Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Summary:
Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood – those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but a twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself where, in front of the kind and all his nobles, she discovers an ability she didn’t know she had. Except…her blood is Red.
To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince and Mare against her own heart.
From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.

Review:
This is a great fantasy series that’s told in the first person by our main character, Mare Barrow. I liked this. I feel like we get most fantasies told in the third person, but with the first person, we just get thrown into the story with the necessary bits and pieces being told to us through Mare as they come up. I enjoyed seeing the world build for me this way. I think this world was built very well. I also liked that it was focused more on the struggles that the Reds faced and the extreme difference of the treatment and lifestyles between those with Red blood and those with Silver. This was a really interesting dynamic.
I really liked our main character, Mare. She’s a girl who’s mostly resigned to the fate that she sees as inevitable. Being conscripted and going to fight in the war is her future and she’s accepted that, but until then she will continue with the small rebellions that make her feel better even though they’re not actually making a difference. Mare really cares about her family and Kilorn. I like the family aspect of the story because it shows Mare’s loyalty. She’s loyal to those that she loves and will do whatever she needs to in order to keep them safe and well taken care of. I think the only thing that bothered me when it comes to Mare is that things just sort of happening to her. She’s a thief so she’s bound to get into trouble but by chance, she runs into someone who gets her a job so that she doesn’t have to go fight in the war. On her first day there she finds herself in the craziest situation. I think this is something that’s a little overplayed. The main character just finding themselves in trouble or having magic powers, it’s just a bit overdone at this point but other than that I really liked Mare.
The two princes went back and forth trying to win my favor. I like them both and I’m not going to say which I like better. Cal has a ridiculous sense of honor and what he’s ‘supposed’ to do. He knows that things should change and that life is ridiculously unfair for anyone with Red blood, but he doesn’t think he can and/or won’t do anything to change their lives. I understood his thought process but was also frustrated by it. That about sums up my feelings with Cal, I understand him but he frustrates me. Maven. Oh, Maven. I loved him. I loved his friendship and relationship with Mare and I really wish he hadn’t done certain things because this was totally a ship I could get behind. I can’t say too much without giving anything away. I loved Maven for who we thought he was. I did not like the real Maven.
I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters. They were entertaining and believable. I liked the world that this story took place in. I’m excited to see where this story is going with the way that Red Queen ended. This book was written well and overall was a fun relatively quick read that left me wanting more.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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