Name: Catherine's review of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Item: Red Queen
Rating: 5
Author: Catherine

Victoria Aveyard

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 . . .

Red Queen

Dans le royaume de Norta, la couleur de votre sang décide du cours de votre existence. Sous l’égide de la famille royale, les Argents, doués de pouvoirs hors du commun, règnent sur les Rouges, simples mortels, qui servent d’esclaves ou de chair à canon. Mare Barrow, une Rouge de dix-sept ans, tente de survivre dans une société qui la traite comme une moins que rien. Quand elle révèle sans le vouloir des pouvoirs extraordinaires et insoupçonnés, sa vie change du tout au tout. Enfermée dans le palais royal d’Archeon et promise à un prince argent, elle va devoir apprendre à déjouer les intrigues de la cour, à maîtriser un don qui la dépasse, et à reconnaître ses ennemis, pour faire valoir l’indépendance de son peuple. Traduit de l'anglais (Etats-Unis) par Alice Delarbre

Julia <3

I can't help but remember that my lips, now smiling for Maven, were kissing his brother last night. 

Jillian Roberts

To my dismay, he recovers quickly and smoothes his hair. “So you choose him?”

That’s all this ever was. Jealousy. Rivalry. All so shadow could defeat the flame.

I have to throw my head back and laugh, feeling the eyes of the brothers on me. “Cal betrayed me, and I betrayed him. And you betrayed us both, in a thousand different ways.” The words are heavy as stone but right. So right. “I choose no one.”

Syrina

The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.

The first novel in the #1 bestselling RED QUEEN series by Victoria Aveyard. 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 . . . _________________________________ Read the international bestselling RED QUEEN series in full: Book 1: RED QUEEN Book 2: GLASS SWORD Book 3: KING'S CAGE Book 4: WAR STORM Book 5: BROKEN THRONE (AN EXCLUSIVE RED QUEEN COLLECTION)

Red Queen Book 1

Aimee :)

Walsh hugs me, taking me by surprise. "I don't know how," she mutters, "but I hope you become queen one day.

Imagine what you could do then? The Red queen."

In my perfect world, Maven won't have to hide his heart and I won't have to hide who I truly am. Cal will have no crown to wear, no throne to protect. These people will have no more walls to hide behind.

I can't help but remember that my lips, now smil ing for Maven, were kissing his brother last night.

"So I don't want her to kill you on the dance floor."

Did I miss something? Are we going to be fighting at the ball?"

"You better hide that heart of yours, Lady Titanos. It won't lead you anywhere you want to go."

As nice as he is, my instincts tell me not to turn my back on Elara's son, that he's hiding something. What that might be, I don't know.

Pia 

Our hatred for Maven. I don't need to be a whisper to know we share a thought. I will kill him.

Guess who just came back from the dead if this is not her brother I don’t know who 

The face is famniliar, a tace I know so well. If I were not already lying down, I would certainly fall. The shock is too much for me to bear.

Behind me, Arven collapses, a pipe speared through his middle. "I have the advantage," I tell his corpse.

Above us, Maven's voice croaks out. "Let them die."

Tears course down his face, steaming against burning-hot skin. "It's not you," Tiberias says, his eyes on Cal's wretched face. He doesn't bother pleading for his life. "I know it's not you, son. This is not your fault."

Because she already knew. Because he is her son. Because this was her plan all along.

I saw that coming never really trusted him

“Maven, help me up.” “No, I don’t think so”

 "The drains!" he roars, still staring at me. "They're in the drains." 

I've been too busy trying to save others to notice how much Cal saves me. How much he loves mne. Suddenly it's very hard to breathe. Maven shakes his head. “He will always choose you."

Walsh hugs me, taking me by surprise. "I don't know how," she mutters, "but I hope you become queen one day. Imagine what you could do then? The Red queen."

 Maven is his mother's son, Julian said once. He couldn't be more wrong.

He says after he just stated he won’t miss his bride-to-be

Gold flame flickers in his eyes, reflecting the heat beneath. "Ill miss you, Mare."

Watch them become a power couple taking over the throne 

But the person who joins us is no servant. He's not even Red. "Maven."

"You will marry my son Maven, and you'll do it without putting a toe out of line."

Catherine

This is literally my favorite book series to ever exist. I read it for the first time in middle school and this is currently my second reread of the series. I decided to listen to it as an audiobook this time around. I think reading it is better, but I like the narrator of the audiobook as well. This will never not be my favorite series and I honestly wish everyone would read it. 

Maggie Hotmer

incredible literally exactly my brand of ya fantasy that i love 

ananya

Omg!!!!! This is amazing! I got this book for free at my local library and adored it from the first sentence!
First of all, the cover makes this book murderous but it isn't (if you don't include a violent dance and bombings). The whole book is based on these things: Mare, Maven, Cal, The Scarlet Guard, Red blood, and Silver blood. The silver's have abilities like controlling things and tearing apart things and playing with fire.
This book is super descriptive and if it hadn't been, then it wouldn't be half as long. (Not over the top descriptive, though.) 
The only thing I didn't enjoy was that IT'S AN ERA WITH KINGS, SO IT SHOULD BE OLD-FASHIONED!! 
But it isn't.
There are showers and jets. And not to mention security cameras. (Correct if I'm wrong on this.
Anyways the book is nice. I recommend it!

i almost DNF so many times but stuck it out and the ending was actual lying really good. definitely picking up the next book

Gia Chicka

Mercy Jepchirchir Barno

When I bought this book, at first I wasn't quite sure about it, but it pretty much got a hold of me from the beginning. I absolutely love love loved Red Queen and can't wait to get started on Glass Sword.

katie ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

i originally read this book in 2018, but it has remained one of my favorite YA novels ever since. the storytelling, romance, and betrayals - i love it all!

Monicap

I really liked this book!

Despite all the hype, and favorable reviews, I went into this book not really expecting to like it. But I fell in love with Mare's sass, I fell in LOVE with Maven, and I fell in love with Victoria Aveyard's writing. 

I WANT whatever comes next.

Victoria Aveyard’s internationally beloved #1 New York Times bestseller is now in paperback! 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.

Lani

Absolutely loved this book, I started reading it only because I had bought it a long time a go but never got around to it. I don't know why I didn't read it earlier. As soon as I was getting to the end of the book I had to go on Amazon to buy the next three book because there was no way I could wait once I finished it. 10/10 would recommend, it keeps you wanting to read the next chapter.

A Freckled Bookwyrm

I really enjoyed it and this helped getting me back into reading. I stayed up till 2am just finish it. It is a great page turner. I only gave it 4 stars because of the writing, there were a couple spots that were a little weak. But overall i LOVE the story, would 10000% recommend it and cant wait to read the next book.

Nisindi

I think if it wasn’t for the major book slump i have been in for the past month, I would have enjoyed this book. But I couldn’t tell if I was getting bored by the book or just reading in general (maybe don’t count this as a real review lol)

Robyn Harley

This was so good 😭😭 I will forever wonder why  I waited so dang long to read it!!!

Julie Rubens

Such a good book! For some reason it took me really long to finish but I loved it anyways! The characters, the plot, the plot twists, AMAZING!

rhegan🧋

Girl i’m going to kill myself after this

Katelyn f

** spoiler alert **
           okay i really enjoyed this book so i’m gonna try avoid reading the reviews cause they’re just going to ruin it for me. yes there’s a lot of plot holes but you can’t sit and tell me that mavens plot twist using his mum to find out how to get mate wasn’t just brilliant?!!

Red Queen, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Aveyard, is a sweeping tale of power, intrigue, and betrayal, perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series.

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.

Red Queen (Red Queen #1)

Fun, fast paced read but I predicted a lot of the major plot twists

Emily Akerman

nina 

"Silver and Red, but stronger than both"

 3.5 stars 

 “Anyone can betray anyone”  THIS BOOK IS THE REASON WHY I HAVE TRUST ISSUES

Since Red Queen came out and I head the premise for this book, I have been greatly anticipating getting my hands on it, and now that I have I was pleasantly enjoyed. For me it wasn't the plot that really interested me, but the characters that saved this book. The first portion of the book was a little slow and my interest waned, however as we got into the story and the Mare began her training, the story picked up. I wish the direction of the novel went a different way at the end, but I am still eager to read the next book. 

“The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.” 

 Mare:  Mare is our protagonist, the girl from the oppressed society of Reds with the power of a Silver (the elite of this society). At the beginning, her abrasiveness was annoying and I didn't like her at first, but she grew on me. She is immensely loyal to her family, and I absolutely adored her dynamic with her brothers and sister. (view spoiler)[ I knew her brother Shade wasn't dead, it was just a feeling, especially when we find out she was just like Mare. I love how Gisa and Mare's relationship and circumstance (the situation being, Mare living in the shadow and being constantly compared to her talented younger sister) paralleled what transpired between Cal and Maven. I thought it was so sweet how when each of her brothers left for the war, they each gave their sisters a earring to remember them, and at the end Kilorn, who is like Mare's 4th brother, gave her a green earring to Mare, in the way her brothers do. I loved the friendship between Kilorn and Mare, and hope to see more of it.  (hide spoiler)]

 Cal and Maven:  These two brothers are princes and burners, meaning they have control over fire. Cal, the eldest, was raised as the crown prince and primed to rule; he's a soldier, a warrior and loyal to his country and to his crown. Maven, as second born, always lived in the shadow of his older brother, but was made to be a prince, as the people's prince, better skilled with talking his way to his advantage, and to make alliances with the politically powerful. I loved their unique friendships with Mare. (view spoiler)[ Now to my rant: I shipped Mare and Maven so much! I was so heartbroken by Maven's betrayal. I WAS SO MAD HOW HE THREW MARE INTO THE DIRT! HE WENT ON SO MUCH ABOUT EQUALITY BUT EVERYTHING HE SAID WAS A LIE! The thing that made this plot twist so unbelievable and aggravating was that it was if Maven was acting throughout the whole book, and that he had become a totally different character. Maven was my favourite character, he is very intelligent, and what he says is very easy to accept. I will not forgive the author for absolutely destroying his character. I can't believe this kind, thoughtful, open-minded kid, was really a jealous, merciless killer. He killed Lucas without a second thought, and Lucas and Mare were never able to reconcile. I'm not sure I will enjoy the next books because I don't have Maven to attach to. I can't believe he would help with the murder of his father and downfall of his brother, what sort of person does that. Betraying someone you recently met is one thing, but to betray his blood is tenfold worse. As for Cal, he has been brainwashed into his way of thinking all his life, and is so passionate about justice, so if he would have given everything up for Mare, who he has known for a month, I WOULD HAVE BEEN LIVID, I WOULD HAVE RIOTED. But, luckily he didn't.  (hide spoiler)]

 Evangeline:  She was the typical mean girl and I found her character pretty 2-dimensional. I was hoping towards the end that we would see some more development or that she might be on out side, but that didn't happen. I will be very disappointed if we don't get more to her character in the subsequent books. 

To finish this review and quote the Scarlet Guard: “Rise, red as the dawn.”

Anna

I really enjoyed this book. There has been a lot of hate around it about it not having a very original plot and while i agree that I've read things like it before, i still enjoyed it. My main issue was that I didn't particularly like Mare. Hopefully she will under go some character development so I might like her more in the 3rd book.

The beginning is a really good one, it instantly catches you and introduces you into this world of intriguing and power games. But at the end of the second book it loses completely it’s plot end the end was a complete disappointment for me.

Laura 

So this is hard to rate, for a multitude of reasons.

I think from specifically a writing perspective, it’s a solid 3 stars. The pacing is just really off the whole time, and certain things are rushed that in my opinion shouldn’t be. Also some moments just felt out really strange and weird.

I also didn’t like how sometimes the author spoon fed stuff to us. Like when she pointed out the parallels in Mares life with Cala and Mavens. I feel like that’s something the reader could figure out on their own, without it being told.

But, some stuff was also great! The scene where Queen Elara forces Cal to kill his father honestly crushed my soul. It really hurt me. I actually cried. The emotion was immaculate.

Then, the descriptions and metaphors in this book were so well done! I think the word choice really helped keep me captivated. So even though there were some flaws, it was still pretty good!

And, my enjoyment of this book was through the roof. Literally was such a fun read, I finished it in a day.

It held my attention the whole time. And while I went into this knowing about Mavens betrayal, I still felt heartbroken when it occurred. It was still a good twist and wasn’t any less entertaining to see the build up.

I think it’s definetly a fun read, and I can’t wait to start the next book.

Abby

So this is hard to rate, for a multitude of reasons.

I think from specifically a writing perspective, it’s a solid 3 stars. The pacing is just really off the whole time, and certain things are rushed that in my opinion shouldn’t be. Also some moments just felt out really strange and weird.

I also didn’t like how sometimes the author spoon fed stuff to us. Like when she pointed out the parallels in Mares life with Cala and Mavens. I feel like that’s something the reader could figure out on their own, without it being told.

But, some stuff was also great! The scene where Queen Elara forces Cal to kill his father honestly crushed my soul. It really hurt me. I actually cried. The emotion was immaculate.

Then, the descriptions and metaphors in this book were so well done! I think the word choice really helped keep me captivated. So even though there were some flaws, it was still pretty good!

And, my enjoyment of this book was through the roof. Literally was such a fun read, I finished it in a day.

It held my attention the whole time. And while I went into this knowing about Mavens betrayal, I still felt heartbroken when it occurred. It was still a good twist and wasn’t any less entertaining to see the build up.

I think it’s definetly a fun read, and I can’t wait to start the next book.

I started reading this on a delayed eight hour train journey because nothing else had been downloaded on my Kindle and I knew I had read the first 100 pages or so when I was 13 and deep in my female main character dystopian / fantasy reading phase. A very random decision to start a seemingly random book for me resulted in me becoming fully immersed into a series that I haven't thought about in years.

I really really enjoyed this. I thought the story was so well constructed - it was complex, layered and completely unpredictable. At no point did I really feel like I could predict what was going to happen which made me so stressed at times lol. The little details in the storyline were so cool and unique and really made the experience of reading this so immersive. There were also so many good plot twists so perfectly timed that they helped the story flow even better.

The characters were also really well written. I loved some and then ended up hating them in totally unexpected ways. Others I hated throughout the entire book. I loved Mare's character - it was so interesting to see her develop and grow in so many different ways.

I will say that the romance(ish) between Mare and Cal did feel a little disconnected(?) at times. It almost felt like there wasn't much to work with, then a lot at once, and sometimes I wasn't really too sure where it had come from. I don't think they interacted enough to experience the connection that was spoken about. I know this is technically a Y/A book so that does explain that but I suppose I'm too used to very intricately developed romantic arcs.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this and cannot wait to read the next book in the series, especially after the ending of this one!

Emilia Vulliamy

I started reading this on a delayed eight hour train journey because nothing else had been downloaded on my Kindle and I knew I had read the first 100 pages or so when I was 13 and deep in my female main character dystopian / fantasy reading phase. A very random decision to start a seemingly random book for me resulted in me becoming fully immersed into a series that I haven't thought about in years.

I really really enjoyed this. I thought the story was so well constructed - it was complex, layered and completely unpredictable. At no point did I really feel like I could predict what was going to happen which made me so stressed at times lol. The little details in the storyline were so cool and unique and really made the experience of reading this so immersive. There were also so many good plot twists so perfectly timed that they helped the story flow even better.

The characters were also really well written. I loved some and then ended up hating them in totally unexpected ways. Others I hated throughout the entire book. I loved Mare's character - it was so interesting to see her develop and grow in so many different ways.

I will say that the romance(ish) between Mare and Cal did feel a little disconnected(?) at times. It almost felt like there wasn't much to work with, then a lot at once, and sometimes I wasn't really too sure where it had come from. I don't think they interacted enough to experience the connection that was spoken about. I know this is technically a Y/A book so that does explain that but I suppose I'm too used to very intricately developed romantic arcs.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this and cannot wait to read the next book in the series, especially after the ending of this one!

Katelyn 

Melissa Palmer

Book #18 Read in 2016
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This is the first in a ya series. The Reds are the poor servants and laborers, who are sent to fight a war at eighteen. The Silvers are the royalty and rich people. Mare is a red. She is surprised to find that she has power like a Silver...so is she Red, Silver or both? Will she survive long enough to find out? This book had non-stop action, romance and wonderfully written characters. The second book is in my TBR pile. High schoolers and adults alike would love this series.

Catherine &
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

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