Recommendation: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dystopia, Romance

My Rating: 

Synopsis (source):

“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.”

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So, I reread Red Queen to give myself a refresher before I finally pick up the novellas and the second book Glass Sword. I was going to do a full length review since I never reviewed it the first time but I couldn’t quite figure out how to do a review for a book I first read over a year ago. However, since I love this book I figured I’d do a short recommendation post dedicated to it as a substitute!

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I’ve seen a lot of different descriptions as to what Red Queen is reminiscent of. For me it’s like Game of Thrones meets The Selection meets Shatter Me meets The Hunger Games meets The Winner’s Curse. It’s heavily a dystopia mixed with elements of fantasy.

The thing I love most about this book is that the main character is strong, stubborn, and completely herself. She’s unapplogentic in the best way. You see moments of weakness, guilt, and even shame but she owns up to it. She’s the kind of character that faces things head on even if there is a grim outlook. This book contains a cast of colorful characters; some you’ll absolutely despise and some you’ll love.

I’m on a huge fantasy kick this year but last year I was snatching up every single dystopia esque book I could find and devouring them. Red Queen was one of those that completely blew me away. This book will take you on a journey; not just scenery wise but emotionally too. I feel like at the center this book was heavily about loyalty, betrayal, learning who you can trust, learning what to fight for, and what you’re willing to do to fight for what you believe in. It contains plot twists, rebellion, a tad bit of romance (a really small bit, definitely not the main focus of the novel), characters with neat powers, and a shocking ending you won’t see coming.

If you’re looking for any of the above things in a book, if you love dystopia or fantasy, if you love amazing writing then go give this book a chance! I’m probably failing at this recommendation post because I can’t seem to properly describe how much I love this book in an enticing manner that could get someone to read it but I love this book.

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Now I’m off to read the novellas and then finally crack open Glass Sword. I probably won’t review the novellas but be on the look out for my review of Glass Sword once I finish it. 😀

I hope all of you have a great weekend!

Questions because I’m curious: What are you guys currently reading? 🙂

-Melissa

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