Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

August 27, 2015 Audio Books, Dystopian, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction 13

Hidey Ho, Bookworms!

I know I’m constantly shoving book recommendations in your faces, but I like to think we have a symbiotic relationship. I mean, when one of my friends says “OMG Katie, read this book right now” I’ll do it… Eventually. Case in point! My friend Ash told me that I needed to read Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and I totally did. Seriously, it was in a timely fashion and everything. Let’s talk about it, shall we?

theredqueenMare Barrow is a 17 year old “Red” girl from a poor working class background. She lives in a society where there are two classes of people. Reds like Mare and her family are ordinary folks. They put their pants on one leg at a time and bleed red. They’re also second class citizens because some quirk of evolution has created a group of people with superhuman powers who actually bleed silver. They’re called “Silvers,” natch, and they got a little drunk on their god-like powers and subjugated all the normal folk. The Reds think this sucks, because it does, but it’s pretty tough to win a fight against someone who can manipulate metal or hop into your brain and take over. Mare and her fellow Reds can only look forward to a life of poverty- if they live long enough, that is. All Reds are conscripted to fight in an endless war on behalf of the Silvers once they turn 18, assuming they aren’t already doing something useful for society (ie sewing fancy clothes for the Silvers. Silvers like pretty things.) After a chance encounter, Mare finds herself employed in the Silver Palace, surrounded by demi-gods and with an unexplained power of her own. Let’s just say that being Mare gets a whole heck of a lot more complicated from there.

Alright you guys. This book is the start of yet another trilogy in the glut of YA dystopias on the market. It combined a number of elements I recognized from Leigh Bardugo’s The Grisha Trilogy (review of book 1, as I didn’t finish the series) and The Hunger Games Trilogy. That said, Red Queen was different enough to catch my attention, and not in an eye-roll-y way. Well, except for this love quadrangle thing that was going on, but I feel like that’s par for the course in these sorts of books so I’m willing to overlook it for a hot minute. The book got under my skin and the characters stuck with me. Maybe it’s because I listened to the audio narration and it was excellent? Perhaps I’d have been less engaged if I’d done a strict eyeball read, I don’t know. Still, I think I might give book 2 a whirl and see where it takes me. If YA dystopias are your jam, Red Queen is definitely not to be missed. It may have thawed the heart of even this cranky skeptic.

Talk to me, Bookworms! If you could have the power to manipulate an earthly element, what would you pick? (I’m torn between water nymph skills and the power to do lots of back flips. I bet there’s a Silver whose only talent is doing back flips and their parents are terribly disappointed by it, but I think it would be awesome.)

*If you make a purchase through a link on this site, I will receive a small commission.*

13 Responses to “Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard”

  2. Megan M.

    Meh. I am over dystopian trilogies. Based on the cover I would have thought this book had something to do with vampires.

    I would love to control water. Water’s everywhere, dude. Think of the possibilities. (Hmm. Maybe there’s a reason the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin.)

    Reply

  3. ThatAshGirl

    Yay you read it!!!

    For me the whole teen dystopian thing was getting very repetitive. Trilogy….love triangle….blah blah same thing over and over but this one stuck with me.

    Next book is Glass Sword and comes out at the beginning of Feb.

    Reply

  6. Jenny @ Reading the End

    Oh I’d pick water for sure. Water every time. If it’s water you can manipulate the water INSIDE PEOPLE’S BODIES and turn it against them. Right? That seems like a thing you could do, if you could control water.

    Reply

  7. Katie @ Doing Dewey

    I’m terrible at reading books that are recommended to me! I read books other bloggers loved all the time, but specific recommendations meant for me are something I’d like to make more time for. I’m glad this recommendation worked out for you 🙂

    Reply

  8. Sage

    Devoured this book! I now read almost purely for entertainment value and to relax. This fit the bill nicely.

    Reply

Talk to me, Bookworms!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.