Red Queen

by LiterallyLenny - 8:55 PM

What's it about?

"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. " - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

I've been meaning to read this book for over a year now, and i'm slightly punching myself for not having started this sooner. I think I was afraid of it being awful, despite the amazing reviews. I read that it's literally a cross between The Selection and The Hunger Games...which...although I loved both of those, I wasn't too crazy about them being molded together. So I steered clear for a while.

But let me tell you. While Red Queen is exactly that, it's also nothing like it. Yes, there's the fact that she is poor and 100% supports her family (Hunger Games). And then theres the fact that they're separated into different 'districts' and are being oppressed by the government (Hunger Games). And THEN she suddenly becomes a princess (The Selection) who falls in love with the prince who is "no good for her" (The Selection). And then has to fight against the government by herself pretty much and save the whole freaking world. Basically. (Hunger Games AND The Selection).

So. There's that. But. Just hear me out. While there are all these similarities, there's so much that just holds it completely separate from the others. It's fantastic because it takes everything that we love about the YA genre, and turned it into one single book. It brought princesses together with badass butt-kicking oppressed teenagers.

It was hard to follow at some points, i'm not going to lie. There was too much going on in the end for me to really get who exactly was the bad person. But hey, who doesn't like a good plot twist?

I think the one thing that really bothered me though, is that something dramatic happens in the beginning, and I could literally predict the outcome of that event from 300 pages away. It was too predictable and kinda annoyed me that the author thought we would even buy into that. And that the main character just took it as it was without wanting proof. But. It is what it is. Small minor problem.

But. Just to prove to you how much I enjoyed this book, as soon as I finished it I started the second book Glass Sword. And when I read series, I can never marathon them because I need something different. But with Red Queen...I couldn't just stop. I wanted so much more.

Overall, I gave the book 4 very red stars.