Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Third and final book in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

 

(taken from Amazon.com)

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. There, 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.

This sweeping story of palace intrigue, class hierarchy, and deception will keep readers hurtling along, desperate to find out Mare’s fate. Her honesty and determination, quick wit, and no-holds-barred attitude will surely make readers fall in love with her.

I picked up this book from Barnes & Noble when I was perusing for books that might interest one of my students who needed some book suggestions. At first, I thought this book was related or similar to the adult series by Philippa Gregory, but once you read the blurb on the back cover, it's obvious that this is a sci-fi futuristic novel, rather than historical fiction. 

Despite its title, this book is definitely in the same genre with Divergent, Hunger Games, and the like. You might expect a little less blood and violence from a book that supposedly takes place in a royal court, but that is certainly not the case.

Overall, the book was compelling and an interesting read, but I found myself skimming over sentences or chunks of paragraphs at times. The author has a distinct style, but she tends to slow down scenes with dramatic action or dialogue a little too much. Rather than merely pausing for a short sentence every few paragraphs to convey what's in the main character's head, she stops for several sentences in nearly every paragraph, which gets frustrating when you're reading for the next major thing to happen. I also think the writing could have been strengthened by conveying what the main character's body is doing at different moments, rather than overdoing the short, poignant sentences meant to convey the main character's thoughts and emotional state.

I found myself not particularly attached to any of the characters in this book, because I couldn't really find myself sympathizing with Mare. First of all, her name always makes me think of a horse, which seemed dehumanizing. And secondly, she is so unapologetically lacking in a moral compass from the very beginning (and throughout the whole book), that it is hard to care much for what happens to her. Maybe someone who feels like they're an awful, cruel, and untrustworthy person would find themselves able to connect with Mare, but I wasn't.

Overall Rating: 4 / 10 Stars 

Overall, I give this book four stars because it does have an interesting premise, plot, and conflict, and I liked that you couldn't guess where it was going, especially with the confusing love triangle thrown in, but at the same time, the characters are difficult to connect with, and the words of the book sometimes get in their own way and hold back the plot, rather than propel it forward.