Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard definitely lands on my favourite books list! It’s an amazing book with plot twists and betrayals I never saw coming! I enjoyed every second of it but I will say the rest of the series is not even close to as spectacular as the first book.

Red Queen is about a world after ours. A world divided by the colour of blood. There are the superhuman Silvers who are in control and plan to keep it that way. Then there’s the Reds, destined to serve the Silvers and fight the silvers wars. Mare Barrow’s life has always been like this, after all she’s a Red. She knows the world won’t change, it will always stay Silver and Red. What she doesn’t know is that she’s going to be the Red to change it all. With fate by her side Mare somehow lands herself a job in the King’s palace, but after an incident at the Queenstrial Mare knows she’s something special, different from the rest. Now she’s on a seemingly impossible journey to turn the tides, so the world can finally see what Reds are made of.

It took me some time but I started to fall for the characters. The storyline did a great job incorporating the backstory and present situations of each of the characters, bringing them to life and fleshing them out. I think some aspects of the series are a bit cliché however as a YA-Fantasy-Romance, it did well not being overdone.

The whole premise of the series sounded really appealing. A dystopian-esque setting with a female lead, romance and fantasy? Sounds perfect to me! And it was… until the third book. I feel like the Red Queen Series is a rollercoaster that only goes down… I had such high hopes for the rest of the series and it was a huge let down. However, if you’re more than happy reading the first one or two books in a series and dumping the rest, then I highly recommend Red Queen. The overall idea of the book is brilliant! I really do enjoyed Red Queen as a book alone, separate from the series.


Official Synopsis:

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.


Book details:

400 pages

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Dystopian, Romance

Main character(s): Mare Barrow


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