I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and incomplete, but not quite cliffhanger status.
Still, I am interested enough to continue the series (though I hope more on the war and why the higher-powered Silvers don’t just use their abilities to end it are dealt with in future books). 4 out of 5 stars.