YA Review: Red Queen

Red Queen (Red Queen, 1) by Victoria Aveyard, February 10, 2015. 320 pages. Published by HarperTeen. Source: On the Same Page Tours.

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win? 

First Sentence:

I hate First Friday.

*first things, first...I cannot remember who donated their copy of Red Queen, but THANK YOU SO MUCH for allowing so many people the chance to read it via On the Same Page!*

While I really enjoyed Red Queen and found it to be a good book, I was hoping to like it more than I did. Even though it did not blow me away with epicness, it was still an interesting book to invest my precious reading time on. I think what kept me from truly loving this one is that at times it reminded me of other books that I've read before, yet, that is something I've come to expect with reading since knowingly or not everyone's influenced by the things they read/see and it tends to leak into what we write/say.

Moving on...

What I liked about Red Queen would have to be the writing. Yes, that is the first thing that comes to mind as I think back on this book. I thought Victoria Aveyard did a wonderful job with the world and the characters and the emotional aspects of what they went through throughout the book. Pretty much from the first chapter onward, I was puled into the world of the Reds and Silvers and the conflict that was slowly mounting as the Reds, and Mare with her newly discovered abilities, began to take a stand for their rights. It was interesting because the odds were stacked against them, yet, a small group were willing to risk everything for the chance to be free.

So, as much as I enjoyed the character conflict throughout the book and the writing, there were times when I felt that I had read some of this in other books. Most especially I was reminded of Winter of Fire a book I deeply love.  While there were some similarities between the lives of the characters from Red Queen and the circumstances they lived in, I still found myself enjoying this one for its own goodness and ability to pull me in.
 
There are only two things that really disappointed me about this book. That being that I so called t on two twists....make that three because I guessed both sides of one plot-twist (before there was even a suggestion of it happening in the book). If you think I figure out plot twists quickly, then don't ever play Clue with me.
   I won't even tell you what gave it away, just that things were definitely suspicious on all counts and had me thinking that you know "x will probably happen" followed by "I'd be surprised if I'm not right about this shifty character" as I read Red Queen. Seriously, it was things that were said and done, as well, as things that were left unsaid that set my wheels a turning and my brain a plotting as I read. I believe when a certain character's true motives were revealed I yelled "Saw that coming from the beginning". Really don't mind me, I just have this awesome (yet burdensome) ability to pretty much solve any book I read within 30 pages.

One final thought. I was somewhat disappointed that Red Queen was more dystopian than fantasy. While it still had some fantasy elements, it was mainly dystopian. Really with the title and cover I was expecting it to be heavy on fantasy which is why I was so interested in reading it. Even though I'm bummed that it wasn't as fantasy-ish as I had been hoping, it was still an interesting read with good writing and interesting characters.

If the end of this review seems somewhat jumbled, it's because it's late and I should be sleeping.

Final Verdict: Red Queen- The struggle between the Reds and Silvers, as well, as the overall story-line of Mare and her new abilities, be they curse or gift, is what really made this an interesting read.

Red Queen earns

this book was borrowed from On the Same Page tours in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.