I am here once again (I know for the 5th time this month, crazy right?) to bring up my thoughts and feelings and to discuss Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard which I happen to finish hours ago today. This is kinda a fresh review because a day has not passed by after I finished the book.
Let's begin!
Details:
Title: Red Queen (Red Queen #1)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Number of Pages: 388
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-fi
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published on: February 10, 2015
Format: Paperback
Price: $11.91 (BD), Php 432.00 (FB), Php 435.00 (NBS)
*Prices may change due to different sales/offers.
Purchase the book at:
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Synopsis:
Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?
Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.
To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play 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, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.
About the Author:
I’m a writer repped by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. I split my time between my hometown East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Los Angeles. After graduating with a BFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. My debut RED QUEEN came out of the terrifying, unemployed year after college.
Currently I’m revising the second book in the RED QUEEN series, along with pursuing other projects in literature and film. My proudest achievements are riding a horse in the mountains of Montana and navigating from London to Edinburgh without GPS.
Reach the author at:
Review/Rating:
I have finished reading this book within 24 hours so my memory of it is still fresh and my emotions are still strongly with me.
This review would be in two main parts. The first part would contain non-spoiler review for those who haven't read the book plus my rating and the second part would be full of spoilers so that I can fully express my opinion about the book.
First part:
Red Queen is a great debut novel to start off with. It is wonderfully written and full of amazing, mind-blowing plot twists!
The beginning was not the best but it was great. It showed interesting and introduced an interesting world and characters. Honestly, at first I kinda don't like it. I mean yes, it has a great story and world but it reminds me so much of The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. I mean the world is divided into to two - Red and Silvers just like Grisha and normal villagers. Silvers and Grisha both has supernatural abilities. And it happens that the both worlds are in war. Although, I have to admit, the world in Red Queen is much drastic and much unfair. The beginning was not that exciting but it was enough to make me go through. I was able to be trapped into their world after a couple chapters.
The characters were both phenomenal and reminds of the Grisha trilogy. I know! I am so so sorry but I just need to let this out. I mean let's start with the main character Mare Barrow, she's a slave a poor girl and suddenly discovers her powers that she shouldn't have which is almost exactly what happened to Alina Starkov. Kilorn, on the other hand, is the best friend/kind of secret lover of Mare which is apparently how Mal is to Alina. They both happen to be willing to give up their life even though they don't have any supernatural abilities for their best friend/sort-of-love-partner. Cal and Maven are two very interesting characters. I can't really say much about them without spoiling you guys. The rest of the characters are really great but saying their names would eventually spoil you so I'll include them on the spoiler section.
The story is great, not original, but great. It's interesting a world divided by blood. Silvers and Reds. Reds are never supposed to have any abilities but Mare has one that will change her life forever. It's so interesting. The story is well plotted and flowed absolutely well. I never got confused and lost track somehow. It's very clever and wonderful. The writing style is great. It's not too crowded of thoughts. It doesn't fell like written by a debut author. Victoria Aveyard was able to put perfect words to describe a scene. I love the choice of words. Although I wished that she somehow changed some words instead of repeatedly using them again although that makes the story better it somehow feels like every chapter revolves around that.
Reading with Luigi gives Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard a
4.5/5 Books!
It's greatly written, recommendable!
Second Part/ Spoiler Part:
The characters and their stories are all so amazing! I find myself in awe every time. I've explained above what comparison I saw between the characters on Red Queen and other books so I'm gonna go deeper now. Mare Barrow is an interesting character to be with. She's very complex about pain and fear. I am having loads of fun and awe while reading her thought about everything. I love her and hate her at the same time. She's very dumb at times but she learns and gets herself up which is something I like about her. I hate that she somehow requires others to feel happy but that's reasonable since she's been living in Gisa's shadows for a very long time. She stays very loyal despite her fears which is something I like about her. Her abilities are as strange as they sound, she creates lightning in a world where the royalties can't. As Julian said, "Silver and Red, stronger than both." Kilorn is quite annoying. I just don't like his perspective but I quite understand him. I'm just mostly not in favor with him. Cal is a character I am really really fascinated about. He is so marvelous and mysterious. He is compassionate but at the same time. He is charming and amazing. I just really likes how he makes the story more complex. Maven is someone I don't want to talk about him but for the sake of this review, I will. He was the most perfect character ever so I had a slight doubt which I didn't notice. But guess what? I was write. Maven had his dark and cruel self just like his annoying mother. He is so cruel. He has no heart. Imagine that? Killing his own brother but thankfully his plans didn't fully succeed. I despise him. I just wish he'd die in the first sentence of the second book. Elara turned out to be better than Maven, atleast she was evil from the start. Unlike Maven who used everyone he can for the throne. I mean he was a shadow but he doesn't need power to fix that, never will he. I purely hate him without a single little doubt. I completely hate him. Now the other characters, Evangeline is someone I hate. Why the freak will I like her? She is someone I'd like to throw off a cliff. I hate most of the characters in the palace for being foolish. Farley is weirdly someone I imagine as Clarisse from the Percy Jackson series. Weird right? Julian is amazing. I look up to him somehow. And his discovery is mind blowing! Shade is a surprise, I never saw that coming. I think the characters are on of the best elements in this book.
The story and plots are mostly mind-blowing. I am lost at words. The first few chapter already turned the plot around being Cal is a prince. I am amazed on how Victoria Aveyard made the world her own and had a wonderful story. I am speechless on how Mare slowly changed for the sake of the change she wanted. I am a fan in Victoria's ability to shock me and suddenly turn my feelings around with a couple of sentences. I am truly amazed.
The ending is too painful people, too much. All the negative things above, they all got erased for me because of this spectacular ending! I mean cm'on Maven is the villain in the story. He is. He is the most annoying character ever. What Elara and him did was unforgivable. I mean kill their father for the throne and accuse your innocent brother for your sake! And he had the guts to show himself to them. He used the Scarlet Guard and Mare! How he says that Mare is nothing is so annoying. He is the worst silver ever! The execution is breath taking. I mean a weakened Cal against 5 powerful executioners of their house! That is so unfair. But luckily Mare got her powers back. They fought together and mind blowingly escaped with the help of the Scarlet Guard and apparently the not dead Shade which can teleport. It is so amazing and I wish to see more of this. I am excited on how this story will turn out.
Lastly, I just wanted to say that I have a million of hate towards Maven. But expressing that would take me millions of years to fulfill so I'll choose not to. I hate him and despise him. I just.
Favorite Quotes:
"This power can destroy if I let it." page 137
"Cal emerges, this time fully dressed in plain clothes. After a moment, I realize it's the same thing he wore the night I met him. I can't believe I didn't see him for what he was from the beginning: a wolf in sheep's clothing. And now I'm the sheep pretending to be a wolf." page 147
"Cal is a cliff, and I throw myself over the edge, not bothering to think of what it could do to us both." page 228
"Their strength has become their weakness." page 275
"That's all this ever was. Jealousy. Rivalry. All so shadow could defeat the flame." page 352
"I don't need to be a whisper to know we share a thought. I will kill him." page 383
"Anyone can betray anyone."
"He will always choose you."
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And that's it for today's post! I am very excited for the next book! I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did.
Have you read Red Queen, or planning to? Let's discuss it below!
I can't believe it's Christmas tomorrow! Merry Christmas, readers!
I'll be posting another post very soon, so let's begin again then?
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