Red Queen (Red Queen #1)
Blurb:
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 ...
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 ...
Source: Edelweiss (Thank you HarperTeen for the review copy!)
My Thoughts:
Setting and Tone: Red Queen follows Mare Barrow as she progresses from being the lowest of the low to becoming one of people that belongs to the higher echelons of society. The setting is very dystopic but the story is classified as fantasy.
Mare is a red blood having silver abilities which is why like President Snow in 'The Hunger Games' ,the king decides that as he cannot kill her (because of reasons) he will keep her close to him and disguise her as a silver blood. Following the age old philosophy of 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.'
Why is the king so worried about a red blood superpower? Because, the red bloods are mistreated by the supernaturally gifted silver bloods and they might decide to revolt against such discrimination. Sounds like a dystopic novel, doesn't it? But, because of the presence of the supernatural it fits more into the category of fantasy. I thought the tone of the novel was similar to that found in YA dystopia which is why I am stressing on this point.
Mixed feelings: The story focuses on revolution, class discrimination, aristocratic politics, political subterfuge and romance. I have mixed feelings regarding how this keeps shifting from one to the other and due to this the story lacks the depth found in 'The Hunger Games'.
Negatives: The romance. Oh god the romance! It was not even a triangle , it was a love square. Mare is just so irresistible that every guy around her just goes gaga!
The relationship that is built up between Cal and Mare borders on insta-love.It's not quite insta-love but it feels like it. This is one thing I thought hindered Cal's character development.
Another negative was how boring some of the narratives were. This is directly related to the romance. The scenes that focused on the royal palace were incredibly interesting. The Red Army scenes were incredibly interesting in the beginning but started dragging towards the end. But, every time there was a romantic scene I was not interested.I think I just did not buy the lurve because how many people could she be lurve with? Three is too many,in my opinion.
My favorite part: The fantastical elements and the relationship between Mare and Maven (younger prince).
I know a lot of people are going to go gaga over Mare and Cal's relationship but I love the relationship that is built up between Mare and Maven .
I loved the non-romantic relationships that are spread out throughout the novel. The relationship between Mare and her family is gold. As well as the relationship between the Queen and her sons and that between Cal and his father.
The best part of this book is the twist. Generally I can predict the twists but not in this one.It's unpredictable and I loved it. Before the twist this book was a solid 3 stars but due to the twist I am definitely intrigued about what happens next!
Overall, I'll be reading the sequel and the story was very interesting. I think if it had focused more on the fantastical elements it would have been an excellent read instead of a good one. I'm giving it a higher rating than I was planning to because of the unexpected twist. If you can't hang in till the end then this book won't be worth it for you.
My Rating:
4/5
Only because of the twist!
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