Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - review

‘Unique and amazing’

I was drawn to this book after seeing many people commenting on it on Goodreads and Twitter and decided, after reading the synopsis, that I would give it a read. When purchasing it the women serving me behind the counter told me what I’d heard before – that this book was amazing, but also that it was a mix between The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones which only made me want to read it further.

Red Queen tells the story of Mare Barrow, a 17 year old girl who lives in a world where status depends on the colour of your blood. Those with red blood are commoners yet those with silver are royals who possess special powers. Mare is a Red living in the Stilts with her younger sister, mother and father whilst her brothers are off fighting for the Silvers in the ongoing war. With her best friend Kilorn, Mare spends her days in the Stilts waiting for the day she too must join the war at age 18.

One day she is whisked away to serve for the King. Whilst working Mare discovers that despite her red blood she possesses a Silver ability of her own. The King, who fears her potential, hides her in plain view of everyone betrothing her to his youngest son Maven, however her heart belongs elsewhere with his older brother Cal. Trapped amongst Silvers hiding secrets Mare must use her new position and person to bring down the regime from the inside.

After finishing the book I knew that the women behind the counter had been telling the truth. It was an amazing book and definitely included aspects from both The Hunger Games with its corrupt ruling ‘government’ and rebellious groups as well as Game of Thrones due to having similar characters such as Queen Elara who had the same coldness as Cersei Lannister.

Mare was a great main character as she was sassy yet headstrong and never deviated from her initial goal. Both Maven and Cal, the Princes, had me torn over which I loved more. Maven is the youngest, constantly living in the shadow of Cal who is next in line for the throne and is stronger and more handsome. Within the novel, Mare also experienced the same problem, striking up a love triangle with the two Princes. Now normally I find love triangles agonising and can always tell which boy the girl is going to choose but not this time. Victoria Aveyard, like Cassandra Clare, managed to pull it off perfectly and had a perfect balance of both Cal and Maven.

Overall the storyline of this book was unique and amazing (I mean, who doesn’t love the idea of Princes and Princesses with super powers?). The book was filled with twists and turns throughout, especially the end which felt like a huge slap to the face that despite finishing this book 2 months ago, I’m still recovering from. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone as it is a great read and I can’t wait for the sequel to be released.

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop

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