Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen #1
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Pages: 383
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Source: Bought
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...
When I heard about this book and that it was fantasy and the characters possessed superhuman abilities I ran to the store and bought a copy. How could I not love this?! Well...I didn't.
Red Queen was a book that I had such high hopes for. It was one of my most anticipated reads and when I finally got around to it I was excited to see what debut author Victoria Aveyard had in store for this series. To put it lightly, I was very disappointed.
The biggest disappointment for me with this story was the characters, mainly the men. As I was reading this book I was not feeling any of the romantic feelings that Aveyard was trying to portray, and I found myself either being bored or annoyed by the three of them. In the end, I really didn't care or had an interest in Mare being with one or the other.
As for the story, I found it dull and for the bulk of it boring. There just wasn't too much going on and there were times when I truly was just trying to get through it just so it could be over. The ending was the only reason why I think I'll give Glass Sword a shot and raised my 1-star rating to a 2. There was a twist that I didn't see coming and there was a revelation at the ending that piqued my interest in regards to what was going to happen next.
I wish I enjoyed this book as much as I had hoped to, but it just lacked so much in the characters and the story that I felt like I was forcing myself to continue. Hopefully, if I pick it up, Glass Sword will have more of the excitement and thrill that the last few chapters had. If that is the case then Aveyard will have redeemed herself for me.
