Published February 10th 2015
The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?
I’d seen so much hype on Red Queen and so much negative reviews as well that I put this book off for months. Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to read this book. And I’m so glad that I did.
I really enjoyed how this book was written. It was so well written and at times I forgot I was reading a book. I was just experiencing the story. That’s pretty rare for me so I think that was my favorite thing about Red Queen.
I’ve seen a lot of people saying that Red Queen is every YA book ever in one book. I can see why they would say that but I personally didn’t feel that way. This book was blow-my-mind original but I didn’t feel like it as copying or stealing ideas from other books. I didn’t read anything that blatantly similar to any other YA books that I’ve read.
The world building was simple and easy to understand, which I really liked. It wasn’t over the top and complex like some fantasy books. It was well done and easy to picture.
The only thing that kept me from giving this book five stars is I never was emotionally invested in the characters. I started to toward the very end (like the last 10 pages) but I just didn’t feel anything towards the characters. I think I’ll be emotionally invested in the next book though. The last page was really great and I can’t wait for the sequel.
Overall, I really liked Red Queen. It was a fun fantasy and I read it in pretty much two sittings. While I wasn’t emotionally invested in the characters, I still really loved reading this book.
3 COMMENTS
Claire | Art and Soul
8 years agoI’m so happy to hear another positive review. It’s on my TBR and every time I hear bad things I get a bit downhearted… Great you enjoyed it! :-)
Taylor
8 years agoSame! I wanted to read it right away but every bad review I seen had me putting it off.
Josephine
8 years agoI also gave this book four stars! It was truly an original story. I also don’t think it copied things from other YA novels, however I can’t deny that in the beginning I got vibes of other YA books (but that did nothing to detract from the enjoyment of the story). I was definitely in it for the plot and story line but I also wish I was more invested in the characters. Great review! I’m excited for Glass Sword to come out next year! xoxo